Want a bedroom designed for rest and relaxation? Wherever you fall on the minimalist-to-maximalist spectrum, getting strategic about what to add and what to remove can help free — and focus — your mind.
Read on to see how one bedroom upped its zen, then browse the Tips & Tricks for more advice on designing your own retreat-ready space.
The brief: Make a bedroom an oasis of calm 365 days a year. Establish a color palette with enough variety to flex with seasons and moods. Avoid allergen triggers like carpets and curtains. And find ways to meld multiple design interests into a cohesive look.
approach #1: GO WITH GEOMETRY
Repeating shapes and colors adds interest without amping up visual noise. In this bedroom, sloped ceilings dominate the space while ceiling beams, five-panel doors, and a wall of windows create strong horizontal lines. Because the room’s original old-growth fir floors and beams add character and warmth to the room, color-related decisions revolved around setting them off to advantage.
approach #2: PICK A FLEXIBLE COLOR PALETTE
A bedroom with higher-contrast color combinations plus multiple bold patterns will generally excite rather than calm. But that doesn’t mean you’re limited to colors that range from ecru to envelope white. If you crave variety — seasonal or otherwise — some pre-planning can make shifts simpler.
Wondering where to start?
- Consider your “can’t change” or “must-have” colors as foundational.
- Jumpstart palette ideas by looking for images that include your foundational shades.
- Compare the combinations you see to the colors you already use and/or like.
- Create your own color pairings.
- If paint’s involved, test to see how a color looks in your space and lighting.
The room’s remaining core palette colors include richer shades — bronze, pewter, chocolate, slate and navy blue — as well as pale gray, white, cream, and taupe.
Broad palette inspiration
Summer palette and mood inspiration
Winter palette and mood inspiration
approach #3: LIGHTEN UP FOR SUMMER
In cold weather, pale bedding tends to read frozen tundra versus light and bright. So celebrate summer by breaking out barely-there shades that echo other elements in your room.
If you're working around furniture with colors more serious than summertime, options abound. Pile on the pillows, slipcover chairs, or drape a lightweight throw to better match your design to the calendar. Want more ideas? You can also:
- add lighter-colored area rugs over wall-to-wall carpet
- layer filmy curtains over blinds or shades
- store area rugs until temperatures drop
- (if privacy or budget allows) remove or swap out heavy window treatments
- display crystal or glass as-is, put it to work as storage, or use it to hold potted plants or flower arrangements
TIP: Working with stronger colors year-round? Simple textile and accessory changes can help you beat the heat with style.
In summer, this room’s most prominent darker tones (fir floor, ceiling beams, and bed frame) repeat in small doses so that lighter ones can grab center stage. The white and pale gray bedding connects with similar tones in the room’s bench, sconce, and artwork.
Airy, repurposed glass pieces incorporate the palette’s accent colors and serve as jewelry storage, while a small crystal bowl makes the most of a few lush blooms.
approach #4: DO A SEASONAL SWAP IN WINTER
Faced with cold or dreary winter weather? If you’re a more-is-more person, add layers and textures that warm your soul — and body! If you prefer to maintain a streamlined style, you can cozy up by embracing deeper shades.
Velvet, woven and knit wool, flannel, and sherpa/sheepskin looks will help you create a luxe lair. You can:
- use a duvet to change up the look of bedding (on a smaller scale, covering throw pillows works too)
- add winter-weight curtains to windows
- layer area rugs over wall-to-wall carpet
- add area rugs to bare floors
- use shelving or free-standing pieces to rotate artwork
- drape beds and furniture in hearty throws
TIP: Need to keep bedroom allergens at bay but miss carpets, drapes, and fluffy throws when it’s cold outside? Use visual texture — prints and patterns — to add some interest. Houseplants offer another way to enrich your environment; their air-filtering abilities are a seasonal bonus.
In winter, strategic use of color and pattern connects the featured bedroom’s elements and design choices. As bedding, pottery, and artwork take on deeper tones, summer’s lighter shades become accents.
Switching out even a few accessories can mark a seasonal change. When short days and low temperatures arrive, this richly colored pottery and exhibit poster move from storage to the spotlight.
approach #5: GET A FRAME-OVER
When you’re upping your room’s style, consider using your palette choices to give your favorite artwork a new look.
After years of display, these reproductions of Alexander Jackson Davis' architectural drawings were out of sync with the room’s changes. They now sport light gray mats and rose-gold frames — and hang as one unit to maximize the impact of the prints themselves.
This room’s restrained palette plus a light hand with sentimental items keeps things restful throughout seasonal shifts. Below, you’ll find a checklist of things you can do to create your own center of calm.
Tips & Tricks
BREAK IT DOWN: Take a look at your room’s features. Consider windows, walls and ceilings, dressers, shelves, door handles, and mirrors; assess what’s going on in your textiles and artwork, too. Do horizontals and verticals dominate, or do you see circles, ovals, and slanted angles? Decide where and how you can repeat existing shapes.
TONAL TONES THINGS DOWN: If you're looking to create a quieter space, you're not restricted to an empty room. Instead, group art and objects that share a similar, limited color palette together. Rotate the collections if you like variety!
BLEND INTO THE BACKGROUND: Steal a strategy from this room’s matching dresser-and-wall-color setup if you want to reduce the visual impact of your furniture. For maximum durability, use semi-gloss; in this project, satin created the most seamless look.
MIX FUNCTION AND FORM: When you have competing desires (less clutter! easy access! pretty objects to enjoy!) it pays to find a way to combine them. In the featured bedroom, jewelry sits out in the open — experiment to find storage situations that keep stress low.
PLAY (CAREFULLY) WITH CONTRAST: Look at your room’s colors. Which ones dominate and how have you combined them — do colors blend or pop? If you want to keep a room higher on the soothing spectrum, go for an overall look that's low- to medium-contrast.
MAKE TIME FOR TEXTURE: Add handmade, tactile, and/or patina’d items for interest. In both winter and summer, think about bedding and textile choices: consider flannel, cotton jersey, wool, velvet, and high-pile items for winter; for summer, explore linen, silk, hemp, bamboo, and sheer cotton. You can also incorporate visual texture via prints and patterns.
A House Vixen Design Connect to Color Project. Guidance for this home included wall colors, textiles, and accessories.