We’re in the middle of two room makeovers and I couldn’t be more excited. One is our master bathroom renovation that we shared last week, and the other is a lighter, less dusty project that involves no demo or wall moves but adds a lot of functional value (plus a wall treatment and wallpaper, which I’m thrilled about). We’re reconfiguring the middle bedroom at our beach house, which used to be basically all bed:
Having a lower-key redo to work on while we wait for big items like the tub and vanity to arrive for the bathroom has been fun. Luckily the bathroom remained usable while we removed walls, so we can keep using that space while the rest of the project progresses.
Back to the middle bedroom: as we planned this update I realized we’ve used several low-tech methods that make room planning fast and effective. You don’t need fancy 3D software or complex mood boards to get great results. If you prefer real-life testing over digital mockups, these tips should help. Below I’ll share four simple tactics we used to visualize and confirm design choices, and a look at the progress so far. The room is already much more functional.
For the last two years this room served as a guest bedroom with a queen bed. Most guests preferred the larger front bedroom, so this room rarely got used—usually for a single child at a time. That meant the queen bed occupied space without pulling its weight.
Last month we decided the space needed to earn its keep, so we sold the queen bed and nightstands (they’d served us well for years). The new goal is a multi-functional room: a twin bed for occasional guests plus flexible floor space so kids can do puzzles and art there. Instead of a seldom-used guest room, this space will double as a play and hangout area.
We drew inspiration from a room we designed with a single bed plus play area. A woven daybed that we used before felt like a great fit here too, so we started with a similar beachy woven daybed as the main piece.
Here are the four low-tech ways we planned this space. The room is still very much a work in progress, but these methods have helped us move forward with confidence.
1. Bring In Your Anchor Pieces
If you own a few definite pieces for the room, get them in place as soon as you can. Known constants make every following decision easier. For us the rug we already loved and the woven daybed were anchors. Starting with a large, steady piece of furniture helped us visualize the layout for everything else.
A daybed works well in a dual-function room because it can act as both seating and sleeping space. Once we placed the daybed, it clarified where other things could go. We tried a few positions and ultimately settled on placing it in front of the windows, which freed up more usable wall space across from it.
2. Tape Things Out
Painters tape has been a huge help. We used it to map out board and batten molding options and to test different spacing and heights on the wall. Taping is quick and gives you a clear gut check on scale and proportion.
Taping let us compare two spacing options and decide we preferred the wider spacing because it helps the room feel larger and is more budget-friendly. We also used floor tape to test desk placement and to see how two 30″ desks would fit, which revealed that chairs with backs crowded the room.
3. Bring In Placeholder Furniture
Temporarily bringing in furniture to test scale and sightlines is invaluable. We borrowed dining chairs to see how the desks would feel and discovered that chair backs visually cut the room in half and made the space feel cramped. That quick test prevented a costly mistake.
3b. Bring In Placeholder ANYTHING
If you don’t have the exact piece yet, use whatever you do have to simulate it. We tried upside-down baskets as stools and a cube shelf as a desk to test proportions. That convinced us a backless stool or ottoman would work better than chairs because they won’t visually close off the space and can tuck under the desk when we need floor space.
Those placeholder tests led us to order two plush stool ottomans that are light and easy for kids to move. We also chose a single desk with drawers instead of two metal desks. The desk tucks in neatly, looks like a console when not in heavy use, and gives storage for art supplies to keep the room guest-ready.
The kids tested the desk and loved it. The ottomans have been especially useful: they serve as stools, footrests, or small coffee tables for the daybed. That flexibility is exactly what we wanted and would have been harder to anticipate without simply trying things in the room.
4. Hold The Phone
For the one slightly higher-tech trick: use your phone to compare finishes or patterns in the space. We want board and batten molding higher than usual so we can paper the top portion with a colorful wallpaper. After narrowing down two options online, we opened each pattern on a different phone, held them up in the doorway, and compared how they read in the room.
That simple phone test helped us see that the larger-scale pattern paired better with our existing rug, so we ordered it. Anthropologie didn’t offer samples, so this in-person phone comparison was the quickest way to decide. The wallpaper is on backorder, but we still have board and batten to install first, so the timing may work out.
In short: bring in anchors, use tape to map lines and spacing, test with placeholders (furniture or improv items), and don’t be afraid to use your phone for a quick visual test. These low-tech steps sped up decision-making, avoided mistakes, and helped turn the middle bedroom into a much more useful, flexible space.
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