How to create a minimalist bedroom on a budget

After downsizing my clothing and creating a capsule wardrobe, I decided I wanted the rest of my bedroom to feel as organized and comfortable as my closet. So I started searching for how to create a minimalist bedroom on a budget. I'm going to share my favorite tips with you and how I used them in my bedroom.

1. Preparing the bedroom for a makeover

2. Deciding on a minimalist theme

3. Picking a furniture layout

4. Setting up and decorating my bedroom

If you don't have time to read the article now, you can save it to Pinterest for later.

I wouldn't mind that view from my bedroom!

1. Preparing the bedroom for a makeover

So you know where I started from, my bedroom initially had no particular style to it. It was just a collection of furniture that sort of matched and various pieces of artwork that I liked. The first thing I needed to do was cut down on miscellaneous items in my bedroom. I went around the room and re-homed things that didn't need to be in my bedroom, like my keys, a stack of mail, etc. 

I also wanted to do a different furniture layout (more about that later), so I figured I might as well remove everything from the walls. But before working on that, I decided to pare down my possessions further by using the steps listed in our decluttering article.

After that was done, I moved out all the furniture except for my bed and did a deep cleaning. I even washed all the walls.

This portion of the project took me all day, and I ended up sleeping with just my bed in the middle of my bedroom. I was tempted to keep just the bed and ditch all the other furniture. But I decided that was a bit extreme for now, so I went on to do research about what overall theme I wanted for the bedroom.

2. Deciding on a minimalist theme

I wanted something simple and peaceful. I'm not allowed to paint my walls, hang any window coverings, or put holes in the walls (it's a rental), so I was limited in how far I could take any theme. The walls are white-ish (let's call them off-white), the carpet is beige, the furniture is a natural pine, and I wanted to keep my blue bedding. I thought if I switched out or removed the pine furniture, I could have a blue-and-white theme.

I'm not sure if you can call this a "minimalist" theme per se. When I looked up minimalist bedroom styles, some of the suggestions I found were Japanese, Scandinavian, Zen, Boho, neutral, black-and-white, and all-white. None of those really matched my personal tastes very well.

Bohemian bedroom

But I really love the color blue and find it very relaxing. I think it pairs well with white, too. To make it more interesting, I wanted different shades of blue. So I decided to take this concept and make it minimalist. I'm not much for knick-knacks anyway, so I figured I could easily create the look I wanted without over-decorating. My color palette was inspired by this look:

3. Picking a furniture layout

My bedroom used to have my bed, a small dresser, a bookcase, my desk, and a balance ball chair in it. In case you didn't catch that, I did not have any bedside tables. My bed was against one wall in the corner with my desk next to it, so I used that as a sort of nightstand. Here's how my furniture was arranged.

The blue line above the bed indicates the window.

Pretty crowded, right? Yep, my place is small.

I didn't want my desk in my bedroom any longer, and I didn't want the bookcase in there either. During the purging and cleaning process, you may remember I had already moved out everything except for my bed from the room. So those pieces stayed out (I'll figure out what to do with them later). 

I wanted to keep the dresser, but I had this idea to put it in my closet. I got rid of so many clothes that this was easy to do. Now, most of my clothes are folded up in the dresser and the rest are hanging up on one side of the closet.

It was annoying to make the bed when it was in the corner because two sides were against the wall. Since I was taking a bunch of other furniture out, I decided to center the bed along the back wall so I could walk on both sides of it.

Next on my list was finding bedside tables (two of them, for visual balance), lamps, and something I always wanted--a chest to put at the foot of the bed. I figured if I could find a good deal, then I'd get it. If not, then it would wait.

I did a quick sketch of my bedroom and how I wanted the furniture placed so you can visualize what I'm talking about.

I should mention the drawing isn't to scale. It looks like the door might hit the chest, but there's actually a foot or two of room there. I'm using a free program to draw this, and it only makes square drawings. The room is more like a vertical rectangle. So no worries there.

Either way, it's a small room, so removing that additional furniture will help with how cramped it felt and definitely make it more minimalist.

4. Setting up and decorating my bedroom

My bed is just a simple metal frame with a memory foam mattress (and plywood to support the memory foam). I thought about getting rid of the frame and putting the mattress on the floor, but I like the look of it elevated. I think the room would be too bottom-heavy if the largest piece of furniture is low to the ground.

