Tag Archives: New Beginnings

Bedroom Design: Begin Again

Post by Erin Sears.

Here it is, friends- 2013!  Aren’t you excited?  A new year is ahead of us and anything is possible! YAY!

Okay, that’s all the enthusiasm I can muster considering I woke up in a disaster of a bedroom this morning and my head hurts.  The truth is that I’ve let things go around here.  A few years ago, I completely redid my bedroom- new linens, bright rugs, awesome art.  I deep cleaned and smudged the room with sage until the past was but a wisp of a memory.  I vowed to keep the space looking tidy and lovely. However, the shine has worn off my once beautiful room and things have gotten messy. My grandmother would say that things are looking a little long in the tooth, so here we go! It’s time to begin again.

The New Year provides us with a fantastic opportunity to assess and evaluate our living spaces. Ask yourself the following questions about each room: Is it functional?  Is it beautiful?  Would I want others to see it?  Do I like being here? Do I LOVE it?


Source: http://wendypolish.bigcartel.com/product/heart-pillow

Take those essential questions and take a good look around. Sprucing up your sleeping space can feel overwhelming at first, so here are four areas to consider when beginning:

  1.     Clean your room!  A little bit of cleaning and purging can go a long way. You’re not in college anymore.  Futons and fiberboard “furniture” do not belong in your bedroom.  Get rid of anything broken or ugly.  Be honest. Let go.

  2.     Color and Pattern:  Adjust the palette of your room with new paint, new bedding or new curtains. Use your wardrobe to initiate color choices. What colors do you naturally gravitate toward in clothing?  What looks good on you?  You want to look gorgeous in your room.  You want to go to bed feeling calm and wake up feeling good.  Use color as your driving force.  Pattern can work in the same way, but be careful not to go overboard.  Just because you like flowers it doesn’t mean you want to sleep in a garden.  With that said, a well-placed stripe or print can really bring your bedroom to life.  Consider saving pattern for curtains, pillows or bedding.

  3.     Furniture:

Bed choice:  Start here.  This should be where you spend the bulk of your money.  Choose a bed that inspires you and invest in a good mattress. It’s worth it.  Do not buy furniture sets.  They’re lazy decorating and rarely a true expression of self.  If you inherit a bedroom set and you love it, select the best piece for the room.  Repurpose, give away, or sell the rest.  Really.

Nightstands:  There are two ways to go with this- matching and not matching.  Matching nightstands can provide a room with balance and symmetry.  These are good things.  If you have more eclectic taste, you can go with two different nightstands.  My nightstands do not match.  One is a round French café table that I fell in love with at garden shop.  It’s large enough to hold a lamp and many books, but still in scale with the room.  My other nightstand is an old telephone table that I bought used.  It has wooden bead accents, a shelf, and two deep pockets on each side for magazines.  I took a pillowcase in a just right color to the paint store and had them match it and then painted the table in that dreamy shade.  LOVE.

Additional pieces: Dressers, vanities and other furniture pieces are space dependent.  We’re all looking for smart storage solutions and these can make wonderful additions to spacious rooms.

4.  Lighting:  Lighting is an essential component of any room.  In the bedroom, overhead lighting can make things look too harsh.  To avoid this, I opt for bedside lamps.  There are lots of ways to go with lighting and I’ll probably highlight them in another post, but like nightstands, your lamps can match or not.  I use two different lamps made of the same material with similar shades.  They coordinate, but are not identical.

Start by changing a few elements of your room and see where the changes take you. Remember, your room does not have to be finished all at once.  Great rooms are designed, developed, and edited over time.  The journey is part of the fun.

Happy New Year!

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