5 Bedroom Decorating Ideas on a Budget

A Splash of Color

It's amazing how a fresh coat of paint can change the tone of an entire room. In fact, certain wall colors correlate strongly with mood, so choose your bedroom wall color carefully! Opt for warm, soothing tones like blues, greens, or even white rather than more energetic colors like red or orange. If you're not sure, some home improvement stores will sell you a small sample of paint, so that you can do a test spot in your room before you commit to an entire gallon.

Does painting a whole room seem a bit overwhelming? You can save time and even more money by painting just a single accent wall, instead of the whole room.

Tape off the ceiling, floor boards, and around windows and doorways, and make sure that you have a drop cloth under the area where you're working. It's fastest to paint each wall in three- to four -foot (91 to 122 centimeter) sections. Use your edging tool to get a clean line around windows and against the ceiling and floorboards; then follow up with a roller, making sure to even out the grain that the edging tool will sometimes leave behind.

When the room or wall is done, go back with your brush and roller to touch up any areas that are looking bare. Depending on what color you use, it may take more than one coat. A good rule of thumb is that cooler colors, like blues and greens, take fewer coats than warmer colors like yellows. Of course, if you're painting a light color over a darker one, you'll need some extra coats so that the old wall color doesn't peek through.

Up next, we'll complement your freshly-painted walls with some inexpensive fabric accents.