In decorating your private haven, choose design elements and furnishings for physical and psychological comfort. Paint the walls rise-and-shine yellow, if you want. Wrap the room in chintz and lace to recapture a era from the past. Or, create a bright white backdrop filled with your favorite art. Above all, the important thing to remember is to incorporate the things you enjoy most into your bedroom decor.
Where to put all theFurnishings
One of your first questions should be where to place the bed... the most dominate piece of furniture. There are two requirements for a bedroom to work that involve the bed:
A conventional bedroom plans usually allows for two night tables on either side of the bed. A good variation of this is to place a skirted round table on one side and a chest of drawers on the other (which by the way are great storage places!). If there happens to be enough space at the foot of the bed, you can set a trunk there... again valuable storage space. In addition, a large otterman or a small loveseat placed at the foot of the bed allows for central seating. Another piece adjacent to the bed could be a long table, which could be useful as a desk, night stand, or vanity. If this table is set in a window, it's especially appropriate for writing.
Twin beds, can give some a headache. With twin beds, it is common to place the headborads along the longest wall with a night table in between. But try this, Position them like a "L", and place a low table, holding a lamp, in the corner where the heads meet. Or place the beds with their sides along a wall, with a chest in between. These two arrangements can be great space savers.
If you're lucky enough to have a large room, you can add a few additions to the usual furnishings which will give the room a special appeal and usefulness. An intimate dinner or cozy Sunday brunch are memorable in a bedroom: Place two side chairs and a breakfast table in a corner of the room or at the foot of the bed. For reading or light resting an elongated sofa or a Chaise lounge chair with a coordinating throw pillows make for an elegant addition to any bedroom.
The Power of Accessories
Accessories play an essential role in the bedroom. Bedding, window dressings, and wall hangings have practical purpose and can bring a certain style to the room as well.
There are things you want to look at every day, and photos of family and loved ones can be displayed on the top of dressers and vanities. Small mirrors placed on bedroom furnishings are good to use as they give the illusion of added space and reflect light.
With the natural focus of the room on your bed, bed linens and dressings are the place to make a personal statement of style. Here's where you can go all out! Laced bed skirts, and loads of fluffy pillows add a romantic touch, while a mixed of plaids and florals add an English Country air. For an old fashion charm try a quilt with a patchwork or calico print but don't forget the matching/coordinating pillows. If you feel a little wild, a safari print would be perfect for you. Add to that an iron and wood bed with a rattan and wicker chair and your well on your way to your theme bedroom. Your choices are unlimited it's only limited by your imagination!
Along with warmth and coziness, bedding adds a lot of "visual texture" to the bedroom. Down comforters, feather beds and pillows make a luxurious atmosphere. Colorful cotton sheets feel good to the skin and please the eye. Open-weave blankets used in warm weather and wool or acylic blankets used in cold seasons have a visual effect, too.
The window treatments can be coordinated with the bedding to heighten the style in the room. Trims, fringes, and tiebacks take curtains out of the ordinary. The motifs can be continued or complemented with skirted tables, which also adds softness and texture to the room.
Some other "Special Touches" to consider:
The most common and often the more practical placement of the bed is in the middle of the longest wall. Also I always try to place my bed so it's the first thing you will see when you walk through the doorway. I always use my bed as a focal point for my bedroom by using large pillows, mixed in with small pillows. These pillows also have different texture patterns that match the comforter. This makes for a grand enterance into any bedroom. If lack of space demands, or if you choose to place the bed in front of the window, use the sill of the window for plants and use window dressings to frame the bed dramactically. Many of our rooms won't allow for this, but, if you can set your bed diagonal (protruding from a corner of the room) it gives the room an especially airy and spacious feeling. A folding screen can fill in the triangular area between the head of the bed and the corner of the walls.
Folding screens can add a private dressing place and add a nice touch to any bedroom.
Wall hangings and over-scaled prints can add a focal point to the head wall of a bed.
A radio or CD player can be an important mood enhancer (and can save you when you need to get up to start you busy day).
Plants and flowers, add natural beauty and additional color.
