23 Easy (but Effective) Decorating Tips for the Bedroom Real Simple

Bedrooms can sometimes get the short end of the stick when it comes to actual "decorating". Sure, you'll have a bed and a nightstand with lighting and most likely a dresser or two, but sometimes the little niceties that are all about the "look" of the room are more focused in other, more public parts of the home.

We found a list/gallery of 23 very easy-to-implement tips to remedy that situation at Real Simple. With just a little smart shopping (maybe even from elsewhere in your home) you could have a whole new look in your bedroom by the weekend.

Just a few good ones from their list to get you started:

A large graphic fabric hanging helps decorate a large blank wall and functions as a sort of dramatic oversized visual headboard as well (above, top left)

Go for a big mix of patterns in your bedding for a one-of-a-kind "collection". (above, top right)

Use a patterned lampshade to add some color and interest to the bedside table (above, bottom left).

Use a folded quilt to help dress a plain headboard (above, bottom right)

Click over to Real Simple to check out the rest of the list - nineteen more!

(Images: Real Simple - clockwise from top left - Lucas Allen, Paul Whichloe, Monica Buck, Mark Lund)

Comments (6)

I'm considering the quilt headboard to deal with a concrete block wall (a la medieval tapestries). I'd love suggestions on how to hang fabrics, especially heavy ones.

I found some really lovely fabric - and stretched it across four medium size canvasses (with a staple gun). I hung the canvasses all together over my headboard.

I have a hunk of plywood with batting and fabric over it (staple gun) hung with a couple of screws in the wall. It is suprisingly light and has held up really well. Alternately maybe a dowel on the top and bottom and hang it from the ceiling with fishing wire?

One way to hand a quilt is to sew a sleeve on the top of the backing and run a dowel through it. Another solution is to use a quilt hanger that clamps over the top of the quilt and is mounted on the wall. There are also quilt racks - both standing and mounted on walls - that are used to display folded quilts.

Velcro and nails worked for a lighter batik. If it gets really dirty, I can throw it in the washing machine.

Two of the walls in my bedroom have windows, and the other two are too awkward for placing the bed. Instead of a headboard, we put the bed under one of the windows and use the curtains as our headboard. I spread the rod out long past the window to make it the same width as the bed. It's dramatic, huge, and a piece of cake to do... just hang the curtains on a rod!

Here's a really bad picture, before I spread the rod out. But you get the idea:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_tbxrVJTBfhY/S0knn2BE3SI/AAAAAAAAAgY/wVRBwBBpMgE/s1600-h/5%5B4%5D.jpg

Cheat tip: Although the bed is tall, it's actually on the low-profile Malm bed frame, with a box spring to raise the mattress up. The malm headboard comes up just enough to hold the pillows behind us without leaning on (and pulling down) the curtains, and just low enough you'd never know it was there.