There are several fast, inexpensive ways to change the look of your bedroom.
1. Paint the walls
2. Move the furniture around
Queen Luxury Bedding
3. Buy new bedding
For a dramatic change, combine all three.
To avoid a lot of needless furniture moving, start by making a paper plan of your room. Measure each wall and mark where the electric outlets are. Then draw out your furniture to scale and start moving the paper pieces around until you find a good arrangement.
Because the bed is usually the largest piece of furniture in the room, find the position for it first. This is usually along the longest wall, but there are some factors you may want to take into consideration.
1. You will want an electrical outlet at each side of the bed.
2. A queen bed is 60" wide, a typical nightstand between 18" and 36". Ideally you will need a wall 11 feet long in order to have plenty of room to walk around a bed and make it with ease.
3. Beds immediately opposite the door are not ideal for privacy.
4. Beds against windows can be very cold.
5. Ideally the rays of the rising sun should fall across the bed in the morning (if the drapes are open). Why? Anyone who has problems waking up in the morning will tell you that having sunlight fall on them is the gentlest way to wake and start the day.
6. The principles of feng shui say that the window should be to the right of the bed.
For most people it's impossible to find one position for the bed which satisfies all these requirements, so work out what you can achieve and go for it.
Once the position for the bed is fixed, the remaining furniture usually falls into place. A storage bench or ottoman placed at the end of the bed provides a good place to sit while dressing and to store extra blankets and bedding. A wide low dresser can function as a vanity if necessary, with a mirror above (though this is far from ideal). You may be able to find a tall dresser with drawers for clothes storage down below and space for a television above. Decorate the dresser with a potted green plant, a couple of photographs in lovely frames and perhaps some beautiful glass perfume bottles or ornaments that mean something to you. If your low dresser does have a mirror, try not to place it opposite to the bed as proponents of feng shui will tell you this is not a good idea.
Once you have decided where the furniture will go, pile it all in the center of the room and start painting. Paint is a fabulous way to change the look of a room quickly and inexpensively, but don't let the colors you see in the stores restrict you. It is relatively easy to create amazing effects on a painted wall. Rag rolling and sponging are simple techniques where a single color base coat is applied to a wall which is then rag rolled or sponged in another color. This can be a different shade or a complete contrast. Use water based paint and water the second coat down considerably so it doesn't dry too soon, but not so far that it makes a lot of drips. Using a genuine sea sponge to sponge paint on the wall using a twisting motion. The more random the pattern, the better!
If the idea of paint effects doesn't appeal to you, there are many more possibilities that don't break the bank.
A wallpaper mural which covers a whole wall can give the room a very different look
A stencil design, especially when oversized, can look fantastic. If you feel nervous about stencilling just use a single color, it can be even more effective than trying to achieve realism.
Modern wall decals can give the same effect as a single color stencil, but with the advantage that they simply peel off. Great for rented homes.
A wallpaper border can add emphasis to a feature, is simple to put up and not too onerous to remove when you want to re-decorate.
If your room has a less than ideal view, consider a sheer blind over the window to allow light in, but keep the view out. Add a view with a piece of trompe l'oeil from your local wall decor store. With a little thought, a false window or doorway can add a lot to a room.
Got some paint left? It's not just walls that can be painted. If your bedroom furniture is good, but doesn't match, you can fix this simply by painting it all the same color. Remove the handles and replace them so that all the handles on every piece match and if there are any carvings on your furniture consider emphasising them with a little dry brushing. This is a simple technique where every part of the furniture is painted a single base coat color, then choose another color (darker for a distressed look, gold or silver if you want to add luxury). Dip the brush in the paint and then remove as much paint as possible. Really, it's called dry brushing for a reason! Take the brush and rub it hard over the raised surface to achieve an interesting artistic effect.
There are lots of other things you can do to decorate your furniture, from Victorian decoupage to stenciled patterns, to covering drawer fronts with wallpaper. It's really up to you, but none of these ideas are expensive.
So you've changed the walls and the furniture, now you have it all in place, there's only one more item to add and that is soft furnishings.
Drapes should usually be in a neutral color, but you can really put your personality into the bedroom with your choice of bedding.
Your ideal is a stunning scheme which is very easy care, so choose a machine washable bedding set which co-ordinates fully, such as a bed in a bag. It's easy to obtain a high quality mix with coordinating sheets, pillowcases and a duvet cover to complete your brand new room.
Now it's time for the fruits of your labors. Pour the wine, dim the lights and crawl in between those so soft sheets, pull the duvet up and snuggle down. You worked hard, but now you can enjoy the wonderful, comfortable cozy bedroom you always wanted.