Budget Savvy Master Bedroom Renovation: Flooring, Walls, & Trim

2 Materials
$300
1 Week
Easy

This project is sponsored by Eco Cork Foam


Renovate any room easily & affordably without sacrificing quality!

No more living room sleeping for us yall!


We have officially been moved into our farmhouse fixer upper for two weeks & that is two weeks too long of sleeping in the living room.

When we bought the farmhouse we knew all the rooms with carpet needed to be immediately renovated before any furniture would be brought in. They were all in really bad shape & needed to be ripped out pronto!


We started with Eli’s room & now we are moving onto the master bedroom!


Here is what we were dealing with:

This photo is from the listing when we bought it & trust me looks much better than the room did by the time we got it.


Here’s the list of projects for the space:






  • Scrape popcorn ceiling & repaint
  • Rip out old carpet
  • Install laminate flooring
  • Knock down closet walls
  • Retrim windows, doors, baseboards
  • Install barn doors
  • Paint
  • New light fixture
  • Pull Bar


I know I know, it’s a big big list but it’s a lot less overwhelming when you work from the top down.


We started by scraping the popcorn ceilings off onto the yucky carpet. This made cleaning it up much easier because we simply tore out the carpet & the ceiling remnants at the same time!

After the carpet & popcorn ceiling were removed the room already started to feel brighter. Next we decided to tear down the old closet walls.


We have plans for a closet elsewhere but you will have to stay tuned to see exactly where 😉


Next we took down all the trim & baseboards. I will replace them later with chunky 1×6 wood instead to make everything look a little more grand.

Before it was time for new flooring we decided to go ahead & paint. I really prefer to do it this way because no matter how hard I try I am a mess when it comes to painting. Me & baby (my loyal partner in crime dog) always end up with it all over us.


This color is Gray Owl by Behr

Ahh finally a clean slate! Now it’s time for my favorite part, adding new flooring!


It’s really important to me that the flooring we chose is high quality & feels good under foot. It gets a lot of wear & tear between us, 4 dogs, & our two year old so it needs to stand up to the challenge.


Here’s How To Make Sure Your Flooring Feels & Looks Expensive Even On A Budget:

Supplies:






  • Eco Cork Foam Underlayment
  • LVP Flooring
  • Box Blade
  • Miter Saw
  • Spacers
  • Rubber Hammer
  • Tapping Block


Tutorial:






  1. After the old flooring is gone & the subfloor has been thoroughly swept, it’s time to attach the underlayment. If your flooring, like ours, has small surface imperfections that need to be leveled out, I highly recommend Eco Cork Underlayment. It helps to create a solid flooring foundation which this room desperately needed!
  1. Start at one corner of the room & unroll the underlayment along the floor. When you use ECF you don’t need to add a vapor barrier because it is the only underlayment with a pre-attached class 1 rated 6 mil vapor barrier! It’s waterproof so no need to worry about moisture or concrete alkalinity making a mess of your new floors!
  1. Unroll the underlayment as close as possible to the edge of the room creating nonstop runs whenever possible.


This underlayment is ⅛” thick so it helps to minimize the floor imperfections that were already present & will provide a solid floor foundation for our tongue & groove planks.

  1. When we reached a vent we simply used a sharp box cutter to cut out a rectangle large enough for the vent hole.
  1. Now is also a good time to make sure the vents are free from debris!


This room had a really weird smell to it when we moved in & I think it was a combination of a dirty air duct & not enough moisture protection in their last flooring pad. Thankfully the ECF has moisture protection built-in & it’s infused with Ultra-Fresh antimicrobial protection which will hinder the growth of odor causing mold, mildew, & bacteria. So bye bye smelly room!

  1. Continue unrolling the underlayment in rows throughout the room.
  1. Using the peel and stick included, tape the overlapping vapor barrier film to the adjoining butted underlayment. You should also seal the adjoining ends/perimeter with duct tape to ensure moisture protection.
  1. Now that the underlayment is laid & attached it’s time to install the LVP! We went with Pergo’s Crestwood Hickory flooring. ECF is only approved to work with 5mm or thicker vinyl flooring & this one is 12mm so it was a match made in flooring heaven.
  1. Along the edges of the wall we installed plastic spacers to ensure an even gap was created around the entire room.
  1. These pieces are installed with the simple click & lock method. They fit together just like puzzle pieces. We used a plastic block & rubber mallet to tap each piece into place.
  1. For the ends of the wall we used a pull bar to secure the flooring pieces together.

Isn’t it crazy what a huge difference new flooring makes?!


This room feels so much bigger & brighter now.

Adding Trim & Baseboards

After the flooring is installed it’s time to trim in the windows & install new baseboards.


The 1×6 baseboards accent the flooring & make the room look grand instead of wimpy.

We also encased the old closet wall to provide a small amount of separation between the two rooms.

The plumbing got hidden away by a faux beam configuration.

Adding Lighting

No room makeover is complete without brand new lightning! We chose this fan because it adds a modern touch to the room & also would allow us to install it closer to the ceiling instead of hanging down too far for the room.

The nook got a new light fixture too! This space is going to be so cozy once it’s finished.

Can you even believe this is the same room! It feels (& smells) so much better!


Between the new flooring & fresh paint the space feels bright & airy.

The best part is my budget savvy laminate flooring feels like real hardwoods underfoot thanks to the Eco Cork Foam Underlayment!

Barn doors are still on the to-do list but for now I am super happy with this budget-savvy bedroom makeover.

Checkout more of our bedroom projects, reveals, & decor here!

Resources for this project:
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Lia with Southern Yankee DIY
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
  • 17335038 17335038 on Jun 29, 2021

    You listed the cost of the project as $300. What exactly did this cover?

  • Patty Patty on Jul 01, 2022

    No closet to hang clothing? Sorry but I think you just lowered your resale value. You did a nice job though, bright, fresh and beautiful floor.

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 18 comments
  • Lisa West Lisa West on Jul 06, 2021

    Your bedroom looks great. The color scheme is very peaceful and comfy. How ever imo you need some pips of color. Maybe with some flower or a few pillows. Summer time now, maybe some blues for an ocean or pool type of style, autumn origins and gold reds and purple will look lovely. I'm sure you get the idea. You have a very lovely space. Enjoy.

  • Katen Katen on Jun 24, 2023

    Lovely and serene. I’m sure you’re enjoying until the day comes you life changes or you get tired, supposed to happen that way. But frankly nothing to see here. Just another bedroom with ok finishes but lovely colors

Next