Reader reno: A teen girl's bedroom makeover for under $500

After moving into their home in 2017, Coleen Neilson, a stay-at-home mum of two, decided to give her teenage daughter's bedroom a much needed update.

With the help of her husband and some savvy shopping, the pair completed the DIY makeover for under $500. Better Homes and Gardens Online caught up with Coleen to find out more about her teenager's bedroom makeover.

Tell us about your bedroom makeover

My daughter’s room was one of our very first projects when we moved into our home. She originally wanted a grey wood effect feature wall but it left us very limited to how it could be decorated. During isolation not long after her 13th birthday we decided to give it a bit of a facelift.

I always talk with the kids about what they would like in their room. My daughter wanted better storage, white walls, LED lighting, somewhere to display her photos and a pink head board.

What inspired your renovation?

When we first started the building process of our home in 2017, we decided to cut costs and reduce our mortgage by removing things and doing a lot of it ourselves. Builders like to charge a lot more for cabinetry, painting, and flooring than any of the quotes we had by local tradesmen.

Have you done any renovations before?

During the first year in our home, we decorated the bedrooms and spent most of our savings on big ticket items such as reverse cycle ducted air conditioning, solar panels and fencing to secure our home.

I have many more DIYs I’m going to attempt! The list is still massive and I started an Instagram account a while ago where I post updates and step-by-step videos.

What kind of look were you after?

I like to scroll through Instagram and Pinterest for ideas then save images for inspiration. Once I complied enough images I drew up a quick sketch and made a ‘mood board’ for the room.

I also did a lot of research and talked to tradies about how best to achieve the look I was after and found some inspiration from watching YouTube videos.

The renovation process

Made a list of all the materials needed for the job.
Cleared the room.
Patched holes in walls.
Removed the old feature wall and lightly sanded and washed them down with a sugar soap and hot water solution.
Made a light out of left-over Blackbutt timber, drawing inspiration from one I saw at Beacon Lighting.
Hung up easy craft VJ boards ($82 per sheet).
Used a router to run hidden wires for the LED lighting.
Filled any holes, caulked any gaps and sanded.
Painted the bedroom with its first coat of Dulux Natural White.
Built floating storage TV units from thick MDF boards with hinges and fixtures from Bunnings and framed with left-over Blackbutt timber.
Made the handles out of a tan leather strap from Ikea.
Painted a thin piece of MDF the same colour as the walls and attached timber slats/
Attached the Ikea picture ledges along the wall.
Re-did the built in cupboard by using melamine from Bunnings to maximise hanging and shelf space.

Budget breakdown

MDF for feature wall: $20

Wood battens: Cheap on Facebook Marketplace

MDF for floating cupboards: $40

Wood tops and wall light: Scrap wood

LED: $1 from eBay

Handles: $30 from Ikea

Shelves: $15 on sale at Bunnings

Cupboard: $100 to fit out

Bedlinen: on sale at Adairs

Total spent?

Her whole bedroom makeover cost around $500.

Favourite part?

The timber feature is by far my favourite thing in the bedroom and turned out better than I imagined. I used was an Indonesian pine sourced from Facebook market place for $2 a metre.