I can’t believe I have left this blog for so long, it’s so amazing how busy I have been since the first lockdown. The industry is crazy at the moment, people are building their dream homes, building rentals, renovating their forever homes or putting in new kitchens for rentals. This blog is going to highlight a few of my favourite things about bedrooms and what I think you should look at when designing or styling your room.
When designing your room, you need to think about how you want to feel in the space. Do you like those moody romantic tones, or do you want light relaxing calmer tones? Creating the right mood for you is a must for your master bedrooms, guest rooms or kid’s rooms. Kids Bedrooms will always have toys all over the place, posters on the walls, their likes change all the time. Guest rooms are a simpler version of the master you don’t want the space to be too homely or your guest won’t want to leave. Think about the following points for the overall look: paint colours & feature walls, bedding selection, curtains & blinds, lighting, cushions & throws, artwork, greenery, headboards & bedside tables.
Paint Colours & Feature Walls – Having your bedroom space to be a moody romantic tone I would suggest looking at the darker tones on the wall. For a calm & relaxing tone I would look at soft neutral colours. Colours that are the same throughout the house are okay but you could also use the same colour but in a darker shade. Having a slightly darker tone in the bedroom sets the room apart from the rest of the house. Feature walls are starting to become popular again but that is mostly because you can get some amazing wallpapers now.
Wallpaper is a great way to add personality to the room, this is sometimes a nice way for children to add their own touch into the room but remembering that they change what they like often so making this feature wall something that will grow with this is a way to go. You could also do paint patterns in the kids bedrooms, something that you could be creative with masking tape and shapes with different colours. Guest bedrooms are a great place to put in a wallpaper that is bold and patterned but not something you want in the rest of the house. Sometimes these types of wallpapers work well with a simple paint colour.
Bedding Selection – Choosing your bedding for each room can be so much fun. Master bedrooms can be simple tones but bold or calming with white sheets and pillowcases. Linen materials are a common product in main bedrooms now. Guest bedrooms you can put in some fun colours or beautiful patterns on the bedspreads. Kids bedrooms can be lots of fun as well depending on what they are into you can personalise the duvet cover to something with fairies, butterflies, sports teams or super heroes. Bedding selections can be changed regularly within the seasons or within the age of the child. Some children do prefer simple block coloured duvets and that is fine because you can add colour through other elements. Bedding is also a way of conveying that calming relaxing feeling or fun and vibrant feeling. But with bedding you also need to remember what you have planned for the walls.
With the kids rooms if you are planning a really bold feature wall I would try and stay away from the bold and patterned bedding as they will both be next to the same wall most likely and competing for the main feature in the room.
Curtains & Blinds – Curtains are very important for bedrooms, they create warmth and block out the light. There are lots of different options for window treatments in a bedroom, curtains, sheers, roman blinds, roller blinds, venetians, shutters. I feel curtains and roman blinds are the best for bedrooms as they block out all the light and keep the warmth within the room. Sheers are a great use for privacy, but they can also make the room more luxurious and relaxing with a soft white sheer blowing in the breeze or just hanging over a large window.
There are so many different fabrics out there that can really finish off your room. Roller Blinds & Venetians can be a great idea for keeping things minimal, but you have to think about the gap between the frame and blind (when fixed inside the window frame) you can put the roller blind on the outside of the window frame but they don’t look as nice. Shutters can be great for those long skinny windows above beds, they don’t need to be opened so having a shutter that just needs the fin adjusted to let light in is a great option.
Lighting – This is a way of bringing in that calming and relaxing feeling in your master bedroom. Pendants, wall lights, bedside lamps or recessed spotlights from overhead. Also having the ability to have them on a dimmer is a great idea as well. You could also make a statement with a large pendant in the middle of the room. Kids and guest bedrooms are generally just bedside lamps or wall lights. Something that is simple but effective for night time reading but practical for doing what needs to be done at night.
Cushions & Throws – These are a great way to add colour and comfort to your bedroom. The more cushions the better…well to me not really, I feel that less is more.
Because you just have to take them off the bed and then put them back on in the morning. But cushions are a great way to add in some subtle tones that tie in with your bedspread, artwork or your curtains. They can be plain colours, bold colours or patterns that bring out colours. Throws are also a great way to add in a bit of warm to the room, it separates the colours on your bed as it breaks up bedding. They are also another way of bringing in a little bit of colour to match your cushions.
Artwork – This is something that is very personable to the person that sleeps in the room. Kids bedrooms are the easiest, they can use something that they are interested in, generally when they are younger it can be fairies, forest animals, super hero’s or space. When they get to pre-teen it can then be changed to something that they are interested in. Large prints of farm animals or dried flowers arranged in different ways, these are really nice at the moment. But for children artwork is something that can be easily changed as they grow.
Guest bedrooms can be different this could be left blank or you could just put a piece of art that you really like. Master Bedrooms are very different this can be something that can be personal to the owners of that room, but I think it has to be something that looks tasteful and resonates with the person in the room. I’m not a fan of those very personal pictures of your partner, sorry to those that are.
But I think in the master bedroom something that is from somewhere you like, a favourite artist or an abstract piece of art. Art is something that can add to the room, but don’t use something that will overpower the room.
Greenery – Is another way of adding something nice into the Master or Guest Bedrooms. Plants are something that the person sleeping in there will enjoy. Children aren’t the best for plants, unless they have a real passion for it.
Headboards & Bedside Tables – This is also something that is pretty much the centre of the room, it’s a bold item but that doesn’t mean it needs to be the main feature or you could make it the main feature but then keep everything else simple. There are different types of headboards around from Wooden (also wooden bed frame), Rattan, Fabric Upholstered, metal or nothing.
Bedside tables are a must whether this is something with drawers, just a table, a stool, floating from the wall or even a built in recessed shelf. Whatever your needs require will be you go to like if you need a space that has storage or not. But I feel you need somewhere to book your book or cup of tea (milo in my instance) or phone at night. You need something there.
Bedrooms are another room that is one of my favourites in the house. I love that it can be your sanctuary, your place to go and be by yourself and relax. I love going and lying in my bed with my big pillows and throw over me and reading or taking a keep nap. But the space needs to be about what you love and what you enjoy.
Next Blog…Laundry
