8 Tips for Decorating Your Bedroom

If you’ve been wondering how to decorate a bedroom, here are some interior design tips to get your started:

1. 1. Go subtle with the colors. Beautiful bedrooms are meant to be soothing, comfortable areas, and the best colors to achieve that are delicate color schemes: neutral colors like whites and creams or a light color palette like lavender and light blue. This doesn’t mean that your bedroom needs to be boring—if your favorite colors are bold colors, feel free to experiment with different ways to add interesting pops of color. Try out some bold throw pillows; a busy duvet cover, comforter, or bedspread; or even an interesting paint color or wallpaper on an accent wall or the ceiling.
2. 2. Make sure you can move. One of the best ways to give your bedroom a restful and relaxing vibe is to focus on the ease of movement, or how well you can walk around the floor space without feeling cramped. Where possible, try to avoid a lot of extraneous bedroom furniture in your bedroom so that you’re not tripping over bookcases and coffee tables or squeezing past bedside tables to get to your bed. This is especially important in small spaces and small rooms, where the space is so limited that you need to make sure you can breathe. If you’re having an especially hard time, think about extra storage spaces you could implement, like drawers underneath your bed.
3. 3. Think about the visual weight of your furniture. While ease of movement is a great way to judge whether or not your bedroom is cluttered, also important is how it looks. Every piece of furniture has a visual weight—for instance, a minimal bed frame with no headboard will be much visually lighter than a chunky bedframe with a wide headboard. When selecting pieces of furniture for your bedroom, think about the visual weights of each piece. In a small bedroom floor plan, go for a light-looking bed and minimal nightstand; in a high-ceilinged master bedroom, consider a tall headboard or large piece of wall art to fill out the space and draw the eyes upward. Don’t worry too much about a fancy, eye-catching centerpiece—if you’re feeling low on space, let your bed be the focal point. A great trick for changing the visual balance of any room is a wall mirror—light mirrors can almost create a negative visual weight, as if they are adding space to your room.
4. 4. Layer your lighting. Rather than relying on just your overhead light 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 toggle on and off for maximum functionality and cohesion. You don’t need a chandelier to layer your lighting—think about the different simple light sources you can take advantage of in your bedroom (like built-in natural light, overhead lights, floor lamps, bedside lamps, table lamps, reading lights, pendant lights, dimmers, and sconces) and pick a few to include.
5. 5. Distribute the soft touches. All bedrooms have one large soft item in them—the bed—which is often the focal point of the room. To help balance out the visual softness of the bed, try including that softness one or two other places, which will avoid making the rest of the room feel overly “hard” in comparison. Window drapes, area rugs, or plush throw blankets are great ways to spread the soft look throughout the room.
6. 6. Remember the ceiling. The ceiling is the largest clean surface in your bedroom, and most amateur home 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’re tired of DIY tips and want an especially elegant bedroom look, you could even think about having a molded ceiling done.
7. 7. Consider a nook. Your bedroom should feel like a special sanctum where you can relax. If you have the space and are looking for a little something more to make your bedroom feel like home, think about ways that you can make a private nook for yourself. A window seat, a loft, or even just a comfy chair and footstool all make for great places to tuck yourself up for some private time.
8. 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 to you. Your bedroom should feel comfortable and tailored to your needs, so make sure along the way that you’re asking yourself what appeals to you. If you love something specific—be it greenery or upholstered headboards—be sure to make room for it in your design ideas.

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