Cheap Bedroom Furniture that Looks Expensive! (Parts 1 & 2)

Hi Everyone,

This part 2 of this post about cheap bedroom furniture that doesn’t look cheap. There’s a ton of info in here, as well as a lot of lovely pieces. If you’re just arriving here, please start at the top where we’ll cover cheap beds. Part 2 has nightstands, lamps, and dressers– plus some important things to know.

For those wanting to skip part 1 please click the link below.

Part 2 Begins Here

 

Dear Laurel,

I just found out my SIL, DH, and 3 brats kids are coming for Thanksgiving.

Of course, they’re coming here; we recently bought a four-bedroom in the best school district in suburban Louisville, KY. This is our forever home.

I adore those Serena & Lily sales, but even on sale, the linens alone would be my entire budget for the entire bedroom.

 

Please, Laurel, I need cheap bedroom furniture that looks expensive.

 

I haven’t decided whether I’m doing twin, full, or queen-sized beds. However, it stands to reason that two beds are almost double the price of one bed. Right? Also, these are grown-up rooms. In fact, I’m open to having at least one of the rooms painted in a deep color. The other room faces south and should be lighter.

My kids are still babies. And even when I do their rooms, I don’t want them to look babyish. I always hated my bedroom growing up with the geese and ducks.

 

I have a maximum budget of $1,500 – $2,000 absolute maximum for each bedroom. That’s for a bed, nightstands, a dresser, lamps, a rug, and curtains.

 

Is this even possible?

I seem to recall that you had a couple of bedrooms to furnish (virtually) in that Boston Condo you were recently writing about.

All I want is classic, tasteful and cheap, cheap, cheap bedroom furniture! haha

Sincerely,

Beddy Comfort

***

Oh, Beddy, your anxiety over your in-laws coming is palpable. Honestly, no matter how judgmental your SIL might be, I’m sure she’s far less worried about how your home looks than you’re imagining. Still, I get it, and am up for the challenge.

Before I go on… For those of you who haven’t caught on, Beddy is a fictional character. However, the scenario could be applied to anyone selling a home, upsizing, or downsizing.

 

This series of “cheap” home furnishings posts is for people who don’t want to or can’t spend a lot of money furnishing their homes.

 

So, as per usual, I’ve spent all day SHOPPING, and true to my resolve not to work myself into the ground, this post will most likely be in three parts. (Sorry, it’s also late coming out.)

The interesting thing is that when I began my career in 1996, cheap classy classy-looking new furniture was not possible. For that, as some of you like to gloat about share, you’d have to spend considerable time collecting furnishings from estate sales and consignment shops.

 

I recall around the turn of the century, from 98-02, I did at least four beds from Grange Furniture.

 

They were from $4,500 – $5,000 each. And that was before shipping and tax.  You know, Grange went out of business in 2018; however, a European company called Smellink. Smellink? I know. It’s a Dutch name, what can I say?

When I lived in northern Westchester County, NY, there was a well-known family that owned apple orchards and had the last name, Outhouse.

You truly can’t make this shit up. ;]

 

Anyway, Smellink took over production of the Grange Furniture line, and they also ship all over the world!

 

Brave people, the Dutch are! I’m thinking of the kind man, Renzo Van Engelen, who sold me my fireplace mantel. I get tickled thinking that future owners will believe it was the original mantel.

 

However, my original point is that cheap bedroom furniture that looks expensive is available.

Will it look like Grange Furniture?

No, it won’t. Here, I found a close-up so you can see a Grange finish.

 

See? It’s tastefully antiqued with wormholes and all.

Now, for a little treat. I didn’t take photos of all of my work, but this is the home that was in Better Homes and Gardens in December 2004. 

I think I posted a photo in this more recent post about coffee tables.

 

No, I didn’t.

 

haha. However, I’ve posted it many times as this was one of my biggest jobs, and took place from 2000-2002. Because of this one job, I was able to purchase a few nice things for the first time. This was the period when I got my green settee, Gustavian-style bookcase, and Zuber screen.

 

Goldens Bridge, NY, circa 2002

Bronxville, Ny 2013

(Above) December 2021

Sometime in 2025

 

My wasband wanted me to sell the screen. Never mind. You know and I know I would’ve rather sawed off my right arm than sell that screen!

 

Oh dear. Sorry about that digression.

I was about to show you my client’s bedroom, taken in 2002. We did some Grange Furniture pieces in there. Before I do, apologies for the poor quality of the images.

 

The nightstand is Grange. And yes, I loved those lamps so much, I bought two for myself! The bed is not Grange. It was from Southampton, a division of Southwood Furniture, that has gone out of business.

 

The case piece on the left was also Grange. That bed was beyond gorgeous, but we waited nearly a year for it to arrive. The clients were away, and when they returned and settled back in noticed that one of the far legs was nearly cracked in half. It was hanging on by a thread.

 

I am not cut out for this business. Designers out there who are, I bow down to you.

 

Fortunately, my client was sane and was totally fine with the piece being professionally repaired, which Southampton paid for.

Okay, I hope you’re enjoying my little stories; I didn’t mean to go off on so many tangents.

 

My point is that THIS bedroom above cost my client about $50,000 to furnish back in 2001.

 

The rugs alone were close to 20k. That piece in the back is by Elizabeth Eakin$$$. That sum is only the furnishings. The house went through an extensive renovation, which I had zero to do with. Everything was through me except for the settee, which belonged to a relative. We did have it reupholstered. This is an antique 18th c farmhouse in Waccabuc, NY, and the ceiling height was max seven feet.

We went over some of the things to look out for in this post about sofas.

One of those is splayed legs. I need to wrap this up, but please try to avoid any large splayed legs. Also, legs set in that have a spindly look. The support legs are unavoidable.

