We just completed an inexpensive total bedroom makeover. We painted walls, ceiling, closets, installed a ceiling fan, and replaced everything in the room except for the bed.
It’s reveal day for the blue bedroom….or the used to be blue bedroom. I’ve been looking forward to showing you around. I hope you like the navy and white bedroom as much as I do. The room doesn’t have as much color as it did before but that is a good thing.
I have a lot of pictures for you including a few before makeover photos. I’m not posting the how to on the paint, etc. today because that would make the post really long and it’s already long enough.
You guys hang with me. I have a list of everything I bought and where I bought it at the end of the post. No affiliate links….just for your info.
White Walls Bedroom Makeover
The new look is clean and crisp. There isn’t any of the before décor remaining in the room except for the bed and mattress…..oh, and some of the wall décor.
When I started putting the room back together I tried using my colorful quilts on the bed with different comforter sets and blankets.
I never achieved a look I liked. There are a bunch of photos of all of the looks I tried but I’m not sharing those today. Just the done décor!
The photo above shows the room before makeover looking in from the hallway.
This is how the room looks after the makeover when looking down the hallway. The white paint and the new décor is so refreshing.
A look at the blue bedroom with the bed and side table before makeover.
Now…..after makeover. All of our bedrooms are small and I made several changes to make the room appear larger.
The bed is a full size instead of a queen. I purchased the metal bed after our son married and moved out. This was his bedroom. I decided on the full size bed to save space.
It’s not like a futon or daybed and will sleep two guests. Before the new makeover there was a small side table on the right side of the bed.
To make the room look bigger I removed that table and moved the bed a bit closer to the wall. Just those few inches added more floor space on the left and made the room look bigger.
There is still plenty of walking room between the bed and the wall. I decided a few years ago that less is more when it comes to furniture and my small bedrooms.
Here you see the wall at the foot of the bed where the closet is. We painted the louvered closet doors with a paint sprayer. If you missed the painting the louvered doors post and video you can see it here.
You notice in this photo how close the window is the closet wall? That new curtain rod just barely fit the space. There is a hair’s breadth between the curtain rod finial and the abutting wall.
The wall hangings are framed prints the JTS accumulated during his time in the Army. I did not rehang all of them, just a select few.
The new piece of painted furniture is perfect for this spot and guess what. I didn’t paint it. I went on a hunt looking for a piece to go under the window.
I wanted it to be tall enough to almost reach the bottom of the window sill. I wasn’t sure if I wanted a painted piece or a stained piece, antique or vintage or fairly new.
On my first shopping trip I found the piece above. I debated about buying it because it was a bit shorter than what I was looking for.
But….the small chest was only $68 and that included tax. I bought it with the thought that if it didn’t work out I could always resell the chest and get my money back.
As you can see it looks great in the spot. I first thought someone painted the chest but on further inspection I think it came from the manufacturer this way. It’s made of real wood and I’m very happy with it.
The antique wood chest in the spot before is a treasured find from our time in Florida.
The trim paint on the chest is a grayish color and the pale gray is wiped across the front of the drawers. The side panels are also painted the gray color. I like the carving, the legs, the knobs, everything.
No wanting to limit the color scheme to navy and white I added just a few pops of red. I love red. It makes me smile. On the chest top you see one of the blue and white candle holders I made and a vintage red cup that makes a great faux succulent planter.
I also added a thrift store brass lamp and a few magazines to the display. You always need a bedside lamp and this brass lamp is a nice heavy one. The white lamp shade is from IKEA.
The first thing I did when putting the room back together after the awesome paint job was to decide on the bedding. That was my starting point for the decor.
Once I was happy with the comforter set I started shopping and decorating in earnest. I haven’t added up the cost for the room makeover yet but I didn’t break the bank.
In trying to give the room a warm and welcoming feel I added the greenery….which is faux, as I don’t have a green thumb. The large potted plant is sitting on one of my junk treasures. I bought new curtain rods to hang the pretty curtains I finally found after much hair pulling.
I bought a set of curtains at J.C.Penney’s and the panels were different lengths. One panel was an inch longer than the other panel. Not working for me. I took those back and started my curtain search again. You know, curtains are expensive.
The reason for buying new rods is because the ones I had looked really puny. The difference in rod width from ½ inch to 1 inch really makes a difference believe it or not in the overall look.
I wanted to install the rods almost to the ceiling which is the look these days but I couldn’t find a length I could work with without doing a bit of hemming or sewing. Not for me.
I didn’t want the curtains to puddle on the carpet. I’m over that look. How about you guys? The curtains I ended up buying have the grommets which saves a bunch of money on curtain clips. And the curtain panels were only $14.99 each. That's a deal on curtains.
I’m not a big fan of dresser mirrors and I rehung the slim wall mirror I had in the blue bedroom before.
I added things to the room as I found something I liked or that would work. The Toucan planter sitter is an end of season sale find from
Target as is the fish sitter on the windowsill and the nautical style bell hanging from the window latch in the photo showing the new chest of drawers. Little things like these put the finishing touches on a room.
The photo above doesn’t show the little Toucan, fish, and bell details because this photo was taken before I found them. You also see I have two candleholders on top of the chest instead of one. My decorating is always a work in progress especially when putting a room together for the first time.
