Budget Makeover – Start to Finish

Ready to give your space a fresh new look without blowing your budget? A DIY home makeover doesn’t have to mean tearing down walls or spending thousands—sometimes, it’s as simple as reimagining the pieces you already own. Redoing old furniture and adding inexpensive trim can instantly elevate a room, giving it a custom, high-end feel on a shoestring budget. Whether you’re a seasoned DIYer or just getting started, these small, strategic updates can make a big impact! Let me show you how I did just that in my bedroom budget makeover!

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Decor Links:

Paint Your Walls

Paint is the quickest way to transform your space! I wanted to give this room a moody makeover, so I decided to color drench my walls and plant all my trim as well in the color Barberry. Instantly this space already felt refreshed! Paint costs around $30 per can and you typically can do a room in less than 2 cans!

Faux Crown Molding

I love the look of crown but hate the cost. So, I decided to make my own using 3 pieces of trim and make them look like 1! This isn’t always the cheapest option, but it is cheaper and easier than real trim. This cost me around $75 to do my whole room.

Check out my blog post on my Faux Crown Molding with all my supplies linked here!

Picture Frame Molding

My next budget friendly idea is Picture Frame Molding. I grabbed the cheapest trim I could find at the store to work on this project. This is just plastic material, not wood, and I cut it using miter shears to make my boxes. I did use my nail gun to install it, but if you don’t have power tools, you could also use liquid nails!

You can check out my supplies and more details on this Picture Frame Molding on my blog post linked here!

Vanity Makeover

I have had this vanity my entire life and this is the 5th makeover I’ve given it! I just can’t seem to part with it. This time I gave it a faux wood look! I have used this method before on furniture that can’t be stained but want the wood look. I luckily had all these supplies on hand already, so this only cost me $20 for new knobs. If you don’t have existing furniture you can flip, be sure to check Facebook marketplace or online! You can usually find people giving away dressers for $20!

You can see all my supplies and how I achieved this Faux Wood look on my blog post here!

Dresser Makeover

This dresser I got when I was in college and is solid wood. The finish on it has just become chipped and damaged over the years during multiple moves. It also had a couple of broken drawer slides. But the shape of this dresser is still something I love! Instead of doing the faux wood look, I decided to do a pop of color! This did cost me a bit more because I splurged on the hardware and then had to replace the broken drawer glides, but I still only spent about $75 to flip this dresser.

You can see all my supplies and breakdown on this Dresser Makeover here!

Plant Shelves

Before I had all my plants along my bay window in my room. This worked great for the plants, but it made my space feel very crowded and didn’t let in a ton of light. Instead of putting my plants back in the window, I decided to get rid of the mirror above my dresser and replace it with shelves. I grabbed the cheapest pine boards I could find at the store and stained them to look like white oak. I added in these brass brackets and now my plants have a spot to continue to grow without taking away my natural light!

Stain Combo: Shitake Tan Wash + Special Walnut stain

Additional Decor

Finally, I did buy some additional decor because I did reuse and save money in this space. I purchased a new rug because the carpet all needs replaced. However, this isn’t in the budget and is a big project we will have to hire out. So, for now, I threw a new rug down in the space! Then I always swapped out the light fixture for something more modern and added in a tall standing mirror.

Overall, I spent $350 on my projects and $200 on additional decor. Overall, $550 may not be in your budget, but this can help spark some ideas to transform your space! DIY doesn’t have to be huge expensive room makeovers, sometimes just swapping out the hardware on your cabinets or furniture can change your space!