Your bedroom should be one of the most comfortable rooms in your home. It should support how you live, help you unwind at the end of the day and, of course, look beautiful.
Getting all of those things to work together isn’t always as simple as it seems.
A well-designed bedroom involves much more than choosing a bed and a pair of nightstands. Furniture scale, layout, lighting, window treatments, storage, colour and texture all contribute to how the room looks and feels. An interior decorator can bring those elements together into a complete design rather than a series of individual decisions.
Start With How You Use the Room
Before I begin developing a bedroom design, I want to understand how my clients actually use the space. Do you read in bed? Watch television? Need more storage? Would you use a chair or bench? Does morning light wake you earlier than you’d like? Those practical considerations influence the design from the beginning.
Space planning is particularly important. A king-size bed may technically fit in a room, for example, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is the right choice. The bed, nightstands, dresser, seating and other furnishings need to be appropriately scaled while leaving comfortable circulation around the room.
Create Layers of Light
Lighting can completely change the atmosphere of a bedroom, which is why I prefer to think about it in layers. General lighting may come from a ceiling fixture, while bedside lamps or sconces provide task lighting for reading. Dimmers allow the room to transition from bright and practical to softer and more relaxing at night.
There are also interesting new ways to incorporate ambient light. Some upholstered beds and bed frames now include integrated LED lighting, creating a soft glow around the bed and adding atmosphere without another lamp or fixture.
The point isn’t to include every possible source of light. It’s to select the right combination for the room and for the people using it.
Don’t Underestimate Window Treatments
Window treatments are especially important in a bedroom because they need to address privacy, light control and aesthetics at the same time. Depending on the room, I might recommend blinds or shades, blackout lining, custom drapery or a combination of treatments.
Custom window treatments can also change how we perceive the proportions of a room. Properly placed drapery can emphasize ceiling height, soften the architecture and introduce another layer of colour, pattern or texture.
Add Colour and Texture
There is no rule that says a bedroom has to be pale or neutral to feel restful.
Soft blues, greens and warm neutrals can certainly create a calm environment, but deeper colours can be equally effective. Navy, charcoal, warm brown or a beautiful wallpaper can make a bedroom feel intimate and cocooning. Texture is just as important as colour. Upholstery, bedding, rugs, drapery, wood and wall finishes add depth to a room, even when the overall palette is quiet.
This is often what separates a room that simply looks furnished from one that feels finished.
Make Storage Part of the Design
A restful bedroom still has to function. Dressers, bedside cabinets, benches and other storage pieces should be considered as part of the overall furniture plan rather than added wherever they happen to fit.
The objective is to provide enough storage for the way you live without overwhelming the room with furniture.
Bring the Whole Room Together
One of the advantages of working with an interior decorator is having someone consider the room as a whole.
My clients often know what they like. They may have saved bedrooms on Pinterest or Instagram, found a bed they love or decided on a particular colour. The challenge is pulling it all together in their actual space.
That’s where professional decorating and space planning become valuable.
I look at scale and proportion, furniture placement, lighting, window treatments, colour, texture and the relationship between each element. I can then develop the furnishings and finishes around a cohesive plan and manage the details through ordering and installation.
The goal isn’t to create a bedroom that looks like someone else’s. It’s to create one that works beautifully for you.
If you’re considering redesigning your bedroom and aren’t sure where to begin, [book a consultation] with Saree Parry Design. I provide full-service interior decorating in Ottawa and surrounding areas, from space planning and furnishings to custom window treatments, lighting and finishing details.