When I finally decided on the navy bedding I knew it needed something else. But I had no idea what. None of the quilts in my quilt collection seemed to work and I didn’t have a throw that matched the bedding.
It wasn’t until I was in Target one day and I spotted the decorative pillows with the red tassels that I knew what the navy bedding needed. Those pops of red.
The ceiling fan is a much needed addition. I love ceiling fans in bedrooms. I don’t know why they have such a bad reputation. If you live in the hot south you need them. I decided on the bronze color to match the bed frame and curtain rods.
This ugly recessed square light fixture was original to the house. We….or the JTS had a time taking it down and putting up the ceiling fan. I will have a tutorial on that soon.
As far as Miss Sofi goes she has decided she likes the new navy and white bedroom better than the orange and turquoise one so she has changed rooms on me. Just look at the photo below....
Sofi and Natalie put the doll house furniture under the chest of drawers for the "Fairies". They love playing in this new room.
Sofi was lending me a hand the day I took photos of the bedroom. She never really wants me to take her picture unless I'm working on a project. Then she needs some attention. I don't mind at all.
Before and After Bedroom Makeover Photo
Inexpensive Total Bedroom Makeover. New room décor information:
Navy Comforter Set With Pillows And Shams (King Set, I didn't want to use a bed skirt so got larger comforter) – T.J.Maxx
Pair of Navy, White, And Red Tassel Pillows – Target
Curtain Rods – Tuesday Morning
Curtains – Bed Bath & Beyond
Potted Plant – At Home Stores
Ceiling Fan – Lowes
Chest of Drawers – Local Flea Market
I shared the white paint color and how I choose it here.
To see the orange and turquoise bedroom reveal click here.
That’s it. What do you guys think of the bedroom now? Do you like the before or after better? I would love to hear your opinions. If there is something you don’t like or you would change you can tell me…in a nice way. I read all of your comments.
Have a great day, Kathy p.s. thanks for being here and please excuse any typos or weird wording because I wrote this post late last night
Find our room painting tips here.
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Terrie
First time seeing your blog. I love the new look to your spareroom. When comparing the old and the new, the old is cozy, but looks much smaller. Where the white on white opens up the whole room, even the dresser looked much larger than the trunk that sat there before.
I have a new bedroom to do, this was a wonderful inspiration, for my small room.
Thank you for sharing.
Terrie
Kathy Owen
Thank you Terrie. I hope you come back to the blog!
Cindy
I love Navy and Gray. Walmart has a great selection of window panels. If you need longer than the 84" you can go on their web-site and get the longer length in many colors. I recently ordered some longer panels and they were lined and very affordable.
Kathy Owen
Yes, I love navy and gray together too. I've painted a couple of pieces in two tone navy and gray. I checked WalMart for curtains and almost bought some there. Thanks for the info.
Barbara
The room looks so cool and comfortable, I really like it. Good Job!! Can you book me for the second week of August?!! LOL
Kathy Owen
booked!
Carol Claremont
Love, love, love this room. It beautiful - no wonder Sofi wanted it for her own. I miss my granddaughter being around - they grow up so fast and she is now a Senior in college!
I now have a double bed too since it is jut me. (I have my parents' original mahogany bedroom furniture) I don't want a bedskirt either but didn't know a king would work. Thanks for that great tip,
Kathy Owen
Thank you Carol! Yes, they grow up fast. I have an older granddaughter who is 15. Yes, the King works well for me, just barely. It is a tad short length wise and if the girls sit and play on the bed the comforter pulls up slightly and I see about a half inch of box springs. Just a heads up. Also the shams will be king size. But if you find something you like it's worth trying. I first bought the Queen size in the set and decided to try the King because I hated the idea of using a bed skirt.
Leslie
The redo is so chic! Truth be told, I like them both--wonderful decor for different vibes. Great job!
Kathy Owen
Thank you Leslie! Totally two different vibes.
CC
love the new look - so bright & airy! think i might paint the ceiling fan while to make the room look even larger.
Kathy Owen
We debated about the white because the fan comes in white and nickel too. We like the contrast of the bronze.
Carol
Nice job! I really like it.
Kathy Owen
Thanks Carol
Lori
Your new room is beautiful! You did a fantastic job.
Kathy Owen
Thank you Lori
TM
Beautiful! Love the colors, I'm using the same colors in my kitchen, it's hard to not get too much red, or too much blue, you seem to have the right balance of that in your bed room, very inspiring-thank you.
Kathy Owen
Thank you TM. I bet your kitchen is pretty. I really want to add more red.....just a bit. And Christmas time, look out.
Stormee Heyd
What a wonderful difference. The new wall color really opens the room up!!! Would you like to come redecorate one or two of mine next? Just kidding.............(maybe)!!!!!!
Kathy Owen
Yes, I would love to redecorate rooms everyday!
Jane Clelland
I liked the before room, but really love the after!
Kathy Owen
Thank you Jane
Nancy
The room looks great. So fresh and bright! I love the navy with the little touches of red. I don’t blame. I’d picked this room too.?
Sheila
Looks wonderful!! Great job!