Today, we’re only focusing on beds, not the mattress, but what the mattress sits on.

 

Beddy didn’t give me any clues about what style bed she wants so that I will give y’all the following styles:

 

• Wood beds, and also those with rattan.
• Beds that are fully upholstered with head and sometimes foot boards. The legs are usually wood.
• Metal beds
• Sleigh beds
• Metal canopy beds.

 

What about storage beds, Laurel?

 

In most cases, unless the storage is cleverly hidden in the bed rails (the vertical pieces that hold up the mattress or box spring, if there is one), I’m not a fan. However, if other storage options aren’t available, I would just use boxes under the bed for items needed but not used very often. If they’re tucked in, you won’t see them, or you can use a bed skirt.

Before we get into the beds, a couple of things. I did look at all of the reviews. Here’s the thing. If you get any of this furniture and it requires any kind of assembly, please hire a pro unless you are proficient in fixing things. I can almost guarantee that something will be off.

 

Everything’s from Wayfair.

 

Three years ago, I bought my son, Aaron, a cheap bed from Wayfair. The first one was missing a key component. Wayfair sent a whole new bed and didn’t want the defective one back. They’re great that way. The second bed was perfect and my son liked it a lot.

It drives me cray-cray when people say something like, “Well, for a $400 bed, I expect better quality!” It’s good to adjust expectations. Quality costs a lot of money. However, hiring a pro who knows how to make things work will give you the best results with your cheap bedroom furniture.

 

Okay, please enjoy the cool beds I found. All but one or two are well under $500.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful beds! There’s more coming soon!

xo,

*********************************************************

Part 2 Begins Here

 

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Hi Everyone,

Well, it’s officially autumn, and for us, there’s a lot of rain in the forecast.

I’ve been working on the final edits for the revised paint collection. I haven’t removed anything and decided to add the new colors in a separate chapter.

Oh, how I wish there were three of me.

 

This is such a huge topic. Seriously. I could and probably should break it down into cheap bedroom furniture:

 

• beds
• mattresses
• bedding
• nightstands
• dressers
• lamps

Alas, you’re getting a buffet table of courses.

And I’m not nearly finished.

First up are mattresses.

Mattresses are a bit like art. However, what I looked for was under $500, and most are way under $500.

 

And I also looked for the following with the lower-end mattresses:

 

• Fantastic reviews
• Not too soft, or firm, but midway
• A variety of types of mattresses, and some are hybrid
• I also tried to incorporate antimicrobial properties and other desirable features, such as a mattress that comes folded in a box.

It’s important to know that expensive mattresses can suck, and then you’re stuck with an expensive mistake.

 

PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK if there is a feature that is important to you.

 

Also, if a measurement appears to be off, it likely is. I come across mistakes all the time. Please call customer service, and they can get a precise number for you.

First up is a mini widget of mattresses. I love the mini widgets because they are easier to make; however, one can’t add any descriptions.

 

 

The rest we’ll look at today are lamps, nightstands, dressers, and a cool desk that’s over 50% off, but only for a few more hours.

There is a big widget coming up that could easily be three or more times the size it is.

 

But first, a few things I need to share about this cheap bedroom furniture.

 

Most of it truly is the dirtiest, cheap I’ve ever seen. Cheaper than unfinished furniture was 30 years ago. Remember that?

Speaking of unfinished furniture.

You are allowed to repaint the cheap stuff.

I, Laurel, an antique if there ever was one, and of reasonably sound mind, (I checked with my son Cale) doth grant you full rights to changeth the color of all cheap furniture that you purchase with my affiliate code. haha (No worries, the code is always baked into the link – and at no extra charge to you.)

 

I recommend milk paint or a similar product, which is very forgiving and easy to apply.

 

Of course, if it’s a wood stain, you could also make it a bit darker and more antique-looking. I wouldn’t bother stripping and sanding, unless it’s absolutely necessary.

 

2. We’ve been through this, but I’ll say it again and again.

 

Unless it’s something super easy and you read from a woman that it was incredibly easy to put together, HIRE A PRO. I can’t stress that enough. A pro can fix things, shore up any weak points, and create the best result. It’s worth spending a couple of hundred ($500 in Boston) more to achieve something that’s not going to fall apart in two weeks.

3. Cheap bedroom furniture is not from Baker Furniture Co, or Hickory Chair, or Henredon… It’s cheap crap. Therefore, do expect imperfections.

 

It makes me a little koo-koo when someone comments on a $79 nightstand.

“The finish looked cheap for the money.” 

 

It does? Okay, Mr. Van Winkle, in 1945, you could find a $79 nightstand with an outstanding finish.

That doesn’t mean that today’s $79 nightstand will have a finish that looks like blind pigeons applied it during mating. No, it actually might be quite nice, or at least adequate. But, it also might look cheap. That’s because it IS cheap!

Cheap crap made in China was selected because it’s awfully good-looking and has decent to outstanding reviews.

Cheap crap is not made of the finest materials. How could it be? Therefore, expect knots to bleed through. They might not, but please understand that it happens.

 

I have a knot-bleeding story from 25 years ago– about a little girl’s desk from Pottery Barn.

 

Forgive me if I’ve shared it before. I think I have, but it’s been a while.

There was a customer rep in Nevada, I had on speed dial. We went through THREE desks, and each time I had to set up a Saturday delivery, which is akin to booking a cruise around the world. There was something wrong with ALL of them.

 

Even if I had charged for my time, which I didn’t because I didn’t know any better, I couldn’t have charged him for the dozens of hours I spent fixing one POS desk for one little girl.

 

FYI, if you’re not familiar, knot bleeding happens the knots were not properly sealed with a knot sealer or stain-blocking primer before finishing the piece.  Knots contain sap and that bleed-through can occur months or even years later.