Apartment DIY: Redecorating a bedroom on the cheap

I’ve lived in my boyfriend’s former bachelor pad for almost eight months now. He was kind and didn’t fight me (too much) when I took over 90 percent of the decorating in the two-bedroom apartment, but our one sticking point was our bedroom.

It was one step up from a college dorm room. It had a couch that no longer fit in the living room. It had a bulky TV stand that I begged him to move upstairs. We lacked lamps, accessories and personality, save the navy-blue fitted bed sheet hanging on the window (Full disclosure: the boyfriend sometimes works overnight shifts and has to sleep during the day in there).

That all changed Superbowl weekend. I had the house to myself, so a girlfriend and I went to work transforming the space with a bottle of red wine.

I have been combing sales for weeks gathering my needed supplies — the bedroom redo wasn’t a complete surprise; the boyfriend intercepted most of my Target deliveries. And all of my decorating pins on Pinterest came in handy for a few low-cost decorating ideas.

Here are a few tips from the project.

Downsize when possible. The boyfriend’s brother took the couch off our hands a few weeks ago, but we still had that large TV stand. By putting the TV on a dresser, I was able to eliminate a piece of furniture and gain some additional space.

Size matters. While our room is way too small to have an entire couch in there, it is big enough to have a small seating area. I found this chair that worked with the room’s color theme for almost 50 percent off at Target.com and there was a free-shipping special.

Rearrange for a different perspective. The bed had always been in the same spot because it made the most sense with the cable outlet. By moving the TV — and buying a white cable cord that I guided along the baseboard with clear sticky clips — I was able to move the bed to the larger wall. That instantly made the space more open and homier.

DIY when you can. The wall art above my bed cost less than $15 and can be swapped out if we ever change the bedding colors. I found 12 inch-square canvasses on sale for $4 each and scrapbook paper for less than $1 a piece. I was inspired by this more complicated arrangement on Pinterest. Another pin led me to some really cheap accessories using leftover yarn and watered-down glue. The original pin made a large chandelier, but my smaller balloons made some neat accessories.

Scour sales. In addition to the cheap chair find, I also scored some other great deals. Since light-blocking curtains were a must, I settled on a pair with a hefty price tag but rave reviews. Kohl’s was having a major sale online, so I ended up getting them for 50 percent off.

Lamps proved to be way pricier than I expected, but I was patient and hunted for awhile before settling on this set from Target for $12 each. Sure, they feel kind of cheap, but I trust no one will be poking around in my bedroom and touching my lamp shades. I also found vases, boxes and frames in the TJ Maxx clearance section for a fraction of the already discounted prices.

Paint your way to new furniture. Our bedroom dressers are courtesy of my childhood nursery and a good friend who was cleaning house in Baltimore. Both are very functional pieces of furniture that just needed a bit of TLC. White paint and new hardware was a small investment that made a world of difference. They now look like they belong together.