Whether you actually travel the world by getting on those planes, trains and automobiles or mainly explore from your sofa with an iPad in hand, you'll know that hotel designers are full of clever ideas on how to make bedrooms comfortable, visually interesting and small space smart. Here are a few good ideas to steal from hotels around the globe for your bedroom right here at home…
• (Photo shown above) Create the illusion of a four poster bed along with some privacy with this clever room within a room idea (which would work really well in a studio apartment). Seen at the Hotel Continentale in Florence. The drapes are attached to a recessed hospital track and simply are gathered in the four corners when not in use. A commenter (splatgirl) on the original post published on this room said a good DIY alternative to getting this look would be to use the IKEA KVARTAL system.
• Warm things up with textural fabrics. Seen at the Olde Bell Inn in England, these highly textural soft surfaces give this room a feel of instant warmth, even though the walls are plain, unadorned white, which can sometimes appear cold. Fuzzy wool pillows, a rough weave rug, fringed blankets and a herringbone tweed duvet all work in harmony to create a quietly welcoming coziness
• Storage and smart ideas for a small space abound in this tiny hotel room. Seen at the Hotel Therese in Paris, two tall vertical cupboards flank the bed, creating a cozy reversed headboard "nook" while adding tons of storage to the small room. And the ideas keep coming: Cubbys are recessed into the sides of the cupboards, functioning as nightstands, wall lights make up for the lack of a surface for reading lights and the striped paper accentuates the height of the space.
• Change up, personalize and protect your headboard with fabric runners. Seen at the JK Place Hotel in Florence, simple white linen runners are situated behind the pillows on the headboards. You could do something similar at home, introducing color or pattern to your bed whenever you like by switching in new fabrics.
• Make a small room seem larger by focusing on adding pattern up high, accentuating the height of the room by pushing the eye upwards. Spotted at the Jane Hotel, New York, a small, train compartment-like space makes up for the lack of square footage with style to spare by introducing a retro-style paper with an allover (eyecatching) pattern.
• Seen at Opposite House in Beijing, a subtle room divider made from sheers which echoes the window treatments. By using the same curtains for both applications, it creates a feel of symmetry and calm that makes the space dividing properties of the divider seem secondary to the aesthetic choice.
• Add visual interest to spare with an oversized fabric or wallpaper "headboard". Spotted at Claridge's in London, this simple (and potentially inexpensive, depending on your materials choice) project makes for a dramatic space. The keys to making it look really finished are the molding around the edge and the sconces wall mounted on top of the pattern.
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LOVE the Old Bell Inn in Scotland. Love the bluish-greys against the white walls. Love the soft, sensual curves and form of the chair, and the softening effect of the soft wools and the white blanket fringe. While I love modern interiors, I always want to soften it up and humanize, tangibleize it. This is a GREAT example of this! Want this....:)
Marcelle Guilbeau
Interior Designer
Nashville, TN
www.marcelleguilbeau.com
Love the look of the Jane Hotel! Gotta try it.
Love the Jane Hotel visual healing idea.
@anitaengs, that Copper Sheer fabric is very pricey. At $91/yd it should be wider than 59" so you wouldn't have to sew internal seams that break up the divider's look!
I'm excited at the thought of the Ikea Kvartal with some breezy white drapes as shown.
I have a huge (butt ugly) closet system in my guest room that I can't afford to get rid of as I need the storage space for my clothes. I've investigated the addition of mirror doors but my contractor thinks they would add too much weight.
This looks like the perfect solution.
Thanks AT - your have no idea how many times I use ideas I have garnered from your wonderful site.
Muah!!!
The upholstered lampshade in the JK Place Hotel is Dedar's "Brio".
Love the Opposite House and Claridge's!
I believe West Elm also has a hospital like curtain track system.
love beautiful hotel rooms, to look at, stay at, and use for inspiration
You might be able to find sheer fabric that has a double layer, crinkly seersuckery on one side, flat on the other. I found that at Michael's in downtown LA and made my own floor to ceiling sheer room divider for my loft. The great thing about the fabric was it provided transparency and light yet also privacy due to the texture on one side. Was originally going to go the hospital rack route but was too pricey. Got a wire and clip system from IKEA instead and it worked out beautifully.
That Olde Bell Inn picture makes me happy. Love it.
I love the train compartment size space at the Jane's Hotel. Clever use of wallpaper. Duobeds http://www.duobed.com fit in that space as well, and make it a sitting room during the day.
In the case of the Jane, nothing really could make that room look larger. However, I think the idea to steal (if you want to make a space feel larger) is not the busy wallpaper - but the huge mirror.
"I believe West Elm also has a hospital like curtain track system."
Or you could just get the real thing from Kirsch Drapery
http://draperytracksystems.com/featured/9600-curtain-track/
One idea I will not be stealing for my home is that double bed made out of two singles pushed together. I have never figured out why beds like that are so common abroad. If you like to snuggle with your honey at night one person always ends up falling into the crack!
i think this the top photo would be very easy to re-create for cheap with the ikea dignitet system http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=dignitet and some long ikea curtains (they have so many different fabrics and textures to choose from w/ reasonable prices) love this idea.
@sshutterbug
... because king size mattresses are hard to fit through narrow hallways/stairwells/around corners? Granted, I'm not sure why it's like that in a hotel, but maybe it's in an older building, or they like to easily convert their rooms for two non-intimate persons to stay in....
There's something about that room in the Olde Bell Inn that reminds me of military places I stayed with my parents abroad. Not a fan. Even with the rug and wool it still feels cold and stark.
As nice as the first photo looks the two beds pushed together is a NIGHTMARE!
Why most European hotels do this is something I will never understand. It is uncomfortable and any hint of romance and someone ends up on the floor.
Thank you AT for these lovely ideas. Very much enjoyed looking at the pix and wouldn't mind seeing more!
But I don't want my bedroom to look like a hotel room. Just sayin' . . .
to recreate the look of the JK Hotel Florence i realy like the wallpapercollection of Giselle Mermelstein : http://www.tapetenagentur.de/mb_ta/shop/shop.do?command=go&category=55207
It's so sleek and playful at the same time!!
Many Europeans do not sleep in the same bed with their...whatevers.
Further to KittyAtlanta's comments I just wanted to note that as a European and with family in the UK, Portugal, Spain and France none of my family and friends sleep in separate beds from their partners.
As noted above the two single beds probably have more to do with getting bigger beds into smaller houses than not wanting to sleep with out partners.
I would love to put the sheer curtain as seen in the Opposite House at the foot of my bed. Some of these ideas I would definately use, others, like the wool blanket and pillows, not so much.