If you’re somebody who likes to have people over for the weekend, then you want them to have a beautiful place to stay. The spare room, though, can often suffer neglect. It sits there unused and unloved for months on end until, finally, somebody comes to stay. Maybe it is time for a spare room renovation.
Because we live in a world where money is needed to survive, Latte Lindsay runs a number of affiliate programmes and offers contributed or partnered content. If you choose to click the links and read the posts, the site may earn a commission or receives a payment. All of the opinions are my own. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any partner brands/company(s), beauty & lifestyle brands, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities unless specified.
At the time, you make excuses for why it’s so decrepit. You tell yourself it isn’t worth your time investing in the decor or furniture. People hardly ever come to stay anyway, so what’s the point of spending money on a room you barely use? All these excuses soon mount up. Weeks and months go by, and nothing happens in the spare bedroom. The rest of your home looks modern and well-loved, but the place where you keep friends and relatives looks totally out of date. Making over your spare room isn’t just a nice thing to do for the people who stay with you – it can also be a lot of fun. Here’s how to do start your spare room renovation.
Assess What You Need To Change
Some spare rooms require a total and complete makeover. The decor is hopelessly outdated, and you’ve worn through the carpet. There are marks on the wall and stains on the floor, not to mention a curtain that’s falling down. Your first task is to assess what it is that you need to do to makeover your spare accommodation. It could be something as simple as ripping up the carpet and installing a new one or repainting the ceiling. Please take a close look at the ways in which the room is lacking and then come up with a plan to resolve it.
Not all spare rooms are beyond help. You can often avoid spending a lot of money by simply repainting the walls and upcycling your old furniture. What’s more, bedrooms are one of the easiest rooms in the home to renovate. Unless you have a fireplace in yours, there’s really no complexity at all. You don’t have to do anything that involves plumbing, gas, or electrics in most cases, making this an interior project you absolutely can take on.
When you’re assessing what you need to change for your spare room renovation, always be thinking whether you could restore something to bring it back up to standard. Take the radiator, for instance. If it’s a little rusted, you may be able to replace old fittings with new instead of the entire unit. Equally, it might just need a lick of paint to get rid of scuffs or scratches. The same goes for your carpet. Even if it is a different color from what it was when you first bought it, that doesn’t mean that you can’t rescue it. You might have a bit of a dirt problem on your hands. If you do, just rent out a steam cleaner and see whether it makes a difference. You’ll often find that after a good clean, the carpet looks bright and fresh – just like new.
You might also have some features in your spare bedroom that add a little character to the room. Wooden beams are charming, but so too are original built-in closets and fireplaces. You shouldn’t keep everything, of course. There will be aspects of your spare bedroom that you need to sort out once and for all. Outdated wallpaper, for example, is a massive no-no. So too are things like dado rails and plasterwork that’s not up to scratch. UV-damaged curtains, carpets, and paintwork are also usually beyond repair and require wholesale replacement.
Collect Your Materials
The next step is to collect the materials that you’ll need to complete the job. It’s helpful at this point to have an idea in your mind for what you’d like the final product to look like. Do you have a particular theme in mind? Are you trying to match the decor in the rest of your house?
Once you have a clear plan for the materials you need, it’s time to go out to the store and collect them. Where possible, look for building products at trade prices as you can save a lot of money by doing this. Also be sure to take advantage of discounts and even order products over the internet, when you need them. By doing this, you can keep the cost of the renovation down – something that will give you confidence when carrying out similar work on other rooms in your home in the future.
Strip The Room
Once you’ve decided what’s staying and what’s going, the next step is to strip the room. This stage is probably the most important of any DIY project. It’s where you remove all the finishings that you don’t want so that you’re ready to install new. The first part of the process is to strip out the old flooring if you’re changing it. Peel back the carpet from the tacks on the floor and then roll it back and place it in a skip outside. You can recycle some carpets. Then put down some decorator’s sheeting on the ground to protect the original floorboards and start sanding down the paint on the walls.
Some DIYers advise that you strip walls using a paint stripper, but this isn’t always necessary. The best approach is to sand the original paint away so that you’re left with a bare wall ready to accept the base coat. Clear out any furniture and store it somewhere else if you’re planning on reintroducing it to your rooms afterward. You don’t want it getting covered in flecks of paint and dust.
Paint The Ceiling First
Before you do anything else, paint the ceiling. You want to start from the top of the room down to avoid any dripping from wrecking your work. The last thing you want is for the paint to drip off your roller brush and down onto your freshly-laid carpet. Next, move onto the walls. Use decorator’s tape to demarc the coving and skirting boards so that you don’t accidentally cover them in paint while finishing the wall. This stage is especially crucial if you’re planning on using bright colors for the spare room renovation and update.
After you’ve painted the ceiling and the walls, the next job is all of the finishing elements of the room, like the skirting board, railings, and doors – as well as the frame for the fireplace and windows. Usually, you’ll want to use a different type of paint on these elements called gloss. Gloss is harder wearing than regular matte wall paint and is an excellent idea for surfaces your people might touch during their stay in your room.
Fit The New Flooring Option
Carpets are the norm for spare rooms. People who visit want to feel soft fibers between their toes. But, of course, you don’t necessarily have to stick with carpet if you don’t want it. There are other flooring options available.
Besides carpet, hardwood combined with a large rug is a possibility, though you’ll be spending a lot of money if you go down that route. Only install a new carpet once you’ve finished the painting stage. Make sure that you choose one that complements your new paint job. Another option is to paint the floorboards directly in a light, natural colour and then add rugs to complete the room.
Add Your Furniture And Accessories
The final phase is to add all of the accessories and furniture that make the rooms warm and inviting. Start with the most prominent objects first and then work your way down to the finishing touches.
Reintroduce the bed and orient it correctly so that it fits nicely with the rest of the room. Make sure that people have enough space to walk around the sides of the bed and that there is space for things like bedside tables.
The next most significant item is probably the chest of drawers, closet, or wardrobe. Again, bring this into the room so that you can see how it affects the layout. If you have a relatively large spare room, you might also want to include some additional seating too. Once all the essential elements are in place, it is time to start accessorizing. In many ways, this is the most exciting part of the entire interior design process. It gives you a chance to bring your room alive.
You might want to think about doing the following as part of your spare room renovation:
- Placing mirrors on the wall to create a focal point and give the impression of extra space
- Put down rugs on the floor next to the bed and vanity if you go for a hard flooring option
- Including paintings and pieces of art on the wall to create visual interest
- Replace your existing lampshades with more exciting and artistic models
- Use indoor plants to help to create a relaxing atmosphere
- Add furniture and bedside tables which match the main bed. Giving your spare room a makeover can be a highly rewarding experience, and certainly one that people will appreciate. What’s more, you often don’t have to spend a vast amount of money to get that wow factor.