5 Tips for Decorating Your Bedroom

Beds, pillows, lamps, nightstands—whether you’re an aspiring interior designer or just want to give your own home a little makeover, the bedroom can be a challenging place to make feel well designed, because it’s all about coziness and functionality

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.