A Step-by-Step Home Bedroom Refresh You Can Do In A Weekend

homedude is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, We may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

Are you feeling inspired after your latest Pinterest binge? It’s easy to imagine everything you can do in your home to make it look like a designer worked their magic. However, time is precious, and your schedule is packed. You want to give your bedroom a style boost, but you hesitate, assuming you don’t have the time or resources to pull off such a bold mission.

Luckily, even amidst the business of life, there are ways to refresh your space without sacrificing sleep or stretching it out for months. Get ready to roll up your sleeves when the work week ends because it’s time for a weekend project! Follow these tips to give your bedroom a brand-new look.

12 Steps To A Weekend Bedroom Refresh

1. Get Rid Of Clutter

The simplest and most cost-effective way to make your bedroom better instantly is to declutter. If your go-to move when undressing is to toss clothes onto your bed and pile shoes on the floor, you’re far from creating a relaxing retreat. Likewise, if your bedroom tends to be where you stash things when you have visitors, clutter quickly becomes the focal point.

Quickly pass through your room and gather anything that doesn’t belong. Return items to their proper homes, hang up clothing, put shoes away, and clear flat surfaces. Get rid of anything that no longer fits, is damaged, or you don’t feel good wearing. These things aren’t worth giving up a beautiful, calm bedroom for, so grab a few boxes or bags for donations.

2. Decide If Some Furniture Can Go

Transitioning smoothly from decluttering items is the next step to your bedroom refresh — assessing your existing bedroom furniture. Now that you’ve reduced the number of things in your room, do you still need the two dressers, extra side table, wardrobe, etc.? If you have too much furniture in your bedroom it cramps and overwhelms the space, making it feel more stifling than serene, especially if you have a small room.

Be honest with yourself. If you know you’re trying to cram too much furniture into your room, see if you can reconfigure your storage situation to get rid of one or two pieces. If your budget allows, you might even find that replacing a few smaller pieces with one larger piece makes your room feel bigger and gives it a whole new look.

3. Clean Your Bedroom

After decluttering and paring down unnecessary furniture, the best thing to do (and it doesn’t cost a thing) is to clean your room. Start at the top, wiping down walls and trim, dusting flat surfaces, and vacuuming or mopping floors. Don’t forget to clean light fixtures and ceiling fans, and wipe down switch plates.

Extend this cleaning to your primary bathroom if you have an ensuite. Before you start cleaning, toss your sheets and bedding into the washing machine (unless you plan on replacing them — see step 6). When your room is clean and fresh, it completely changes how you feel when you’re in it, which affects how you see and respond to the space.

4. Switch Up Your Color Palette

Another easy way to give your room a refresh and create a big change is with color. Switching up your entire color palette makes a significant impact, but it’s also possible to do things on a smaller scale.

You have a few options when it comes to reimaging your bedroom colors. For the biggest change, paint your walls, and swap out bedding, curtains, decor, and other components so that you’re using brand-new colors in every area of the space.

If you’re limited on time, trying to spend as little as possible, or love the current wall color, switch out accessories. For example, if your walls are light blue and you have tan and white bedding and decor, keep the blue walls but brighten things up with pale yellow and white accessories.

5. Create A Seating Area

If you have spare floor space in your bedroom, add a seating area to elevate the room’s style and give it an entirely new ambiance. The size of your seating area depends on the available space.

It could be as simple as a cozy chair and small side table or a bench at the foot of the bed. Or, if you have a larger room, the seating area can be more elaborate with a loveseat, chaise, or two large chairs.

6. Refresh Your Bedding

There’s something about climbing into bed at night and feeling soft, clean sheets that make you feel like you’re in a cushy hotel or high-end retreat. A brand new set of soft, luxury sheets, a beautiful coverlet or duvet, and a few plush, cushy pillows go a long way to change the look and feel of a bedroom.

When choosing sheets, consider temperature, feel, and size. Make sure the sheets are the proper depth to accommodate your mattress. Too short, and they’ll come off all the time, and too deep, and they’ll bunch up and feel hot, trapping you every time you adjust your sleeping position. If you have an extra-deep mattress, look for deep pocket sheets and use sheet straps to secure them in place.

