Bedroom renovations sound straightforward until you are halfway through one.
The bed is covered in decorating supplies, your clothes are living in boxes and you suddenly discover that the “quick coat of paint” you planned for Saturday is turning into an entire weekend of filling, sanding and repainting.
But giving your bedroom a new look does not have to become another household headache.
Whether you are carrying out a complete renovation or simply changing the flooring, furniture and colour scheme, approaching the project in the right order can save time, reduce clutter and make the whole experience easier to manage.
Here is how to renovate your bedroom without letting the project take over your home.
Start With a Clear Plan
The quickest way for a renovation to become stressful is to start taking things apart before deciding what you are actually doing.
Begin with a list.
Walk around the bedroom and write down everything you intend to change. Do the walls simply need painting, or are repairs required first? Are you keeping the flooring? Which pieces of furniture are staying? Do you need more storage?
Once you understand the scope of the project, separate the work into individual jobs.
You can then begin working out your budget.
Account for the obvious expenses such as paint, flooring and furniture, but leave some room for smaller costs too. Decorating equipment, fixings and unexpected repairs can gradually add to the overall bill.
A rough schedule is useful as well. You do not need to plan every hour, but knowing which jobs need completing before others will prevent unnecessary delays.
Empty the Room Properly
Decorating a bedroom while constantly moving furniture from one side to another makes a straightforward job much harder.
Clear the room as much as realistically possible.
Pack clothing, books and decorations into labelled boxes and move smaller belongings elsewhere. Removing wall art, mirrors and curtains before starting will also help prevent accidental damage.
Large furniture presents more of a challenge.
If you have another room available, you may be able to temporarily move wardrobes, drawers and your bed there. If space at home is already limited, short-term self storage can provide somewhere to keep furniture and other belongings while renovation work is being completed.
This is particularly useful when replacing flooring or carrying out work across the entire room, as having a genuinely empty space makes it much easier to move around.
Use the Opportunity to Declutter
There is little point carefully packing belongings away only to return everything to exactly the same place afterwards.
Before moving items out of the room, do some editing.
Clothes you no longer wear, books you are unlikely to read again and unwanted household items can be sold, donated or recycled where appropriate.
Separate things you genuinely want to keep but do not regularly use.
Seasonal clothing, spare bedding, suitcases and occasional-use items can easily take up a large amount of bedroom storage. Finding another suitable place for them can help you make better use of the newly renovated room.
The aim is not to get rid of everything. It is simply to avoid spending time and money improving a bedroom only to immediately fill it with the same clutter.
Protect What You Cannot Remove
If something has to remain in the room, make sure it is properly protected before you begin.
Move furniture into the centre of the room where possible and cover it before painting or carrying out dusty work.
Floors that are staying should also be protected from paint, dirt and damage caused by moving equipment.
Remove smaller items rather than attempting to work around them. Curtains, lamps, pictures and ornaments are generally much safer stored somewhere else until decorating is complete.
A few minutes spent preparing the space properly can save considerably more time cleaning up afterwards.
Do the Messiest Jobs First
Renovations are easier when they follow a logical order.
There is little point putting together a new wardrobe and then realising you still need to paint the wall behind it.
Start with demolition, repairs and preparation before moving on to decorating and then furniture.
A typical bedroom renovation could follow this order:
- Empty and prepare the room
- Remove old flooring or unwanted fixtures
- Complete repairs and plastering
- Prepare and paint the walls
- Install flooring
- Complete trims and finishing work
- Assemble furniture
- Add lighting and accessories
- Return your belongings
Your particular project might need a slightly different order, but keeping messy work at the beginning and decorative finishing touches until the end will usually make life easier.
Concentrate on One Task at a Time
When you are surrounded by unfinished jobs, there is a temptation to bounce between them.
You start painting one wall, move on to building a bedside table, realise the skirting needs attention and suddenly have three half-finished tasks.
Try to avoid it.
Finishing one stage before moving onto the next makes it easier to keep track of progress and prevents tools and materials from several different jobs taking over the room.
A written checklist can be surprisingly useful. Crossing jobs off provides a clear picture of how much you have completed and what still needs attention.
Expect Something to Take Longer
Almost every DIY project has at least one job that refuses to stick to the schedule.
Paint needs another coat. A delivery does not turn up when expected. Furniture takes twice as long to assemble as the instructions suggested.
Allowing some flexibility from the beginning makes these problems much easier to deal with.
Avoid planning essential jobs right at the last minute and, where possible, wait until the messy renovation work is genuinely complete before arranging the room.
If one task is delayed, look for something else on the list that you can complete without getting in the way.
Bring Things Back Carefully
Once the renovation is finished, the instinct is to unpack everything immediately.
Take your time.
Start with the essentials and think about where belongings should live in the new layout.
If something does not have a sensible place, ask whether it needs to be in the bedroom at all.
This is also the best time to introduce better storage habits. Give frequently used items an accessible home and keep surfaces relatively clear rather than filling every available space. If you’d like more time to decide on what stays and what goes, self storage can be a great option to take the pressure off and still keep your new room mess-free.
Keep the End Goal in Mind
A bedroom renovation is a temporary disruption for a space you will potentially enjoy for years.
The key to keeping the process manageable is organisation: know what you are doing before starting, create enough space to work properly, complete jobs in a logical order and expect the occasional setback.
Instead of trying to rush through everything at once, treat the renovation as a series of smaller jobs.
Before long, the paint tins, flat-pack furniture and boxes will be gone, and you will finally have the bedroom you were trying to create in the first place!
About Debz Louise
Debz Louise is a UK-based lifestyle expert and the founder of several lifestyle blogs, including Wannabe Princess and Under 5s. Specializing in everything from interior design and home renovation to body-positive fashion and early years development,