When thinking of bedroom decorating ideas, a feather duster was not the first thing that came to mind.

After moving back home upon graduating college, I realized that paying rent for an apartment was waaaaay too much money for a stingy person like me. Since I was going to be living with my mom for awhile, I figured I might as well make myself comfortable. The first thing that had to change was my bedroom’s decor. Coming home every night to a princess fairy land was NOT going to help me cope with my situation.

The lovely queen-sized comforter set I had bought during college inspired the color scheme for my room. Three of my walls are tan/beige, while the accent wall behind my bed is a burnt red. Then I added pops of white around the room. I knew I wanted to add gold paint to the red wall, but wasn’t sure how to apply the paint without overdoing it.

Then one night, my mom stopped me before I left to go buy paint and said, “You should try using a feather duster.”

The thought had never occurred to me. I dropped everything and went straight to the computer to research this fascinating method. I found some neat pictures online of the texture it creates (though not the first colors I would’ve picked). PERFECT! It was exactly the style I was seeking.

Using the Feather Duster

To achieve the light and airy feathering effect, you have to apply as little paint as possible to the feather duster. I poured a small pool of paint onto a plastic plate.

Allow the feather duster to barely brush the surface of the paint. I can’t stress this enough, because once you get a bunch of paint on it, you’ll end up with splotches on your wall instead of individual feather marks. Even if you try to wash the duster, it won’t be the same.

This a one-shot process; everything you want to paint with the feather duster MUST be completed in one sitting. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to cover one wall. I recommend using one feather duster per wall, as the feathering effect begins to change by the end of one completed wall.

I wasn’t going to remove all the furniture from my room. Watching the video How to Prepare a Room for Painting gave me some tips on how to not spill paint on my precious items. Three days and three paint cans later, my adolescent zen room was complete! I even bought a media center from The Room Place, which fit perfectly into my decor.

See the results of my bedroom makeover:

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