8 Tips for Perfect Bedroom Design and Decoration

You might have your eyes closed for much of it, but the bedroom is likely the room in your home where you spend the most time. With that in mind, decorating it as best you can is not necessarily as simple as it might sound if you want the best results. Personal taste plays a huge part, but my eight tips and ideas below should enable you to take your design and decoration to the next level.

Consider Functionality

If you think of your bedroom in the same way you book a cheap hotel ? it?s a place to sleep and nothing more ? then you don?t need to put all that much effort into the design. However, if you?re short on space or like to get things done in there ? ironing, watching TV, hobbies and so on ? then you can integrate these plans into the overall design.

Taking television as an example, give some thought to where the television will be and what you?ll put it on. Some people like to put the TV on the wall, and that takes positioning out of the equation ? just make sure to use a strong enough bracket and consider viewing angles in bed and around the room when you choose a TV cabinet that boasts plenty of storage too. You can never have too much storage in the bedroom, as I go into in more detail below, and now that fewer people have hundreds of DVD?s for the drawers, you can use them for just about anything else that takes your fancy. That might even include the materials for your other hobbies as outlined above.

Go with More Subtle Colours

The bedroom rarely needs to be the room in which you make a statement. The chances are that you and your family will be the only ones to spend all that much time in it, so unless you want to bring forth your inner metal musician, you should go with calmer tones. Gentler shades of blue, green and purple are all associated with peacefulness and restfulness. You can also use various shades of brown to accentuate the other colours and to add a cosy feel.

If you do have favourite colours that do not necessarily fit this profile, at least try to go with toned-down versions. Pale orange is a lot easier to go to sleep to than its fluorescent equivalent.

Don?t Forget the Ceiling

This isn?t something I?ve done myself. Indeed, my ceilings are and have always been white. However, if you need another canvas on which to express yourself, it?s hard to beat the ceiling. Of all the rooms in your house, this is the one where you have the best excuse to stare at it for hours, so there?s no harm in enhancing your current design choices with a bit of flair.

One excellent option is to paint the ceiling the same colour as the walls, but lighter. This gives the illusion of the ceiling coming closer to you. In most rooms, the last thing you want to do is to make it feel smaller. In the bedroom, however, cosiness and comfort is a plus point.

More creative alternatives include wallpaper and artwork, or you could go all structural and add exposed beams and other features, even if they don?t actually do anything for the structure of the house. Take the time to decide on a light shade that works, and you can make the most of an oft-overlooked surface.

Don?t Go Overboard on the Furniture

You?ll need some furniture in the bedroom, like perhaps a bed, but once you get past the basics, you need to ask whether you really need another addition. The bed dominates the typical bedroom, and the rest of the space is taken up by storage. You still need to be able to get around the room and to carry out any of the hobbies or extra activities you might have considered. Any additional furniture can make the room tricky to navigate so work with the space you have and don?t forget the practicalities.

Storage Makes the Room

Unlike most rooms, the bedroom is more about what you can?t see than what you can. The chances are you won?t go to bed calmly with clothes strewn everywhere and loads of other items out of place. You can be as messy as you want behind a closed cupboard door, but the idea is that this should be the least stressful room in the house.

If you wear the same clothes all year round, make sure you?ve got the space ? and somewhere to put them when they need a wash that doesn?t require you to head to the washing machine before bed every night. My wardrobe doesn?t change much, but I know of at least two people that put their summer clothes in the loft for winter and vice versa. If that?s the case, you can focus on storing other items unless you?ve got so many seasonal clothes that you need a full wardrobe anyway.

I?m also a firm believer that if you can get something with a storage option or not, you should go with the former. Along the same lines as the TV cabinet mentioned above, if you get a bed with a ?solid? base, go for the one with drawers. You never know when they might come in handy. Keep a trunk at the end of the bed if you have room to get past, place a custom storage system in the wardrobes and always keep an eye out for empty space that could be converted to storage.

Increase the Bedsheet Budget

Take the number you had in mind to spend on bedsheets, quilts and bed linen and, if you can, increase it. There?s no better bang for your buck in comfort terms than better quality linen, and you should think about all the hours you?ll spend in contact with it before you make a choice. Go with cotton or linen and carry out the touch check on everything before you buy to see whether it gives you that luxurious tingle.

Add Lights for Any Occasion

Natural light can set off any room, but it?s probably not appropriate for most of the time you spend in the bedroom. If you?re still in the planning and design stage, you have the opportunity to give proper thought to how and when the room is lit. You?ll have a ceiling light in most cases, but you should also consider any lighting you prefer when you?re trying to sleep, read or do something else.

Hue bulbs and other smart lighting options work particularly well in the bedroom as you can choose just about any colour you imagine to set the mood, or use scenes to relax you in the evening, energise you in the morning and so on.

Consider the Electronics and Chargers

You probably want to wake up to a fully charged phone, and that won?t be the only electronic item that could use some overnight juice when you?re not using it.

If you do have just a single item to charge like a phone and don?t want to have to worry about chargers trailing around, you could consider a lamp with a built-in USB port like the one below. Wireless charging pads are a great idea too if you have the space on your bedside table.

With numerous items, the good old USB hub can be ideal. There are speeds, prices, port numbers and everything else to suit all tastes, so I won?t go into detail on which to buy as they?re pretty self-explanatory. Ultimately, the goal is to use just a single plug socket to charge multiple devices. It won?t be as fast, but when you?ve got all night, there?s no rush at all.

Hopefully I?ve provided some inspiration or covered something you might not have thought of. If you?ve got any bedroom design and decoration tips that you swear by and would like to share, be sure to let me know in the comments!