As someone who moves regularly for work, I have a lot of experience with the trials and tribulations of setting up a home. Over the years, I have noticed that I generally feel pretty good about the public spaces which tend to be inviting and colorful and make me feel happy every time I walk in the door. Unfortunately, my satisfaction level always drops precipitously when it comes to the master bedroom, a room that should be a haven but instead is generally a thorn in my side.
There isn't really ever anything wrong with my bedroom, there just never seems to be much right about it either. In the past I've always had bedrooms with color and pattern, so this time around I thought I would go for a more soothing and monochromatic look with neutral walls and white fabrics instead. Despite playing musical chairs with curtains, bedding, and lamps, somehow the room just isn't gelling the way I imagined it would. I am so not happy with this room that the only picture I can find to share is this one from before I moved in- sadly, I've never felt inspired enough to want to capture any of its subsequent iterations.
At this point I'm not really sure if the problem is the room or the goal or maybe just me. While I'm taking a break from tinkering with this space (thankfully I have art to hang in other rooms to occupy my weekend), I'm hoping for some words of inspiration and encouragement. Surely I'm not the only person who has one last room that just never seems right? Have any of you made a deliberate attempt to switch styles in a room only to remain vaguely dissatisfied with the results? Was my mistake starting with an idea of how I wanted the room to feel rather than a vision of how I wanted the room to look?
Image: Photo by Colleen Quinn.
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I can totally commiserate. I moved in about a month ago and am starting to feel good about the living room, kitchen, dining room. When I walk into my bedroom, I just feel disappointed and overwhelmed. Maybe it's because a bedroom is so intimate and personal, there's much more pressure to create a space that really feels like YOU. My plan for the weekend is to take a few baby steps...I'll put my new duvet on the bed, go hunting for some new artwork, and we'll see what happens. Good luck!
My approach (not knowing what it looks like) would be to suggest you work past the general idea of "I don't like it" and try to get specific. When I used to teach art, I had a rule that no one could critique a work by just saying they liked or didn't like a drawing/painting. They had to say why and elaborate with specific, concrete reasons for the perceived success or failure (use of contrast, lines, color, composition, etc.) This approach might help clear your head a little?
I have also found my very, very minimal knowledge of feng shui has sometimes helped get a problematic room working - for furniture placement and color ideas. There really is something to paying attention to allowing room for movement, air and life - and, of course, love in the bedroom!
Would some fun, brightly-printed new curtains help? I have also had bedrooms which resemble bare cells more than rooms which are actually lived in. I find that one festive pattern on my bed or curtains, and a richly colored throw rug, improve my mood immensely.
When you go to bed, do you want to feel cheerful or soothed? I am very much a quiet cool color/no fussy stuff or clutter in the bedroom person, although my public spaces are warm -- but cool & orderly doesn't have to mean spartan. Anyway, if you want to wake up to a sunny room that'll lead you in one direction, and if you want to fall asleep in a cool quiet space that's another direction. that's a good starting place for me.
That's my home office. I can't seem to get it to come together regardless of what rug/bookshelf etc. I add.
For my bedroom I did dark grey walls with white crown moulding and white duvet/chest/curtains. I love how it turned out and I've found a few pieces of extremely bright artwork to hang in there that make it kind of fun
It sounds like neutral just isn't for you. I agree with mdanger on going grey, but not on going white with your linens. Maybe a white bedspread, to get the "serene" feel, but I'd at least bring in some color with pillows and bedsheets. I might use some blues to keep it calm, and add in some artwork to bring in the fun color that you have in the other spaces.
I can TOTALLY help. Patented method of figuring it out here: http://howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-decorate.html
The short version:
find a picture of a bedroom you love. Find 9 more. Figure out what they have in common.
Pick the best one. Let that inspire you -- colors, textiles, layouts etc.
Prepare to edit: make it one thing: rustic, monastic, romantic, sunny. Dont try to make it lots of things. Chaos lives there.
My two cents on this: get a great awesome wonderful can't live without it bed or headboard, and let it flow from there.
What you need is a vision. Once you get that, you're good to go.
I can help because I am totally bored right now. Hit me in comments on the blog site above and we can get started. I will TOTALLY handle this. Please. very bored. Friday night. Nothing to do. Let me design your bedroom!
pam h
howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com
ok, clearly I need to get a social life. HOWEVER:! The problem with that room, I think, is it doesnt seem to have the natural light nor the architecture to pull off a neutral room-- those look best with sunlight pouring in. Which way does that room face? What is the grid over the windows -- bars? (can you get out in a fire???)
Do you want it airy neutral, or warm and cozy neutral?
You can do this but its going to take: (for warm, which I think it needs to be fgiven the carpet) sumptuous big curtains -- silk, maybe in the same taupe as the carpet. Hung from the ceiling.
Can you paint the ceiling? A mellow platinum paint would be warm and cool.
YOu need a bed with real presence since the architecture isn't doing anything -- a great headboard or 4 poster bed. Antique is better than new, in this case.
Maybe hang curtains around the bed, perhaops striaght down from the ceiling -- in this case I'd need to rethink the silk curtains.
You need a great area rug to minimize that drab carpet.
You need something great at the foot of the bed with texture -- a cool bench, or old trunk, or a wooden divan.
You need a big mirror.
