Affordable Before & After Bedroom Makeovers
Designers share their incredible room transformations and expert tips.
After: Punch of Color
Mix bright colors with earth tones. Atlanta designer Steve McKenzie kept the bedding a soft cream so that the decor and colors could be changed easily without having to replace everything.
Before: Dated Traditional
After: Bright, Budget-Friendly Artwork
Before: Bare Bedroom
After: Restful Retreat
Before: Basic Boy's Bedroom
After: Aqua Inspiration
Before: Bunk Room
After: Love of Games
Make a space that will last. “You don’t want things to be temporary. You want things that they can grow with,” said Cate Dunning of Atlanta-based GordonDunning, who decorated this bedroom as part of a Dwell with Dignity install. This bedroom was for three boys who loved Super Mario Brothers and the Atlanta Falcons, so GordonDunning incorporated red accented with blue and hung framed Mario art prints from Etsy on the wall. The beds were already in the room, and DIY blogger Dena Stormer painted them with Sherwin-Williams Positive Red.
Before: Lackluster Bedroom
After: Pretty and Posh
Before: Black Canvas
After: Vibrant and Plush
An upholstered headboard adds plush comfort, and bright throw pillows tie yellow and red into the bedding in this Dwell with Dignity install. Georgia designers Lisa Turner and Wallace Bryan of Trinity Mercantile and Design Co. recommend picking pieces of furniture that go together but don’t match perfectly to get a designer look for any budget.
After: Consignment Cool
Don’t shy away from consignment and resale stores. Metro Atlanta designers Lisa Turner and Wallace Bryan repurposed a vintage dresser from a consignment store for less than $500, a huge discount from the price of a new dresser of that size. Paired with a mirror, it created a good vanity space. The red lamp and the gold bedside lamps were donated to this Dwell with Dignity makeover room by Currey & Co.
After: Red Accents
Don’t be afraid to add color. The resident in this Dwell with Dignity makeover loves red, but metro Atlanta designers Lisa Turner and Wallace Bryan know that red would be too much as the main color in a bedroom. They managed to keep the space calm and bring the favorite red into the room as a brilliant accent, starting with this art that they found at a consignment shop.
Before: Odd Placement
After: Symmetrical Setup
A bedroom makeover solved the design problem that was created by the room’s unusual one-window layout. To create symmetry, the designer sourced a mirror and hung window treatments on either side, says Kirsten Yonson, co-owner of SwatchPop. She brightened up the lamps and added art above the bed for a fresh update.
Before: Plain Guest Room
After: Going for the Gold
Before: Limited Pattern
After: Jewel of a Room
Before: Messy Spare Room
After: Timeless Teen Suite
After: Raspberry Red
Before: Bare Design
After: Fresh and Flexible
After a makeover by Terracotta Design Build, the “room with a bed in it” is transformed into a neutral retreat that’s far from boring. “If your bedroom looks like a dorm room, the first thing you have to do is add a headboard, and it will be immediately grown up,” says Terracotta's Ili Hidalgo-Nilsson, an architect and designer. Keeping the walls and furniture neutral allows you to infuse color with pillows and lamps, which can be changed out more affordably.
