Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, I spend much more time in my bedroom than I ever did before. This has led to me becoming bored with my surroundings, wanting to change my room in any way possible to make it more exciting. But, as a teenager with no job, I don’t have enough money to drop on new furniture, cans of paint, or a nice rug. This got me thinking: what are some cheap ways to change up your room?
1. Rearranging and decluttering
The simplest way to change your room is to rearrange it. Whether you are moving every piece of furniture or just rotating your bed, having some furniture moved can help the space feel different without too much effort. Decluttering the stuff you don’t need or want can also help your room feel bigger, cleaner, and new.
2. Furniture
Although new furniture is expensive, you can get furniture for free in numerous ways. One way is online, through places like Craigslist, Nextdoor, and your neighborhood “for nothing” groups on Facebook. All of these places have people selling furniture for free or very cheap. You can also take a walk through your neighborhood to see if anyone put any furniture on the side of the road (although this is best when it’s not rainy).
3. Decorations
Another way to change your room is to change your walls. This is especially helpful if you don’t like your wall color or don’t have a lot of furniture. There are so many things you can put on your walls that are probably around your house; including bandanas, scarves, patterned sheets, magazine clippings, photos, postcards, and so much more. Combine all of these and you could have a collage on your wall with maximum coverage. You can also get free paint or wallpaper samples to add some color and patterns for free.
An easy project you can do is making pillows out of old shirts. All you need to do is turn your shirt inside out, and sew the bottom of your shirt closed. After that, you turn it again so the design is on the outside, put the pillow in, and use an invisible stitch to sew the pillow into the shirt. There are also tutorials online that show you how to do this in much greater detail.
For other decorations and items, you can reuse stuff you already own. For example, pretty mugs and teacups look great as plant pots, pen holders, and catch-all trays. Picking flowers from your neighborhood and drying them looks great both in a vase or hung on the wall (just make sure to ask first before picking the flowers from people’s yards). There are also tutorials online for making small rugs out of old shirts.
It may seem daunting, but it is possible to redo a room without much money. Being creative and repurposing pre-owned items is one of the easiest ways to do so.
