$6 Master Bedroom Makeover & Headboard Tutorial

Have you been enjoying getting a peek at the lovely master bedrooms of other bloggers this week?  I love showing off beautiful rooms that were created with more effort than money.  I’m always impressed with how creative people get when they stick to a budget.  And I’m super impressed when someone can create a bedroom retreat as gorgeous as this one for a whopping $6!

One of the stand-out features of this master bedroom is the  framed, upholstered headboard that was designed and built by the homeowners.  Imagine their surprise when they opened a Pottery Barn catalog one day and saw a very similar bed.  They had an accidental Pottery Barn knock-off!

As we all know, the beautifully photographed rooms in home furnishing catalogs are a great source for inspiration.  How many times have you looked at a featured product and thought, “I could make that”?  We’ve all thought it, and sometimes we’ve even been able to do it successfully!  Here are a few of my favorite knock off projects from Blogland:

1. Restoration Hardware knockoff | 2. Pottery Barn knockoff | 3. Anthropologie knockoff | 4. Restoration Hardware knockoff | 5. Ballard Designs knockoff | 6. Restoration Hardware knockoff

Rita had some good things going in this room already, with a handsome, handmade bed frame (there’s a tutorial!) and a charming under-the-eaves space.  Take a look at how she used those things and a lot of creativity to transform her old room into one that was light and airy.

Submitted by: Harbor Breeze Home

Hi, I’m Rita!  I live on an island off of beautifulVancouver Island, BC with my husband (of 22 years this year!) and three sons (ages 19, 17, and 13).  I am a former prairie farm girl (from Montana) who is constantly amazed when I look out my windows and see the ocean and mountains.   For the last 20 years, we have lived and worked at a year round Bible camp.

We’ve experienced different roles here and are currently living in our 4^th camp home.  It-  like all the others – is not our house.  However, early on in our married life, it became my goal to make each house we lived in our home.  That goal has turned into a passion.  I discovered I just love to tackle the challenges that old homes bring, and turn them into something that is uniquely us.  Budget friendly projects are a must, but I never want the lack of money to stifle the joy of creativity.

The other day, I had a spurt of decor inspiration as I was cleaning our bedroom.  Actually, I’ve been contemplating it for quite a while, but cleaning day just helped spur me on.  For those who have never seen it before, this was what our bedroom looked like when we moved in:

A little over a year ago, it had a splash of {magical} White Down paint.  I loved its brightness, but it needed a little love…

So, let me introduce our new Beach Cottage Bedroom…:

My goal was  to use things that I already had.  I “hunted my house” ~ a new terminology I just heard ~ and repurposed, rearranged and reimagined what I already had.  The first big change was the white bedspread.  It’s actually the underside of a handmade quilt.  It’s so beautiful, even though it was meant to lay the other way around {It’s a bit busy, though…}.

Extra {clean, but flat} bed pillows that were taking up precious storage space were recycled into new throw pillow forms.  Scraps from my fabric stash became a  new set of decor pillows that give a pop of color. {My favourites are those aqua linen ones…}

The headboard and nightstand were given some fresh paint, and ferns from the yard were turned into botanical prints.  The chippy white chair was moved to make a more stylish bedside table.  White dishware, clear glass, shells, and fresh flowers from the yard line the shelves.

My husband made our bed years ago ~ long before I had a blog, or even knew what a blog was, for that matter!  I remember we plotted and planned and dreamed and sketched.  I had a dream for an upholstered headboard that looked like a picture frame.  I thought it was so clever and original.  Silly, silly me.  Look what I found last year in the Pottery Barn catalog:

When we were in the dreaming and scheming stage, we made sure the headboard could be easily removed in the event that I ever wanted to paint it and/or reupholster.  {Like now!}  The headboard is attached to two tall side posts.

Obviously, the back isn’t the pretty part, but you can see the construction here:

With the removal of a few screws, it comes right off.  Then with the removal of a few more screws, the upholstered part pops out.

I decided to leave the upholstery as it was, but took the frame to my kitchen painting studio and gave it 2 coats of Benjamin Moore’s White Down (the same color as the walls).

One of my goals with this makeover was to do it for as little money as possible.  Total spent?  $6, believe it or not.  I purchased six frames at $1 each for the botanical prints.  All other changes were made using things I already had around the house.

Here are a few more details and source info: 

Thanks for sharing your beautiful bedroom with us, Rita!  For my readers who loved the Pottery Barn knock off that was included, check out a few more Remodelaholic posts about getting the look for less that was inspired by a catalog.