But mostly you need a starting place. Starting with how you want it to feel is excellent -- but then you need something - a bed, a fabric, a rug, a chest of drawers -- to begin making decisions.
pam h
howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com
My bedroom is my next project, so I can totally empathize with your predicament. I think how you want it to feel and how you want it to look aren't mutually exclusive, but can and should work together. I also agree with home body that feng shui has helped me with every room, primarily with color and furniture placement. I'm hoping the end result will be earthy, safe feeling, and luxurious.
Bed placement is the most important, so start there. Pics of bedrooms rarely show where the door is - you're looking head on into the room. If you're in the bed, what do you want to see directly across from you? Not the doorway & not a bathroom. Do you mind something hanging over your head, like shelving? What do you want around you and the bed?
A main purpose of the bedroom is for sleeping, so you should be able to shut out light & noise. No computers, no TV. Sheets and bedding that are comfortable and feel good. What do you want to see when you look up? A beautiful ceiling light? Light or dark-colored ceiling?
Color is so personal that I can't make a specific suggestion, but you might consider colors that you love, of course, with maybe a little fantasy thrown in. Bedrooms are essentially the private you, so you could experiment with colors that you'd never dare show the world. Good luck, and if you want, let us see the result.
I'd put up some really simple coving around the ceiling and paint it white. Then paint the walls and light, warm grey. Get gunmetal curtain poles with light teal finials, and white curtains with a grey toile pattern. White, wrought iron bed, light teal bed linen and lampshades. Sand and varnish the floor, put a grey patterned rug on top.
Oh, and check those ceiling tiles are fire retardant, otherwise you'll have to rip them out first.
Personally I love colour and my own bedroom is very light soft blue and moss green, but when I look at your room and that roof I think it might work with a japanese theme?
I've read many times the master bedroom can be the hardest room to decorate, so take comfort that you're not alone. I'm so not a good sleeper that I've read "sleep hygiene" books! I'm picky about the mattress, lighting, noise, and temperature. I want a dark, cool, quiet room when I sleep. I don't want any lights shining from anywhere in my eyes to wake me. I also aim for low allergen load and low maintenance, easy to clean, with smooth hard surfaces and machine wash and dry textiles. Attend the practical basics first.
No one has mentioned smells. Does the room smell fresh and clean? All the decorating in the world won't help your bedroom feel comforting, if it doesn't smell clean.
Open the windows to air it out, have the carpet cleaned or clean it yourself. Then, use candles or a reed diffuser or other air freshener or purifier, or get a sage smudge stick - whatever it takes to make it smell nice to you.
If smell is a problem, then it may help to paint the walls and ceilings. I had to do that to get rid of the smell of tobacco even after removing the carpets in a new place. Some people like to paint the walls and ceilings of a new place white. They then take their time know the place before deciding on permanent colors. Also, you could start out with furniture you already own to figure out the best arrangement before buying more. Decorating with color and style is fun and no-rush after working out your design requirements for sleeping well.
If you have a personal favorite color, then this is the place to use it. It doesn't matter whether it's stylish or sophisticated or popular, only that it makes you happy.
Bedrooms are hard. They're so much more personal than the rest of your place. Take a step back and start by figuring out function, then worry about style. Don't do both at once. Create a digital floorplan of your space using a site like PlanYourRoom (measure everything twice!). Think about what you actually use your bedroom for and prioritize those activities: don't feel wedded to the furniture you already have, or to what a bedroom is supposed to contain. Then pull all the furniture out of the floorplan and put things back one at a time in order of importance -- if you put them back at all. It may take a couple of tries to get it right, but shuffling everything around virtually is way easier than doing it in real life.
Once you have your stuff in the right place, only *then* should you worry about color and style. They're important, certainly, but having a bedroom designed for your comfort will make you happier than having one where everything is perfectly coordinated but impractical. After all, it's easy to paint a bedside bookcase once you know it's a bookcase you need. Choose one element to be your focal point and work from there.
Our bedroom had been driving us crazy since my boyfriend and I moved in together. We inherited giant storage furniture from the previous tenants that isn't our style but is absolutely necessary (we only have one closet in the entire apartment!) and is so large it cannot be moved from the bedroom. After cramming all of our mismatched bedroom furniture in with it, getting ready for work felt like climbing over each other. A couple nights ago we finally shuffled the floorplan around into a functional layout, and even though nothing really goes together design-wise the difference is night and day. The room feels SO much bigger. (The only drawback is that we discovered the painters never finished painting behind one of the big cabinets!) We'll worry about color and style soon; for now, it's enough to have a room we can enjoy using.
Thanks, FakeGreenDress, http://www.planyourroom.com/ looks like fun!
This is my approach: Don't buy anything you don't love. If you don't love it, don't buy it. Do you love it? No? Then don't buy it. (Is there another way to put this more succinctly that I've forgotten?)
Step 1 to loving your bedroom is to love what's in it. You can't always control the size, shape, color, or temperature in your bedroom. (Believe me, that last one is true.) But you can control what you put in it. Simply buying something that will "do for now" is never going to produce the end result you are hoping for. And I guarantee you will never find a pre-fabricated 5-piece bedroom set that will be exactly right for you. They don't exist. And they're ugly.
Instead, focus on only putting what you really love in the room. If you don't love your bed, get rid of it and sleep on the floor until you find a bed you love. I know that sounds extreme, but one item that you really love can make a room your favorite room in the house.