Several years ago when my brother was getting ready for college, my parents, husband and I decided to redecorate his room. We wanted to make it special for him since he would be commuting from home for classes. We planned all of our work in the room for while he was away for the weekend. We actually accomplished this cool room re-do all in the time between Friday and Sunday night. It was really a fun project, and we found some interesting and inexpensive ways to redecorate a room in a short time. If you decide to undertake a makeover like this, be sure to you plan your theme ahead of time and buy everything you need so that you do not use precious time during the weekend running to stores.
First we completely emptied and cleaned out the room. Next, we added a fresh coat of paint, and then the real fun started!
We decided on a casino theme because my brother liked Texas Hold’em and other dice and card games at the time and it was a manly color scheme to work with. When planning your redecoration, choose a theme that’s meaningful and appealing for whoever uses the room. My husband is a wonderful artist and he drew cards and dice on the wall. He even used my brother’s initials in the ace of spades card for an extra personal touch.
To add pops of color and open up the space, we took the doors off the closets and used casino themed shower curtains on tension rods to cover the openings. A curtain and valance that matched the bedding were added to the window. We painted the built-in desk and shelves red.
My favorite part of the remodel is how we added color to the desk by gluing decks of cards to the desktop. Then we cut and screwed a thick piece of plexi-glass down over the cards. It looked so cool! Finishing touches included the bedding, some great pillows that I found at the dollar store, a funky lamp and chair, and a black area rug.
Bonus time & money saving idea: Adding a large rug is a great tip for refreshing the floors in a small room where you do not want to spend the time or money to re-carpet. In my brother’s room the rug took up a large part of the floor area, so the old carpet was barely noticeable.
Finally, we moved the furniture back in, staged his photos and other knick-knacks, and we were done!
So, for about $200 and a weekend of work, we remade a boring room into something fun and vibrant. My brother was stunned and loved it! His reaction and the memories made working with my parents and my husband were—wait for it…priceless!