Bedroom Refresh on a Budget

Sometimes you just need a little change, but don’t want to or shouldn’t spend any money. This is exactly where I was with our bedroom a couple of months ago, so I got creative and made some subtle changes to give the space a refresh on a budget.

*This post contains affiliate links. By shopping through these links, you are helping my small business, with no extra cost to you—thanks!

Part of being a creative is having the intense desire to change things—ALL THE TIME. That, unfortunately, can be a bad thing, if you’re trying to not spend money or don’t have the time or abilities for a big project. I was feeling the urge during the summer (yes, it took me that long to wrap up this little project) to switch things up in our bedroom. Parts of it felt unfinished and the whole space felt flat…and like it needed a good cleaning.

While I still have a couple things to do, including touching up paint from where we had old blinds taken down, I am so pleased with how this bedroom refresh on a budget turned out. So, I thought I would share the five things I did to take our bedroom from feeling tired to giving it new look—without spending much money at all.

1. Declutter

Seriously, this should always be the first step in any project where you’re feeling like the space is tired or you’re just not in love with it anymore. It is crazy how much better doing a good cleanout can make you feel about a room. For the most part, I keep our bedroom pretty tidy and clutter free. I make our bed almost daily and always hang up and put away clothes. Even with doing those things, though, the room had just started to feel heavy. There was clutter I knew was hanging around, even though it was in a basket shoved under the bed. I also dreaded putting away linens because the buffet where we keep them (it’s in our bedroom) was stuffed full.

I pulled everything out of every closed space in the room, made piles of “keep”, “trash”, and “donate”, and wiped down all the surfaces while they were empty. I was able to donate two big boxes of linens and even made a few dollars taking extra books to the resale shop.

The best part? There is extra room now in all my storage spots, so I don’t feel stressed when I have to put something away. I’m taking care not to fill them, though, so I can keep the good feelings going.

2. Reimagine Bedding

I’m always amazed when people have multiple sets of bedding. I have a light-weight quilt, a linen duvet cover, and a couple of blankets. Both the quilt and the duvet cover also have matching pillow shams. When I first decided to give our bedroom a refresh, I will admit to getting online and looking up new comforters. I had the “buy something new” itch and I wanted to scratch it.

Instead of buying a whole new set of bedding, though, I found a pretty and super soft quilt at the thrift store outlet. If you’ve never been before, they put all the stuff into bins there and you have to sift through it to find the treasures. Everything is priced by the pound, and anything over 10 pounds is a flat rate, so nothing is too overly expensive.

The quilt is the perfect colors to go with the other items in our bedroom and it is so cozy and soft—the perfect combo as we’re heading into Fall and Winter. I washed it twice, dried it with wool dryer balls (to catch any extra lint from it and make it even softer), and folded it at the bottom of our bed. I’m so happy that I didn’t spend too much money on it and feel so good about using something secondhand instead of buying new.

To take the room from Spring/Summer to Fall/Winter, I also switched out the pink quilt for the European flax linen duvet that had been folded at the end of the bed, as well as the matching shams. This simple swap made the bed look and feel a lot cozier.

You might notice a new headboard as well…that I’m not mentioning as a part of the refresh. We’ve never had a headboard in the 18 years that we’ve been married…so I didn’t think it should count against my budget-friendly ideas. 😂 The one we got is a steal, though, and has been sold out for a while! You can find more info on it HERE. Not your style? I have a round-up of several others HERE.

3. Makeover Thrift Store Art

I had this picture ledge installed above our bed last year and haven’t regretted it for a moment. It’s the perfect way to change out décor and art without creating a bunch of holes in our walls. Not that I would tell you to be afraid of putting holes in the walls. Experiment! Decorate! Do the things! However, the picture ledge was the right answer for this particular spot. I have decorated it with more muted and primitive items, holiday decor, some of my paint by numbers collection (which you can see here), and now with two framed pieces from the thrift store, that you would never recognize from their “before” photo. You can find the full project HERE, in case you want to do the same thing.

I loved the size of the framed artwork when I spotted it at the thrift store. I also loved that the prints were matted. Matting can be expensive, but it adds so much to a piece of art. The glass on one of the pieces was cracked, so I was able to negotiate the price and get both for $10—a great price for two frames with mats. I knew I was going to remove the glass anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal to me that one was cracked.

I ended up framing some (also thrifted) vintage wallpaper and I love the look of it! It’s rich, colorful, and just the right amount of pattern. Once the thrift store art was made over, all I had to do was decide what would go on the shelves with it. Which leads me to my next idea!

4. Add Plants

Houseplants are the unsung hero of design. You can find a plant to fit in almost any area you want, filling in even the most awkward of spaces. There are different hues, shapes, textures, and sizes, depending on what you need it for or where you want to put it.

Plants are also so good for air quality! They absorb carbon dioxide and other air pollutants, while releasing oxygen—a life-giving element for us! While plants are helpful in purifying the air, we really would need to have about 10 plants per square foot to deal with all the harmful elements in the air, so it’s good to consider other means of purification as well.

5. Use a Diffuser and Humidifier

While plants are helpful, there is still room for improvement in your room’s air quality. Running both a diffuser and humidifier can help! We run both nightly and enjoy their individual benefits. The diffuser runs all night with Doterra essential oils in it, helping us to sleep and breathe better, while also purifying the air around us, depending on which oils we use. The humidifier runs the entire night as well, adding moisture to the air, which is good for breathing, our immune system, and our skin!

The diffuser and humidifier make me feel like we’re in our own private spa every night, putting beneficial elements into the air for us, making us healthier! I also love the ritual of getting them ready for the night. It is something I look forward to doing, almost as much as going to bed. Almost.

If you’ve been paying attention, you maybe noticed that I had two different sets of sheets on our bed in these pictures. I try to keep things simple, having onlu two sets, plus one extra in flannel. Sheets take up so much space, so when one set is getting washed, I’m able to pull out the second, make the bed, and the store the other set once they’re done.

Do you have any space or time saving tricks for keeping your bedroom and storage areas tidy?

If you decide to give your bedroom a budget-friendly refresh, I would love to see! Share a picture in your Instagram stories and tag me so I can see. You can find me on Instagram at @hilaryprall.