Another day another makeover! Next up, my teenage boys bedroom which went Viral on Reddit!. Renovated on a small budget and helped along by the upcycling of free furniture. From lonely and bland to a welcoming, warm and moody bedroom. Here’s how I did it…

Viewed over 5 million Times on Reddit!

Back in November, I shared a before and after of my Teenage Sons Bedroom on Reddit. Within 48 hours it had amassed 5.6 million views, had been shared over 12 Thousand Times and had over 2000 comments!

This 2m X 3m space, had really struck a chord with people! They were amazed by what could be done with such a small room! How despite its compact nature, the room still gave the impression of space! How the dark colours I chose worked so well, and how it cost very little to achieve!…

changing rooms!

Confession time! I have a reputation in my family for being …to put it kindly, fickle! I can be completely in love with a room i’ve created one minute, then months later, I can do a full U turn and want to change everything about it!

Its not that I no longer like the room, the truth is, I just need to constantly be creative, my rooms evolve and reshape as often as my mood does.

I’m the same with my garden and allotment. I am forever changing my world and the things in it. I find it keeps life fresh and interesting, I cant help it, nor would I want to! Adding new textures and elements to the environments that inhabit my world, prevents my reality from becoming stagnant and dull. In short, it brings me a massive amount of Joy!

The Frugal Decorator!

Change can be expensive! However, over the years I have become quite the bargain shopper and DIY enthusiast. You would be amazed at how far I can make £100 stretch! Or shocked by the furniture I have obtained for FREE! Check out my other sons Highland Bedroom makeover for a room full of freebies!

I do all my own Wallpapering, Painting, Sewing and designing. There are very few things that I would call a tradesperson for, I am a big believer in being as self sufficient as possible-It also helps immensely if you marry a very capable handyman like my husband! I really lucked out on that score!

So Whats my Point?

My point is… spend less, not more! When you fall down the Rabbit hole of Pinterest, which we all do! Whatever you see in those magazine worthy room scapes, can be replicated with cheaper or even free alternatives.

Some of the comments I received on this room via Reddit were-‘It looks like a Ralph Lauren Bedroom’, ‘It looks like a bedroom at Hogwarts!’ or ‘ It has Rich academia Vibes’. I can asure you there are zero Ralph Lauren items in this room, no Wizards were involved in its creation and though it may look Rich and expensive, it absolutely wasn’t!

Before

Just across the hall from my son Leo’s Room and on the other side of the Linen room is my Son Jacks Bedroom. A 2m x 3m white space with zero personality!

Pretty uninspiring isn’t it? The problem with teenage boys rooms is, they are usually messy, unloved and scattered with chocolate bar wrappers, football boots, clothes and empty plates. My son was the typical teenager, it was just a place to sleep, dump his stuff and play his xbox. I couldnt look at it any longer!!

So I cleaned everything out (which took a day!) and got cracking with my plan! Jack is not a baby anymore and is no longer interested in childlike things. His interests are football, gaming and his mates! Gone are the days of toys, lego and colouring books. He asked for a grown up room, so that is what I wanted to give him..

Wall Paint and Wallpaper

My son likes to touch the walls, I dont know why, maybe hes leaning on them to put his shoes on, or maybe its just a teenagers right of passage to mark all the walls in their bedrooms with dark ugly smudges!…who knows? Whatever the reason, its an eyesore.

I needed a solution that would hide, disguise and protect! I decided on Isla Check Wallpaper in Black and Copper at the fabulous price of £10 a roll and Wholly Moley French Chic Paint for £42.95. The Skirting Boards and Picture rail were also painted in wholly Moley (trim paint)

Products Used

3 x Rolls of Wallpaper =£30
Wallpaper Paste = £3.00
Wholey Moley Wall Paint= £42.95
Wholly Moley Trim Paint =14.95

Total=£90.90

Free furniture!

This sad little console unit was offered for free online (see below, How I get my freebies). I cleaned it, sanded it, gave it new knobs and used the French Chic browning hack to transform it….

FRENCH CHIC BROWNING WAX HACK

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What You’ll Need

French Chic Browning wax
French Chic Creme de la Creme Lazy Range
Paint Brush
Waxing Brush
Sugar Soap

Method

Apply 1-2 coats of french chic Creme de la Creme to furniture and allow it to dry completely
With a waxing Brush, Apply evenly 1 coat of wax and allow to dry for half an hour- for a lighter wood look you may find 1 coat is sufficient. But for a darker wood effect like mine apply a second coat after half an hour has passed

TOP TIP *** If you have worked with wax before, you know that it is standard practice to buff off excess wax to make the finished surface more durable…I didnt do that, I found after the second coat of wax, the unit was exactly how I wanted it. No Buffing Required! *This unit is mainly used for storage and will experience very little wear

**For High traffic furniture like dining tables and bannister rails, buffing would be advisable.

Drawers

The drawers beside Jacks bed were also offered for free online. I sanded them roughly, then painted them in Wholly Moley Trim Paint

The Mirror

Another Freebie! This lady actually couldn’t wait to be shot of it! It’s very large and heavy and lets be honest, quite unattractive! Again, I used the Frenchic Browning wax hack on it and gave it the glow up it deserved!

Armchair & Tv Unit

Both The armchair and former Old School Art Cupbard were also free and received no makeovers, they were both perfect as they were.

Lamps

Yup! They were free too. They belonged to an older lady whom was downsizing and wanted to declutter, I was happy to give them a new home!

*HOW I GET MY FREEBIES?

I belong to a local group on Facebook called wastesavers, the purpose of the group is for people to offer to its members free items, such as- household furniture, bric a brac, appliances and clothes..stuff that ordinarily may have ended up at the dump.

In my opinion none of the stuff they offer actually deserves to be dumped. I’ve had a nearly new Oven, bed frames, bookcase’s, chairs…you name it, most of which were in fabulous condition. People can be very generous, and most of the time, theres nothing wrong with these items, they really just want them out of the way.

Curtains And Bedding

The Curtains were second hand off Ebay for the grand price of £12.20!
The Duvet cover is Highams Hotel Style Duvet Quilt Cover with Pillowcase cotton Bedding Set, Charcoal Grey – Single
The blanket at the foot of the bed, is actually another duvet with a check Teddy Bear Duvet Cover
The Velvet throw Pillow was from Shein

Bed

The Bed, we have had for a while. Its an ideal bed for this room thanks to large storager drawer beneath. It was formerly the bottom bed of a bunkbed set. Here is a similar one