7. Revamp Window Treatments

Changing your window treatments is a quick way to give your bedroom a refresh. Swap out curtains, replace blinds, add shades, or layer drapes over lightweight sheers. Since you’re choosing window treatments for a bedroom, pay attention to options that allow you to block out light, add privacy, and complement the room’s style.

8. Add A Rug

It’s amazing how one piece of decor, when chosen wisely, can alter an entire space and make your home look expensive. If you don’t have a rug in your bedroom, adding one will instantly change how your room looks. Plus, it feels so much better to put your feet on a warm, soft rug in the morning than on a cold, unforgiving floor. If you have carpet in your bedroom, layering a rug on top is a game changer.

Choose a rug that, when placed under your bed, extends at least 18 inches on each side and beyond the foot of the bed. If you can’t afford a large rug, another option is to use matching runners on either side of the bed and one at the foot.

However, multiple rugs do tend to break up a space visually, making it seem smaller. Therefore, keep this in mind if your room is already on the small side. If budget is a big factor, consider going to a carpet store and asking about an oversized remnant. Suppliers and stores will often offer these at a reduced rate, and bind the edges.

9. Assess Your Existing Decor

Have you outgrown your existing bedroom decor? Do you have a new style preference or simply want to make a few simple changes in your space? Refreshing your bedroom by swapping out decor pieces and artwork is an easy, quick way to make a difference.

To make a statement or create an intriguing space that reflects your style, skip the big box stores. Check out your favorite vintage boutique or local thrift shop for a few unique finds.

10. Add Fresh Greenery

Add new life to your bedroom, literally, with a few fresh flowers and plants. If you don’t have a green thumb, choose hardy, low-maintenance indoor plants like aloe vera or a money plant (jade plant).

Living greenery is ideal, but if you really fear killing every plant you touch, there are artificial options that offer relatively good alternatives. Sites like afloral and even Amazon have extremely realistic-looking faux greenery available. However, if choosing fake floral, be prepared to dust and clean it regularly if you want your bedroom to get the refresh you desire.

11. Make Lighting Cohesive 

Assess your bedroom’s existing lighting and make sure it’s cohesive to refresh your space. The best way to do this is to verify that all of the bulbs in your room are the same color temperature to maintain a sense of visual balance.

If the overhead light is warm yellow and your bedside lamps are bright white, it gives off a very jarring look and makes you feel uneasy. Uneasiness is definitely not a feeling you want to have in your bedroom.

Warmer tones tend to provide a cozier vibe, making them well-suited for a bedroom. However, if you prefer a brighter and whiter color temperature, go for it.

The key is that whatever you choose, make it the same throughout the space. Either swap out bulbs to ensure they all match, or choose smart bulbs that you can adjust using your smartphone or a voice assistant, like Alexa or Siri.

12. Incorporate Calming Scents

Refresh your bedroom using all of your senses. Adding a pleasant scent, like fresh linen, helps reinforce the overall vibe of a clean, fresh space.

Lavender is another popular fragrance for the bedroom, providing a calming effect. Use candles, diffusers, potpourri, or wax melts to emit a steady, consistent fragrance that doesn’t become too overpowering. If you have fresh flowers in your bedroom, pay attention to how they affect the overall fragrance of your room before you add any more aromas.

Give Your Bedroom A Fresh Look In One Weekend

These tips are easy to accomplish in a weekend, whether you choose a few or all of them, to get a fantastic bedroom refresh. Many of these steps, like decluttering, cleaning, and adding fresh flowers and pleasing aromas, are easy to do and light on the budget.

For a larger impact, paint your walls, reimagine your color palette, and swap out existing window treatments and decor. The primary goal of your bedroom do-over should be to create a space that enables you to relax, escape, and feel at peace. Plan to give the transformation your full focus and attention, and you’ll be amazed at the wonderful things you accomplish in one weekend.