How to Build a Sleep Sanctuary on a Budget

Just this year, I transitioned from working my 9-5 office job to working for myself — woo! With this change came a serious realization: I need to update my bedroom. As the majority of my work is done via laptop in my personal space, I knew the investment and time would be worth it to make a space where I could be productive during the day and cozy at night. I have always been a budget-friendly shopper, typically purchasing only the pieces that are necessary. As a result, I was prohibiting my space from feeling cozy — simply due to dollars! Well, within a matter of weeks I realized that in order to be creative, inspired, comfortable, and productive, I have to love my space. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that I can love my space while still on a budget. Are you skeptical? Find out how I created the bedroom of my dreams!

Now, before we get started, I want to remind you: You don’t have to throw out everything you currently own in order to successfully remodel. Adding a few essential elements that will make your space feel refreshed and personalized along with simply rearranging your furniture can make a huge impact!

So, where do we start? When I sat down and decided to officially remodel my bedroom, I came up with a simple step-by-step plan:

Start with the bed.

For years, I’ve struggled with sleeping. I’d have friends who would rave about not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings and always having such amazing, restful nights of sleep and I honestly could never relate. I knew to make my bedroom everything I dreamt it could be, it had to start with a quality mattress. The most important thing for me to keep in mind while mattress shopping is (you guessed it): budget. I’m a sucker for a good deal and knew remodeling my bedroom would take work and also money—so I began my search online. After only a few clicks on my search engine, I came across Lull, a mattress brand that delivers premium memory foam mattresses directly to your door for an amazing deal. Their price point coupled with the convenience of delivery automatically had me interested. After reading some of their 30,000+ reviews, I was sold — and that was all before even testing out the mattress! Once my Lull Mattress arrived at my doorstep, the process from box to bedtime was lightning fast (It literally rolls out and voila, you have the bed of your dreams!). The setup process was easy breezy, and the first night was definitely the best night’s sleep I’ve had in months. Starting with a dependable, plush mattress was exactly what I needed to begin my bedroom renovation. After all, you spend a third of your life sleeping, so I absolutely had to choose a bed that was going to make my days brighter and my nights more restful. If you’re looking for the best mattress, start and finish with Lull!

Find complementary essentials.

Now that I have my mattress, I considered next practical steps. My list consisted of: Bedside tables, dresser, cube stand, wall decor, lighting. I did a little more research and found websites with quality products for little cost. I already had a dresser that was the perfect size, in good shape and matched my new color scheme, so I decided to put my money to good use elsewhere by finding a new cube organizer and bedside tables. As I learned after discovering Lull, the internet is our friend when it comes to remodeling! Within just an hour of browsing the web, I found a beautiful cube organizer for less than $100. This find got me excited to embark on the search for bedside tables. I was able to quickly snag my two bedside tables for $30 each! My little online venture helped me see that you can really find quality pieces that you love with just a bit of research and persistence.

Now that I have my bedroom essentials covered, it’s time to make the place cute and cozy! What are some key pieces that would make the room feel like me?

Put on the finishing touches.

I made another list: Plants, fuzzy throw blankets, lighting, wall art and candles. Once I made my list, it was time to get to work.

I am a huge plant person and know that I feel most at home when I’m surrounded by greenery. Living in Nashville means there are limited tropical plants around, so I made it a priority to find plants. Plants have always been a mood-booster for me as they help bring in fresh oxygen, promote my sense of creativity and bring life into a space. So, I picked out three small plants to spread throughout the room. This helped bring dimension to the room right away and I automatically felt my personality shining in the space.

After arranging the furniture and placing the plants throughout the room, I headed back online to order the remaining finishing touches. I ordered a plush blanket, blanket basket, reading light (warm lighting is so important to set the right mood in a room, especially for winding down at bedtime), candles, and a few shelves for over my desk. While I waited for the items to arrive in the mail, I repositioned the lamps from my desk to my two bedside tables and hung several pictures and canvases I hadn’t gotten around to putting up. I’ve always loved the idea of a clutter-free, modern room, but think it’s important to keep reminders of ‘home’ wherever you are. The photos and canvases I hung include three individual maps of places I’ve lived in my adult life as well as a family photo from my brother’s wedding. Hanging the canvases on the wall while looking at my new mattress, furniture and plants gave me a sense of ownership and accomplishment. Until this point, I didn’t know if I would truly be successful at a remodel. In that moment, I realized I was steps away from achieving my goal.

Make it your own.

Once I received all of my pieces in the mail, I was ready to complete my remodel. Before I knew it, I was making my bed with my new mattress and my old bed spread (again, it was still cute and worked with the new room—score!). I placed my new plush blanket I found on sale at the foot of the bed, and put my old throw blanket in my new basket in an open corner or the room for a cozy touch. I would be lying if I said I didn’t rearrange each piece of furniture over three times, but it’s all part of making an old room seem new and fresh, right?! And speaking of fresh, smell was my final step. One of my favorite things about smells is they are able to bring me back to different memories from my past, so I figured, why not finish the process with lighting a new candle, sealing my moment of accomplishment with a new smell and relaxing in my new space? So, that’s exactly what I did!

Sitting down in my new space, looking around at old and new pieces, I took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. While my room will always be a work in progress, it’s the small things that matter and the small moments of victory that make a difference. Remodeling my bedroom was one of those moments for me. This process helped me understand that it is possible to make an old space feel like new without a massive hit to the bank account. From my first step of finding my Lull Mattress to lighting my candle and sitting back to relax and enjoy my hard work, I could finally say I had accomplished a daunting task and felt on top of the world because of it!

So, now let’s flip the narrative and I want to ask you a question — What project have you been putting off? What room of the house have you been wanting to remodel? Is your bedroom everything it can be? What’s stopping you from making the changes that will drastically improve your space? Once you’ve thought about it and come to some conclusions, go! It’s 2020 —new year, new you! Get started. Know that anything is possible with vision, persistence and hard work. Here, I’ll help you get started: head to lull.com and you can take it from there.

Xo, 
Savannah McKinley