If you’ve been wondering how to decorate a bedroom, here are some decorating tips to get you started:
1. Go subtle with the colors. Beautiful bedrooms are meant to be calming, comfortable spaces, and the best colors to achieve are delicate color schemes: neutrals like whites and creams or a bright color palette like lavender and light blue. This doesn’t mean your bedroom needs to be boring – if your favorite colors are bold colors, feel free to experiment with different ways to add interesting colors. Try some bold throw pillows; a busy duvet, comforter or bedspread; or even an interesting paint color or wallpaper on an accent wall or ceiling.
2. Consider the visual importance of your furniture. While simple movement is a good way to judge whether or not your bedroom is cluttered, how it looks is also important. Every piece of furniture has a visual weight – for example, a minimal bed frame without a headboard will be much visually lighter than a thick bed frame with a wide headboard. When choosing furniture for your bedroom, consider the visual weights of each piece. In a small bedroom layout, go for a bright bed and minimal bedside tables; in a high ceiling, consider a tall headboard or large wall art to fill out the space and draw the eye upward. Don’t worry too much about a neat, eye-catching centerpiece – if you’re feeling a bit cramped, let your bed be the focal point. A good trick to change the visual balance of any room is a wall mirror – light mirrors can almost create a negative visual weight, as if they add space to your room.
3. Make sure you can move. One of the best ways to give your bedroom a restful and relaxing atmosphere is to focus on the ease of movement, or how well you can walk around the floor space without feeling cramped. If possible, try to avoid a lot of extraneous bedroom furniture in your bedroom so you don’t trip over bookshelves and coffee tables or squeeze past bedside tables to get to your bed. This is especially important in small spaces and small rooms, where space is so limited that you have to make sure you can breathe. If you find it particularly difficult, think about extra storage spaces you can implement, such as drawers under your bed.
4. Layer your lighting. Instead of relying on just your ceiling lamp or a table lamp, it’s a good practice to layer the lighting in your bedroom, which means including several different light sources that you can turn on and off for maximum functionality and coherence. You don’t need a chandelier to store your lighting – think about the various simple light sources you can take advantage of in your bedroom (such as recessed natural light, ceiling lamps, floor lamps, bedside lamps, table lamps, reading lamps, ceiling lamps, dimmers and sconces) and choose a few to include.
5. Distribute the soft hands. All bedrooms have one large soft object – the bed – which is often the focal point of the room. To balance the visual softness of the bed, try to include that softness in one or two other places, which will avoid the rest of the room feeling too “hard” by comparison. Window curtains, rugs or soft blankets are good ways to spread the soft look throughout the room.
6. Remember the ceiling. The ceiling is the largest clean surface in your bedroom, and most amateur decorators forget all about it – so it’s a huge untapped resource in any room. If you want to give your bedroom a special touch, consider painting or wallpapering your ceiling with a delicate color or pattern. If you are tired of DIY tips and want a particularly elegant bedroom look, you can even think about making a molded ceiling.
7. Consider a nook. Your bedroom should feel like a special sanctuary where you can relax. If you have the space and are looking for a little more to make your bedroom feel like home, consider how you can create a private nook for yourself. A window seat, a loft or even just a comfy chair and footstool all make great places to hide away for some private time.
8. Follow your personal style. When coming up with bedroom ideas, don’t get so caught up in decorating tips that you end up with a bedroom that doesn’t feel right for you. Your bedroom should feel comfortable and tailored to your needs, so along the way make sure you ask yourself what appeals to you. If you love something specific – whether it’s greenery or upholstered headboards – be sure to make room for it in your design ideas
