No room in a home is more personal than the bedroom. Whether it’s yours alone or shared with your beloved, it’s a place where you need to be able to relax and feel completely at peace. So while there are many ways to reinvent your living space, bedroom decor requires something different – the personal touch. What can you do to put your mark in the room; to give it a quality that’s unique to your personality?
Find Your True Colors
The first thing to consider in creating a new look for your room is the color scheme you’d like to use. Although some designers love drama even in this context, most people prefer soothing colors, as they are, after all, going to have to sleep there. To create a balance of shades that will work for you, choose two or three colors that work well together. One will be the main color for your walls, another the color of carpets and complementary features. A third color can be used for trim. Metallic paints often work well for this purpose, brightening up the room and giving it character. You can choose to paint whole walls in your main shade or select patterned wallpapers based around it – there are no strict rules, but working with colors in this way helps to create a consistent sense of style.
Make the Most of Your Space
If you have a small room, you may be limited in your design options but with some creative thinking, you can make the size of the room work for you. Beds with drawers underneath or adult-sized cabin beds can fit nicely into spaces like this and increase storage options, as well as creating a distinctive look. Floor-length curtains can be used to create temporary partitions. Oddly shaped rooms are a gift to designers who want to exercise their imagination. You can use contrasting colors to make a feature out of little niches and exposed wooden beams; even painted metal beams can add a lot of character.
Shape Up Your Windows
Besides the bed itself, the most eye-catching feature in your bedroom is likely to be the windows. Don’t just default to dull drapes – consider window shutters and Roman or Venetian blinds as different dressing options. A slimmed-down look created in this way can make a room look bigger and airier, and complement a minimalist or modernist style. Shutters can also be used to create a charmingly old-fashioned look or create an additional sense of coziness and security if you live in a place battered by frequent storms. You can paint shutters or the window frames themselves to add personality to your room or add patterned window films or stained glass panels to distract from an uninteresting view.
Think About What You Need
There are certain essentials in a bedroom that you can’t really do without – the bed itself and some kind of storage, which usually means at least one wardrobe or chest of drawers. There’s plenty of room for creativity here, however, and you can create a look that’s both sophisticated and personal by choosing complementary items to suit a particular theme. Make sure that wood or metal finishes work together and with the colors in your room. Look for items of a similar age or with similar motifs. In a larger room, you may want to add a single piece of accent furniture or a large piece of art that works in contrast to the rest. You might also choose multi-purpose items such as ottomans or unusual pieces such as wooden chests to keep your clothes in.
Treat Yourself
Your bedroom ought to be a special place where you can indulge yourself with a touch of luxury. A glittering chandelier for the ceiling, a sheepskin rug for the floor or a sensuous faux fur for the bed can transform a very ordinary room into something spectacular. A large mirror with a handsome frame can add glamor and serve a useful purpose when you’re choosing clothes. Candelabras can look splendid in themselves and allow you to create a romantic candlelit atmosphere for intimate moments. Small items such as silver picture frames and glass vases can also contribute to that sense of elegance.
Ultimately, what makes your room feel truly personal will depend on you. It could be pictures of your loved ones, mementos from your favorite sports or animal accessories you like to collect. Items such as these don’t need to overwhelm the room to play their part in making it somewhere that’s uniquely yours.