Now that our first contest is underway – Romanitcizing Your Bedroom – we don’t want to leave you there with no idea of how to go about doing it, especially in these economic times.  You may be tempted to think that it’s impossible on your budget, but don’t give up so fast!

I found an excellent list by Angela Wilson, and with permission I am sharing some of them below with you!  Our hope is that these ideas will spark an idea you hadn’t thought of before, and allow you to make a welcome retreat in your own home.

The Basics (common suggestions)

• Remove clutter
• Use color (paint the walls)
• Buy soft sheets and nice bedding
• Hang beautiful and colorful curtains
• Music – have romantic CDs available
• Either take out the television or hide it
• Hang beautiful art work (not pictures of your family or children)
• Use different-sized pillows
• Light candles
• Use beautiful flowers

Unique and Fun Ideas

Go beyond the basics to add a special touch while making your master bedroom more romantic.

Experiment with Mirrors

You don’t have to put the mirrors on the ceiling, but experiment with placing mirrors you already own in suggestive places. If the budget allows, you can purchase new mirrors, and based on your experiments, you’ll know exactly where to hang them.

Add Color without Painting

If you are renting, you are probably not permitted to paint the walls. Instead, shop around for the best deal on sheer fabric. Get creative with some thumb tacks and sheer fabric and you can turn your plain bedroom into a colorful romantic dream.

Make Your Own Canopy

Instead of buying a canopy, make your own. It’s still going to require some spending, but it will be a lot less than buying a ready-made one (or a new bed frame). You can find wall-hooks at most craft or hardware stores. Put the hooks on the ceiling and hang sheer fabric from the ceiling to the floor.

“Does This Put Me in the Mood?”

While removing clutter, go through everything in your bedroom and ask, does this put me in the mood? If the answer is no, find a new home for it somewhere else in your apartment or home. It may start to feel bare once you start moving some stuff out, but you can replace those items with sexy pillows, pictures, candles, romantic books, etc. Remember, this is your love nest – not your living room. The bedroom needs to serve one purpose: to sleep and to love. Both will improve by only keeping things in the room that add to the experience instead of distracting from it.

Christmas Lights

You can use the white lights with white cords or the colorful lights with green cords. It’s really up to you as both can be very effective at setting the romantic mood. Get creative with how you hang the lights – place them in fake plants or trees, along the top of the walls, in sheer fabric, around the bottom of the bed, along the headboard, or any other creative way you can think of. Christmas lights are cheap and perfect for using color and low lights to set the mood.

Change the Bedding

Instead of buying new bedding, just wash the sheets and comforter and spray them with some linen spray, your favorite perfume or cologne, or even body spray. If you want to spend a little, buy a couple fuzzy or soft throws for the top of the bed. The softness will add a new experience to your sense of touch.  If you have the time, it’s a special treat to spray starch and iron the top sheet of your bed.

Fancy Lights

Instead of buying new lamps, just use what you have a buy some affordable colored bulbs for them. Go for pink bulbs for a soft and sensual color of light.

Get the Temperature Right

This one seems obvious, but failing to plan for it could quickly kill the mood. If it’s cold, be sure to heat the room up by turning up the thermostat or using a space heater. If it’s hot, be sure to cool the room and add a fan to keep the air moving and romantic.