So, we have slowly, slowly, been re-doing the beach house that we purchased from my parents several years ago. My dad was going to sell it because it was getting to be too much for him to take care of as he got older… We had so many great memories of summers spent there and we wanted to hang onto it. We purchased it at a great price, and my head was full of dreams about how I was going to decorate it… Of course, now we recognize that it’s just a huge Money Pit! Oh well… It’s a lot of work, but there is such satisfaction in taking an old, run-down looking room and turning it into something of a calm & relaxing “oasis.” Remember the other day I told you that I’d share some inexpensive Beach Bedroom ideas? Well, here’s the first room I’m going to show you! You’re going to find LOTS of cheap and easy decorating tips!

I am going to share with you my best, cheapest, easiest trick for transforming a room…. are you ready? It’s…. Spray Paint. It is a miracle product- I have used it to transform all kinds of furniture, light fixtures, baskets, trash bins…. You would be amazed what you can do. Stuff that would normally get thrown in the dumpster can be re-born with a can of spray paint. In second place would be regular brush-on latex paint. Not quite as easy as spray paint, but still a miracle worker! Let me show you-

Oh, but before we begin… brace yourselves for the “before” photo- it’s a doozy!!

OK, now we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get started:

This metal headboard was in another, much smaller room, along with its matching footboard- much too much furniture for the little room it was in. It was also silver, but it had great little details that I really liked. I wanted natural “beachy” tones in this room, so I spray painted the headboard dark brown- it instantly added a bit of sophistication. We left off the footboard- it’s still hanging out in the garage, waiting to be used on another project at some point. The fish above the bed were painted by my daughter. I traced some outlines of fish onto sheets of newspaper, and my father-in-law cut out the shapes from scrap wood. Then daughter referred to some fish photos and used regular acrylic craft paint to add some details. Then we sealed them with matte sealer found in the paint department of the craft store.

The side tables were actually the living room end tables that I grew up with in my mom and dad’s house in the 1970’s! They were so ugly, but a couple of coats of- yep, spray paint- added new life! They were dark brown before, the khaki spray paint lightened them up and made them more modern. I think they look pretty cool- and the spray paint only cost me about $10. (The ugly gray carpet is going to be replaced with laminate from Ikea- we’ve already done a few rooms and just haven’t gotten to this one yet.)

Above- bedroom chairs were expensive and too bulky for this little room. I found this plastic-wicker chair and cushion at Pier One Imports- quite inexpensive, and the compact size is perfect. The color was perfect too- it matched the brown that I had painted the headboard, no addition spray paint required! I found the bird artwork and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and the photo is a shot that my husband took at the beach.

This used to be my little brother’s childhood dresser. It was much too dark, and I wanted to paint it. However, it had a laminate top, and I was afraid that no matter what I did to prep/prime it, the paint would surely scuff off with use. The answer was to paint just the fronts of the drawers- the light blue paint brightens it up, I really like the contrast of the light blue against the dark brown wood- plus it was much less work to paint just the drawer fronts! I replaced the knobs with inexpensive silver knobs found at the hardware store. I used the silver finish for the lamps that I got too (super cheap at one of those close-out stores.) The silver finish makes the whole room look fresh and modern.

A quick and easy decoration is a bowl of river rocks- our house happens to be on the bay, but I liked the color and texture these provided. I got a bag of rocks at the craft store. My little nieces and nephews also like to play with them when they come down to visit!

Daughter painted this shell painting several years ago- the colors were perfect for the room. It’s actually quite amazing how everything came together in this little bedroom.

I found the curtains on clearance. The sandy color was just right… and I like their fresh, casual look.

That’s the tour for Bedroom #1- come back for a couple more rooms with more decorating ideas!

Do you have any ideas for really easy decor-makeovers? Have you tried spray paint, and if so, how did your project come out? Let us know in the comments!