Your bedroom should be much more than just a place to rest your head. With a few simple design upgrades, your bedroom can be a place of solace, a quiet place to study or read, and a sanctuary where you always feel right at home.
Lacking square footage? Lacking good lighting? Don’t fret. It's all about arranging the right bedroom furniture for your place. No matter the space, here are a few room-altering design inspirations to help you create the ideal bedroom where you can enjoy your nights (and days).
1) Express Your Taste
The first step in learning how to create the bedroom you desire is to learn how to express your own aesthetic taste. By collecting images, whether you prefer to cut up magazines or dedicate a folder on your computer for your favorite JPEGs, honing in on the styles that you enjoy will allow you to find objects, textiles, colors, and other inspiration to make your bedroom your own. Gathering inspiration also allows you to create a guide when shopping, keeping you from purchasing items that don’t mesh well with your desired look.
2) Create A Mood With Lighting
Whether you need a quiet place to study and read, or a space that can help you relax and sleep, lighting in a bedroom is everything. When designing your lighting, understand your goals for the room. Desk lamps and bedside table lamps can help you create a space that will allow you to read more often in your room. Natural light from the windows will create a space that feels more open and bright, while low lights and lamps can create a relaxing ambiance.
3) Textiles, Textiles, and More Textiles
Blankets and pillows galore can create a space that feels comfy and homey. By increasing the number of comfortable textiles in your room, including adding rugs and curtains, you can create more of a relaxing feeling of hygge (a Danish and Norwegian word to describe a certain coziness).
4) Choose Comfort Over Everything
Comfort is especially important when designing your bedroom space, a place where you’ll spend one-third of your life (at least) resting. When deciding which furniture pieces or decorative elements to include in your room, make being comfortable your first priority. From lush blankets to comfy armchairs, you’ll want to feel good in your space.
5) Declutter Your Nightstand
Whether you’re a tried-and-true minimalist or a believer in being surrounded by your favorite objects, one thing is clear when it comes to where you sleep — your nightstand can’t become a clutter zone. While it might be easy to store all your favorite objects near your bed, from your books to your electronic devices to cosmetics, it’s better to keep that area clear in order to better use the table space for objects you need when you need them.
6) Creative Storage Solutions
Since they’re often out of sight from visitors, bedrooms are often the ideal place to incorporate creative storage solutions. Popular approaches to creative storage in the bedroom include under-the-bed containers or a storage chest at the end of your bed. A few less unconventional ideas include storing items behind your headboard or installing extra shelving in your closet.
7) For A Bigger Feel, Keep Decor Minimal
For smaller spaces or spaces that are awkwardly-shaped, keeping furnishings and decor minimal will create the feeling that you’re in a much larger space. Without clutter or extra ideas adding to the lack of square footage, you can create a serene, calm space, even in the smallest of bedrooms.
8) Mix Light and Dark
Light, bright, and white rooms can make your space feel bigger while darker, moodier tones can create a calmer ambiance. Many times, we want our rooms to be able to accomplish both of these modes. For a day-to-night approach, consider mixing light and dark tones that can be altered depending on your mood.
9) Choose Natural Tones
Natural tones and natural materials can help create a bedroom design that will outlast trends. Creating a more harmonious space, natural tones and materials complement one another and provide a guide to decorating. Many times, natural tones and materials can also remind you of nature, a way to add calm to your indoor world.
10) Go With Colors That Make You Happy
Although there are plenty of reasons you might want to decorate with natural color tones, choosing any color that makes you happy will always create a space you want to live in. If you have a favorite color or a series of favorite colors, adding those tones to your room can brighten each of your days.