Day Five Video Content

Today is Day Five of our Bedroom Makeover Challenge! We are getting so close to accomplishing our goals for creating a bedroom makeover plan.

 

One thing is for sure. Bedrooms come in all shapes and sizes. Some of you have huge rooms with good size walk in closets and a master bath. Others have a small space and are fighting to get all the necessities tucked away.

 

Either way there are few pieces of furniture that can probably be found in almost all bedrooms.

 

The most obvious is the bed. Most beds have a head board but not always. My husband and I didn’t have a headboard for the first 20 years of our marriage. Even now the headboard we have is a hand me down from my grandparents. And it just so happens that as I make this video I am reminded that today is my grandpa shercks birthday and he would have been one hundred years old if he were still with us. I am grateful for such precious memories of my grandparents and the huge roll they played in my life. They left a wonderful legacy behind for all of their loved ones.

 

Ok besides a bed and possibly a headboard, other furniture we typically find in our bedrooms include a dresser, a night stand or two, a chair or maybe a bench. If you have a larger room that includes a sitting area you might have a love seat or rocker with a coffee table. If your bedroom doubles as an office you need to consider space for a desk or even a file cabinet.

 

So, some of you have a small bedroom and you already know you need to be looking for space saving solutions while others might have space to fill and you are looking for ideas on what all you can add to your room to make it more cozy.

 

This is a time when you need to go back to asking yourself – Am I going to use what I have or does what I have need to be replaced or repurposed. One thing I like to do when I redo a room is borrow from other rooms in my home. Maybe I change out this chair for that one, or switch a dresser for an armoire. Speaking of armoires, when my husband and I first bought the home we live in now, it had 3 bedrooms upstairs.  We had two small children at the time and the room we choose to be ours had no closets at all. The other two bedrooms had a closet the size of a small coat closet. So, for the first 4 or 5 years in our home, we managed just fine without a closet in our bedroom. We had fun going to antique auctions finding large cupboards and armoires to add to our room. While I look back at that original bedroom with great fondness, I am so very thankful that my husband is handy and has been able to update our bedrooms over the years by adding closets. I might also add that the only bathroom in the house was downstairs. So, to those of you who are able to enjoy a master on suite --- count your blessings!

 

On your worksheet, take note of the furniture you have and whether or not you plan to keep it. What you can use and what you no longer want to use. Take a quick inventory of other rooms in your home and how you can borrow from another room and repurpose it for the bedroom. If you have a space issue, start to brainstorm what you real needs are. Do you need to remove some of the furniture and find pieces that are more functional that can serve multiple purposes. I’m thinking of a bench or hope chest that can double a place to sit and provide storage. Or maybe the dresser you have takes up space in your room but doesn’t really have drawers big enough to store what you need it to. There is a lot that could be said here about storage in general, and whether or not you have optimized your closet space and under the bed storage. Since that is a whole separate topic, my suggestion is that you search on Pinterest as there are lots of great ideas that can help you get organized.

 

Maybe some of you love and use every piece of furniture you have but you just need to arrange it differently in the room. I have left you some room at the bottom of your worksheet for sketching out a possible rearrange. I have often times gotten some graph paper and made a to scale model of my room, measured my furniture and draw it to scale to make sure things will fit like you think it will. I know people who even cut out the to scale bed, dressers and nightstands so they can move them around in the graph paper room so they can really see what will work and look good.

 

And off course you will need to consider budget again if you know there are new pieces that you will want to purchase.

 

Maybe if budget is an issue but you still want a change you could try painting something that is wood to give it a completely different style. Maura has done some experimenting with chalk paint on a desk in her bedroom. She has written a blog post about it and I will share the link at the bottom of this page. She had a lot of fun with it and was very pleased with the results. I also want to give you a link to a blog post that my daughter Hannah wrote about a DIY wood stained headboard that she made. She walks you thought the steps from start to finish including the dimensions she used for a king and a queen.

 

Be creative! There are lots of ways to get a new look in your bedroom without breaking the bank.

 

Get your ideas down on paper and keep filling out the worksheet. And don’t forget to post it for us on facebook!

 

The last day of our challenge is going to be about finishing touches. We will look at lighting, wall décor and other necessities. You have been doing such a great job and I am really looking forward to helping you finish this bedroom makeover challenge! Talk to you soon!