I Redecorated My Room On A Tight Budget And Here's What I Learned
Beauty on a budget.
I don't know if I'm the only twentysomething who feels like this, but I've never really purposefully bought furniture or home goods. I've just kind of acquired them.
As I'm thankfully working from home for the foreseeable future, I thought it was about time I gave my room a revamp that reflected my tastes now.
Fortunately, I had a bit of money to spare — $100 — but I wanted to make sure I got as much out of it as possible.
So, if you're thinking about updating your room, I hope the ramblings of this design-challenged fool can be of use!
Here's a snap of my room pre-makeover:
In particular, I wanted to tackle:
1. The sheets, which were left by the last woman who rented my room.
2. The wall hanging, which I got at a market when I was in college — and which I recently discovered had mold on the back.
3. The sad, dead plant by the window.
4. The clutter.
For a theme, I chose millennial pink, because otherwise I'm like a magpie who gravitates toward the brightest and shiniest things, with no concept of how they might look together.
With a mask on my face and a song in my heart, I embarked on the 40-minute walk to my nearest Ikea.
After striding through the showroom, I found three sets of sheets that fit the color scheme I was going for:
I ended up going for the dusty pink sheets on the left, which have vertical stripes going through them. They cost me $24.99.
I then spotted this large canvas, which I liked because it a) fits the colors I was going for beautifully and b) I'm a writer and...typewriter.
Unfortunately, many of the pieces I'd been eyeing up on Etsy would have blown my entire budget, so, at $19.99, I thought this was worth a shot.
Finally, I picked up these fake flowers on my way out. I'd never had artificial flowers before, but I figured I was guaranteed not to kill these.
Also, they cost $1.99. I can't find them on the Ikea website, but there are lots of similar ones available.
Day one total: $46.97
I finally reached the point of working from home where my back was screaming at me to buy a proper desk and chair. I began to search Craigslist, setting my radius to one mile as I don't have a car.
Note: The Craigslist purchases I made were done outside people's homes and while wearing masks. I disinfected everything once I got home.
I quickly found a chair for free, which was coincidentally being given away by someone in my building.
Now, I won't lie: A paint-splattered chair isn't the most aesthetic thing I could have gotten. However, it's comfy and cost $0.
Next was the desk, which I found from someone two blocks away from me. I was a bit concerned because the photo only used a cat for measurement, but it fit perfectly.
The desk cost me $20 and did indeed make my work from home dreams come true.
Day two total: $66.97
I live near a bunch of discount and 99¢ stores, so I wanted to see if there was anything else that looked cute.
Specifically, I was hoping to find a pillow that would help cover up the paint stains on my chair.
In my third discount store, I found this pillow that I loved because the little gems turned rainbow in the light.
Plus, I figured it would also look cute on my bed if it was too uncomfortable to use when I sat at my desk working. This set me back $9.99.
I also found this basket in a different store, which I thought might be handy for dealing with some of my clutter.
This was from a 99¢ store, but, plot twist, it cost $1.99.
Day three total: $78.95
My new desk looks over a parking lot, which means I get a lot of light. But it can look a touch drab. As a result, I thought some bright curtains might make the view a bit more lively.
(Not actually my view).
Now, I must confess: These curtains I found on Amazon did send me slightly over budget. But because they claimed to be blackout curtains, I thought they would be a better investment than the slightly cheaper ones I found in the discount store.
These Nicetown curtains cost $26.95.
Day four total: $105.90
I had to move around my furniture to make the desk fit, which resurfaced an ungodly amount of dust that needed to be cleaned.
I also tried little embellishments with stuff I found along the way — like adding a scrunchie I never really wore on my bedside lamp. I'm not too sure if I actually like this, but hey, it matches. I think if I was doing this all again, I would definitely look up some easy DIY/crafts projects to make some stuff myself.
I'm super happy with the results! I think having a clear color scheme really helped me narrow down what I wanted. And it means that I feel like I'm waking up in a marshmallow.
Shopping around and (pretty much) sticking to my budget also helped me avoid impulsively buying unnecessary things. I know I'm doing this all on the cheap, but I didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff only to replace it all in a few months.
In particular, having a cute work station has been *chef's kiss*.
Sweet, sweet lumbar support.
I realize I'm super lucky to have a bit of money to spare on nonessential products right now. I'm usually the type of person who's super hesitant to spend money on material things for themself, so this whole makeover was a nice reminder that it's okay to spend a lil' to make myself feel better when I can.
Plus, it was truly fantastic to have a fun project amid all that's going on right now.