Home Improvement Interior Remodel

5 Bedroom Remodel Ideas That Pay Off

Modern Bedroom

imaginima / Getty Images

Bedroom remodels are a winning prospect in so many ways. Unlike kitchens or baths, bedroom remodels require very little complicated, invasive work. You'll have no plumbing pipes to run or large appliances to purchase and install. While you might want to add a light or two, bedrooms are more about paint, fabrics, window treatments, flooring, wallpaper, and other lower-cost, DIY-friendly materials.

Another great thing is that bedroom remodels can be a positive return on your investment. Expanding upward or outward to build a new addition or bedroom often represents a low net return because your initial investment is so high. But rehabbing and redecorating an existing space is vastly cheaper and faster to accomplish. After all, there's a reason why house stagers focus so much attention on making bedrooms look just right: Along with the kitchen, the bedroom has a personal, intimate appeal with most buyers.

  • 01 of 05

    Transform Bedroom Into a Primary Suite

    Bedroom Turned Into Master Suite

    Beginning in the Middle

    Carving out property to expand your home's footprint is always outrageously expensive, since a new foundation, walls, roofing, and a host of other elements are required. Turning your existing bedroom into a primary bedroom is a far less expensive project, but is one that can pay you back handsomely. But where do you get the space for this?

    Catherine and Bryan Williamson are the husband-and-wife design team behind the popular blog Beginning in the Middle. They created a primary suite without laying down a single square foot of foundation. They did this by merging two bedrooms and a hallway into one, large area. The result is a gorgeous top-floor living-sleeping area that is bathed in light during the day, yet remote and cozy at night.

    Expanded Bedroom from Beginning in the Middle

    About This Term: Primary Bedroom

    Many real estate associations, including the National Association of Home Builders, have classified the term "Master Bedroom" as discriminatory. "Primary Bedroom" is the name now widely used among the real estate community and better reflects the purpose of the room.


    Read more about our Diversity and Inclusion Pledge to make The Spruce a site where all feel welcome.

  • 02 of 05

    Improve Bedroom Mood With Lighting

    Bedroom With Unique Lighting Fixture
    Genevieve Garruppo 

    Most homeowners focus their attention on kitchen lighting or bathroom lighting. Bedroom lighting often falls to the wayside, being relegated to a dismal switch-controlled ceiling light and a lamp on a nightstand.

    Instead of thinking of single set-pieces, think in terms of a combination of light sources. Start with the ceiling light—a switch-controlled light is typically required by code—and replace the old shade with a fun, eye-catching new shade. Or grace your high bedroom ceiling with a chandelier or an oversized shade.

    Rewire the wall behind the bed for space-saving wall light sconces that are perfect for reading in bed. Putting the bedside scones on a dimmer switch helps set the mood when you're done reading.

    Contemporary style bedrooms look fantastic with retro track lighting. ​Track lighting is flexible, allowing you to slide the fixtures down the track as well as swivel them to the perfect position.

    Sputnik Lighting Fixture from Genevieve Garruppo

  • 03 of 05

    Improve Bedroom Comfort With New Flooring

    Bedroom Plank Flooring
    Addison's Wonderland

    Bedroom flooring should communicate a sense of warmth, safety, and coziness. Hard flooring options such as ceramic tile are recommended only in areas that experience high humidity and moisture. Otherwise, think in terms of soft floors that are friendly to bare feet, such as wall-to-wall carpeting or an area rug over wood or laminate flooring.

    Engineered wood flooring, a hybrid of dimensionally stable plywood and a hardwood veneer, can be installed with feet-soothing radiant heat coils underneath. Wide plank flooring, available in solid hardwood, engineered wood, and laminate, adds an air of dramatic grandeur to any primary bedroom. 

    Favorite bedroom flooring options for warmth and comfort include wall-to-wall carpeting, wood or quality laminate flooring with area rugs, and cork flooring.

    Another upcoming bedroom flooring choice is a vinyl plank. Vinyl traditionally has been a thin, cold material best reserved for kitchens or bathrooms. But thicker vinyl plank flooring with a solid core feels warmer. Plus, it's friendlier to bare feet than ever before. Deep embossing also gives some types of vinyl plank flooring the look and feel of real wood.

    Quality bedroom flooring sets the tone for relaxing evenings in bed, followed by deep, restful sleep. Home buyers place a high premium on good bedroom flooring, but always make sure that the flooring also works for you.

    Primary Bedroom Flooring Reveal from Addison's Wonderland

  • 04 of 05

    Add Personality to a Bedroom With Character Touches

    tropical bedroom

    designlovefest / Instagram

    Do you want your bedroom to have character? While overtly themed bedrooms are for children, bedrooms with nuanced personalities turn heads and turn the room from a sleeping-only zone to a destination. With most bedrooms, only a light touch is needed to create a certain look.

    Creating a tropical bedroom can be as easy as buying a canopy bed, adding bamboo window shades, and adding a ceiling fan. For a sophisticated island look, keep it simple with plants and pillow accents, like this clean, beautiful themed bedroom featured by Bri Emery at the design blog Design Love Fest.

    Other popular bedroom styles include shabby chic, Tuscan, Hollywood Regency, and contemporary. With bedrooms, it's easier and lower cost to follow the latest bedroom trends than trends in rooms like baths and kitchens with pricey materials that are difficult to change out. Or keep it simple and stick with tried-and-true favorite bedroom styles.

    Continue to 5 of 5 below
  • 05 of 05

    Liven Up Bedroom With New Paint Scheme

    painted bedroom makeover

    anitayokota / Instagram

    Following color trends can be frustrating since they don't always match colors that you love. So what should you do?

    For a newly purchased home or a home that you don't expect to sell for a couple of years, paint your bedroom interior any color that speaks to your heart. It's not worth painting the bedroom a certain color just for the sake of trends or a sale that might happen years from now. Bedrooms, along with hallways, living rooms, and dining rooms, are the easiest room in the house to repaint.

    But for an upcoming sale, consider following the latest color trends when painting your bedroom. It's an easy, low-cost project that will take only a day or two to complete.

    If following color trends does not suit you, aim for darker, more relaxing colors in large bedrooms. Small bedrooms benefit from space-making light color schemes that use pastels, grays, or neutrals–just like blogger Anita Yokota did in her primary bedroom.

    Removing the wallpaper that her husband disliked so much, Anita repainted the room with a light neutral tone and updated her accessories, resulting in a minimalist Scandinavian-inspired bedroom. Now, this bedroom can easily transition to any style with its new wall color.