We’re in the middle of two room makeovers and I can’t wait to share both. One is our major master bathroom renovation that we wrote about recently, and the other is a lighter, low-dust refresh at the beach house that requires no demolition but will add a lot of function — plus a new wall treatment and wallpaper. We’re reconfiguring the middle bedroom, which used to be a tiny space dominated by a queen bed:
Having a lighter project on the side while we wait for bathtub and vanity deliveries and to finalize tile choices for the bathroom has been fun. Because we left the bathroom usable after removing those walls, we can continue using it while other items arrive and more involved work happens.
Back to the middle bedroom: while planning this refresh I realized a few low-tech strategies that make reconfiguring a room simple and reliable. You don’t need complicated 3D programs or Photoshop mood boards to make confident design decisions. We used practical, hands-on methods to visualize the space as we went, and they worked really well.
If you prefer to see things in real life rather than on a screen, here are four practical steps we followed while reworking this room. The space is already far more useful, and these techniques helped us make decisions quickly.
For the last two years this room served as a guest bedroom with a queen bed, but it rarely got used. Most guests sleep in the larger front bedroom, so the middle room was effectively a large bed taking up space. After recognizing how underused it was, we decided to make the room earn its keep. We sold the old bed and nightstands and started planning a layout that would allow the room to function both as a sleeping spot and as an activity area for kids.
Our goal is a versatile space: a twin bed for overnight guests, room for an air mattress if needed, and a place where the kids can do puzzles, crafts, or read without taking over the dining table. It’s similar in spirit to a single-bed guest-and-playroom concept we’ve used before, and this time we chose a woven daybed as the anchor piece — a piece that functions as both bed and sofa.
Here are the four low-tech steps we used to plan the room. Note: the space is still a work in progress, but these methods helped us make steady progress.
1. Bring in your anchor pieces
Start by placing the furniture pieces you already own or are certain you want to keep. Having those “known constants” in the room makes every subsequent decision easier. For us, the rug and a woven daybed were the launching points. A large, definitive piece like a daybed gives you a starting layout: it can be a sofa during the day and a bed at night, so it supports multiple functions in a small room.
Getting the daybed in place was the biggest step. We tested a few locations and decided that positioning it in front of the windows opened up the most usable wall space for other functions, which then made it easy to plan what would go across from it.
2. Tape things out
Painter’s tape is an inexpensive visualization tool. We used it to map out board-and-batten molding and to test different spacing and heights. It only took a few minutes and helped us choose the wider 18-inch spacing, which visually expands the room and costs less in materials.
We also taped the floor to test a desk layout for an art area. The tape showed us footprint and circulation patterns without committing to purchases.
3. Bring in placeholder furniture
Temporary furniture can reveal issues that photos or drawings won’t. We borrowed dining chairs briefly to visualize scale and flow, and immediately noticed the high-backed chairs made the room feel cramped. Bringing in placeholders helped us avoid committing to the wrong pieces.
3b. Bring in placeholder anything
If you don’t have the exact item, improvise. We used upside-down baskets as stool placeholders and a cube shelf as a mock desk. That quick mock-up confirmed that backless seating like a stool or ottoman would solve the visual blockage created by chairs, and could tuck away when not in use or serve as a small coffee table in front of the daybed.
Those makeshift placeholders led us to order plush stool ottomans that are lightweight for kids to move and have a small brass band that ties into other accents in the room. We also chose a single desk with drawers rather than two metal desks — it offers storage to hide art supplies when guests stay and reads more like a small console, which suits a guest room.
The ottomans proved their versatility right away: they work as seats for crafting, footstools for the daybed, or temporary coffee tables. Seeing the setup in person made it clear we’d made the right choice.
4. Hold the phone
A small, practical tech trick helped with wallpaper selection. We plan to install higher-than-usual board-and-batten molding and add colorful wallpaper above it. Instead of ordering samples, we opened two wallpaper patterns on our phones, held them up in the doorway, and compared how they read in the space. That inexpensive “hold-it-up-and-squint” test quickly revealed which pattern worked best with our existing rug and scale. It confirmed our choice and gave us the confidence to place the order, even though the wallpaper arrival is delayed.
We still have board-and-batten installation, painting, and wallpapering to complete, and the project will move forward over several weekend visits. The combination of anchor pieces, simple taping, placeholders, and a quick in-room tech check has made planning straightforward and low-stress. If you enjoy room makeovers, thoughtful planning like this is the key to a space that’s beautiful and functional.
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