I went looking for DIY bedroom decor ideas for adults this week, and wow, the internet still thinks we’re all sixteen. It’s mostly string lights, mason jars, and photo walls held up with clothespins. Suppose that’s your thing, great. But most of us past college want a bedroom that feels like a nice hotel, not a dorm.
So I picked seven projects with one simple test in mind: when you’re done, would a friend walk in and assume you bought it? If the answer was no, I left it out. None of them cost much, and you don’t need to know a thing about interior design to pull them off. I’ve sorted them from quickest to slowest, so you can start with an easy win.
DIY Bedroom Decor Ideas For Adults You Can Finish In One Afternoon
1. Warm Bulbs Fix A Cheap-Looking Room Faster Than Anything
I’m starting here because it’s the cheapest fix on the list, and it’s the one most people skip. That harsh, bluish light you get from some bulbs makes a bedroom look like a dentist’s office after dark.
Look at the box before you buy. Energy Trust of Oregon suggests around 2700K for bedrooms, while 5000K daylight bulbs belong in desk lamps. So if yours say 5000K, there’s your problem. And try leaving the ceiling light off at night. A couple of lamps will do a much better job.
2. New Pulls Make A Budget Dresser Look Pricier
The plain little knobs on most cheap dressers are a dead giveaway. Swap them for black or brushed brass pulls, and the same dresser suddenly looks like it came from a much nicer store. You only need a screwdriver, which is why this is my favorite kind of budget home styling.
(Quick tip: if you’re going from knobs to pulls, measure the distance between the two screw holes, center to center, before you order. Pulls come in set sizes, and guessing wrong means drilling new holes.)
3. Curtains Hung Near The Ceiling Make The Room Look Taller
This one drives me a little crazy, because almost everyone hangs the rod right on top of the window frame. Move it up close to the ceiling, and let it extend past the window on each side. Then buy panels long enough to brush the floor.
That’s it. Your ceiling looks higher, the window looks bigger, and the room looks planned. It’s the same trick you’ll see in living room decor ideas for low ceilings, and it works just as well over a bed.
Give It A Weekend, And You Can Paint Furniture And Make Your Own Art
4. A Thrifted Dresser With A Smooth Paint Job Looks Store-Bought
Facebook Marketplace is full of old solid wood dressers that need some love. I think many are built better than the new stuff you’d buy for the same price. They’re ugly right now, sure, but that’s fixable.
Grab these before you start:
- A degreaser (old furniture is greasier than it looks)
- Some sandpaper to rough up the old finish
- A bonding primer
- Matte or satin paint, enough for two coats
Brush marks are what make a DIY paint job look DIY. So go thin, do two coats, and use a small foam roller on the flat parts. I’d also pick a darker color than you think you want. Black, dark green, or navy look way more grown-up on a dresser than anything bright.
One more thing, and please don’t skip it. If the piece is already painted and could be older than 1978, test it for lead before you sand. That’s the year the CPSC ban on lead paint for consumer furniture took effect. A hardware store test kit takes only a few minutes to use.
5. Free Museum Prints In Big Frames Pass For Real Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been giving away its public domain images since 2017, and you can use them however you like. Go to the Met’s website, filter your search for Open Access, and look for the little OA icon on the picture.
Old botanical drawings are my go-to for a bedroom. Get one printed at a local print shop, then hunt down a big frame at a thrift store and put a wide white mat inside it. That mat is what makes a print look like gallery art. Size matters too. A tiny print floating over a queen bed looks sad.
6. A Joint Compound Canvas Looks Like The Expensive Plaster Kind
You know those chunky white plaster canvases that show up in every home store? You can make one with joint compound, which is the same stuff you’d use to patch drywall.
My method comes from a Home Depot how-to, and it’s easier than it sounds. You take a canvas drop cloth, the kind painters throw over furniture, and stretch it over a plain wood frame. Give it a coat of primer, then spread the joint compound on with a putty knife. It doesn’t have to be neat. Home Depot says to let it dry for about 16 hours, so I’d do this part at night and paint it the next day, either white or a soft off-white. Leave the lumps and knife marks alone, too. That rough look is what you’re paying for when you buy one in a store.
Board And Batten Is The Big One, So Plan On Two Weekends
7. Board And Batten Behind The Bed Looks Like It Came With The House
This one takes real time, so don’t start it on a Sunday night. It’s also the project people usually notice first, so it’s worth the effort if you own your place or plan to stay a while.
The basic idea is pretty simple. You glue thin strips of MDF or pine to the wall in a grid, nail them in, fill the nail holes, caulk the seams, and then paint the whole thing.
Before you cut any boards, put the full grid up on the wall with painter’s tape. Leave it up for a day or two, then check it in the morning and at night. If the boxes look too big or too squished, you’ll notice, and moving tape is a lot easier than pulling glued wood off a wall.
When you start putting the strips up, check every one with a level. Most walls aren’t perfectly straight, and your eye will find the one board that’s a little off.
Use the same paint color on the wall and the strips. Matching them is what makes it look like the wall was always built that way.
Caulking is the slow part. You’ll run a thin bead down every seam, and it gets boring fast. Don’t rush it, though, because any gap you miss will show up as soon as the paint dries.
If you rent, talk to your landlord before you start. And if you might move in the next year, I’d skip this and paint a dresser instead. At least a dresser can come with you when you move.
