Lake House Decorating Ideas On A Budget

In my next life, I want to be an interior designer. I love decorating and home decor, taking on projects, and helping others do the same.

Here's an example of a storage chest at the foot of the bed.

Budget Decor for Your Bedroom

Your bedroom should be your private retreat, a place to go when you need to escape your hectic day. Your retreat should be infused with your personal style. For a budget bedroom makeover, fine-tuning color and accessories may be all you need to do. Here are some bedroom decorating ideas to help inspire you. Be sure to check out my other articles for budget decorating ideas in more rooms of your house.

Master Bedroom Updates

Add a traditional country look to your bedroom with a blanket trunk or hope chest at the foot of the bed. These are also great places to store quilts, blankets, and extra sheet sets.

If a cozy and quiet space is what you desire, go with light neutral tones, like white, soft gray, and warm wood tones of the furniture.

For an alternate inexpensive makeover, have a collection of colorful bed linens to choose from and mix them. Mix white sheets and pillowcases with bright floral sheets and pillows. Choose a quilt with complementary colors and layer it at the foot of the bed.

Replace flannel sheets and wool blankets with pastel or light-colored sheets and a light quilt or coverlet for a simple, non-budget-busting spring makeover.

Drape sheer curtain panels over a wall-mounted bracket over the bed to create a cozy feel.

A nice stack of dressed-up journals and vintage (or new) jewelry boxes can be fun accents on a nightstand in a bedroom.

In need of a headboard? Re-purpose an old barn door or any old door that looks interesting and hang it horizontally for a cool headboard. A salvage warehouse or architectural salvage store will usually have plenty of doors to select from.

Wallpaper can be quite pricey, depending on the one you select. Instead, frame a generous square or rectangle of a favorite wallpaper pattern to achieve a lovely decorative effect for your bedroom.

Add your own trim, like buttons or ribbon, to store-bought pillows to give them a handcrafted feel.

These panels behind the bed give the room a soft, cozy feel.

A re-purposed old door can add charm as a headboard. Add trim to give it more flair.

These panels behind the bed give the room a soft, cozy feel.

Wallpaper can be a great, inexpensive way to add interest to a bedroom, even if hung on just one wall—it can also be a great way to mask surface flaws.

Dividing a wall horizontally with the use of two paint colors can create the same visual effect as having an expensive chair rail molding.

If minimal effort is what you're after, then spruce up one wall with a cheerful color. It can easily be changed next season.

Two colors of paint (yes, white is a color!) separated horizontally give the feel of a chair rail.

Kids Rooms Can Also Be Easily Updated

When selecting furniture for a child's room, think long term and purchase sturdy pieces that they are not likely to outgrow—at least not while they are still living in your house!

A great idea for a child's room: Apply a corkboard wall covering on one whole wall, then frame it out, and you'll have created a bulletin board of epic proportions. This is perfect for pinning up memorabilia, photos, posters, even jewelry and hair accessories. Obviously, don't do this in a small child's room where pushpins would be a choking hazard!

In a child's room, bright toys with interesting shapes can be used as colorful decorative accents on shelves.

If a child's room is small, paint just one wall a bright color and leave the rest a neutral tone to brighten the room without making it look even smaller.

Repurpose old desks and trunks into kid-friendly toy organizers to store and hide all the stuff that kids have.

Here's a great example of the use of a bright color on one wall to add some fun to a child's room.

This is a fun cork board idea for the wall!

yalenova on June 28, 2010:

Great tips. Thanks for advice! Good job ;)

Lily Rose (author) from A Coast on June 13, 2010:

Thanks, Habby! I love the corkboard idea, too - I'd love to do a whole wall of it but don't know where...may have to save that idea for when my kids are a bit older and then do it in their bedrooms. I'll be publishing the last of this series today - bathrooms.

BTW, your avatar is partially what motivated me to change mine - plus I was getting tired of looking at me with no hair!

Habby from College Station, Texas on June 12, 2010:

Lily Rose, great ideas! And great theme for hubs in general. Also, I was thinking of doing a corkboard area. Your suggestion reinforced my commitment!! :)

P.S. Precious new picture of you and your girls. You are all lovely!!

Hello, hello, from London, UK on June 12, 2010:

Thank you for you good tips. You are great.