Putting my mattress on the floor isn't the look I want.

However, the metal frame is ugly. I didn't want to buy a new bed frame, so I looked into ideas to make it more attractive. This project looked interesting, but it felt intimidating for me to do on my own. Another suggestion was to wrap the legs and rails in overlapping ribbons, maybe with cotton batting underneath. I would have to pull the mattress and plywood off to do that, so that was a hard pass.

I wanted to try making my own pleated bed skirt. I don't want a traditional ruffly skirt--that's not my style. Except when I priced out fabric, it was going to be way more expensive to make one myself than to just buy one. So I bought this one from Bed Bath & Beyond in ivory. It has good reviews and is relatively affordable, plus I didn't have to take the whole mattress off to attach it--I just slid the mattress side to side and attached in to the plywood. The fabric quality is just okay, but it will work for now. It hides those ugly metal corners and wheels well enough.

I already have a sheet set in a soft grayish-blue, and last year I got myself a weighted blanket to see if it would improve my sleep. I chose the brand Luna because the blankets themselves are eco-friendly, but was very disappointed when the duvet covers that came with mine were 100% polyester. It took two washes to get the chemical smell to go away. However, it looks like now they have duvet covers in 100% cotton. Here's the color I got for my duvet if you want to see it. They sell their products on Amazon as well, but I bought them straight from the manufacturer's website because they have much better prices there.

Since I already had the bedding in the colors I wanted, once I added the bed skirt, my bed's makeover was complete. On to find the rest of my furniture.

First things first, I needed bedside tables. New ones were more than I wanted to spend, so I started looking at used pieces. I found two of these bar stools at a thrift store, for $5 each:

The stools are about 13" around on the top. All I need space for is a lamp, water bottle, phone, and a book. So far, everything fits. I thought that if it starts to feel too small I could add larger glass tops to increase the surface area.  I really like the minimalist aesthetic that these stools brought to the room, and they can be extra seating whenever I have people over!

I also needed small table lamps to go on each table. At first, I fell in love with a set of these:

But I'm way too frugal to spend $60 on a couple of lamps. So I decided it was time for an easy project. I bought 66 feet of fairy lights. I put one end of the lights into a mason jar I already had. A quick tip: it helps to turn them on while you're putting them in the jar to see if you have enough lights inside. Then I ran the lights up over my window (they sit on top of the blinds), down the other side, and put more lights into a second jar on top of the other table. Since the jars were free, I spent about $10 on new bedside lighting! This is similar to what my "lamps" look like.

Last on my list was a storage chest. Wow, they are expensive. I didn't find an affordable option. It isn't like I really need it. I just thought it would be a nice place to sit down while getting ready, and a place I can store my off-season clothes and extra blankets. I'll keep looking, but it's fine if I don't get one.

The last thing I wanted to do was add some artwork to the walls. I put back up some pictures of family and friends. I also used some pictures of the ocean and sky I took over the years. I printed them out on photo paper and put them in frames I already had. Here's a beach picture I took during a trip several years ago:

Oh, and here's a tip for renters who can't put nails in the walls like me: I use 3M Command Strips. In fact, I'd probably use them even if I could use a hammer and nail instead, because they allow me to place things exactly where I want. With a nail, you have to figure out where to put the hole, which is not the same place as where you want the frame to sit. This is way less complicated.

Overall, things worked out well. I started off with one design and ended with a different result, but that's OK too. I think when you have a small budget (I spent about $65 total), you have to be willing to change your plans. Also, if I'd researched furniture costs ahead of time, I might have gotten discouraged and decided it was too expensive to even try. Improvising along the way allowed me to come up with satisfying alternatives to my original ideas.

I love how airy and soothing my bedroom feels now. I have just slightly more furniture than I need (with the extra bedside table and lamp), but I like the symmetry of the two tables. 

I think this is also the first time ever that I've had a fully coordinated room where everything matched and there was a theme. I always thought something like that would be more time-consuming and take a lot more money. Another win for minimalism!

Next, I'll have to work on my living and dining room, because it's suddenly very crowded in there. But it doesn't seem so intimidating now that I've handled the bedroom.