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Posts Tagged ‘Bedroom Furniture’

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The Great Escape – Decorating a Traditional Style Bedroom

Friday, November 5th, 2010

There is something about a traditional style bedroom that is lushly dramatic, grandiose and regal. But there is also something very comforting and soothingly luxurious about a bedroom with traditional furnishings. Lines are richly curved and scrolled; decorative detail displays flourishes and motifs; and designs incorporate shapes and forms to create textures. A traditional style bedroom that is romantically reminiscent of a bedroom that belonged to a queen or king in the1700s or 1800s gives the room a sense of historical tradition and timelessness that will provide a great escape from hectic, everyday life.

Look Around

When choosing what to do with the walls in your traditional style bedroom, don’t summarily write-off wallpaper. Wallpaper is making a comeback, and especially for a traditional bedroom with a royal feel, it will lend the room a palpable texture that is visually rich.

Whether you opt to wallpaper or paint, colors should be muted. Avoid bright oranges and reds, including saturated hues, as they will give the room a modern rather than traditional vibe. Soft or less intense shades of jewel or berry tones such as jade or strawberry are ideal choices for a traditional Victorian style bedroom.

Look Up

In order for your traditional bedroom to be a great escape from your busy day, choose lighting that will give you options to shed a soft glow or to shine bright. A chandelier on a dimmer switch would be ideal. In keeping with the grand royal statement that traditional style makes, choose one that has elegantly shaped teardrop crystals or strings of crystal beads. For bedside table lamps, select bases that are ornately detailed with richly textured shades.

Look Down

Since wood plays an important role in traditional design, hardwood flooring in a medium to dark finish is a perfectly acceptable choice. To add texture and visual interest, as well as a little more comfort, select a reproduction oriental rug or one that has an intricate traditional style pattern like damask or paisley. Small floral patterned area rugs would also work in a traditional style bedroom.

Traditional Style Bedroom Furniture

Traditional style furniture can be stately, formal and impressive. But grandiose becomes comfortable and inviting when the color of the wood is warm. Selecting traditional bedroom furniture with a distressed finish will lend the décor a more lived in look while furnishings with a high polish will possess a more sophisticated appeal.

Woods commonly used to make traditional bedroom furniture are walnut, mahogany, teak and cherry. Case goods like the dresser, nightstands and armoire should include intricately designed hardware; shell, scroll and flora motifs and/or carved accents or inlays.

Traditional style bedding has a luxurious appearance that is guaranteed to guard against a winter chill.

Come back next Friday for the second part of the Great Escape, where we’ll explore transitional style for a bedroom sanctuary.

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Urban Sophisticated – The Modern Style Bedroom

Friday, October 15th, 2010

How you design your bedroom and the bedroom furniture you choose to furnish it with is very important to the overall mood. We instantly feel relaxed and welcomed in spaces, especially bedroom spaces that are spacious, well-lit, uncluttered and aesthetically pleasing. Known for its underlying simplicity of line, shape, form, the clean lines and streamlined detail of modern style bedroom furniture ultimately contributes to an atmosphere of calm and tranquility, which is exactly the right tone you want for a bedroom that will be your sanctuary after a busy or even hectic day.

Earth tones and neutral palettes with splashes of bold color characterize a modern style bedroom. Whites, grays and blacks are commonly used as main or accent wall colors. Color is always used sparely: in a modern interior design bedroom, color is an exclamation instead of a conversation. If you’ve chosen a bold color like red, orange or intense blue as an accent color, select neutral colors for other items in the room such as lamps, window treatments and carpets or area rugs.

To the unfamiliar eye, furnishings can look stark or devoid of personality. Clean lines, natural elements, lighter finishes and polished, gleaming expanses typify modern style bedroom furniture. Because form is function, decorative detail is viewed as “unnecessary.”

Visual interest is commonly created through the design and appearance of the individual bedroom furniture piece. Shape, both strictly geometric and asymmetrical, is often used for dramatic effect. The result is bedroom furniture that is deceptively simple; but because lines are uncluttered, the eye isn’t working overtime, and the sleek profiles work just as well in smaller spaces as they do in larger ones.

When accessorizing – don’t! As with modern furniture design, when accessorizing your modern style bedroom, less really is more. While you do want the room to be inviting, you don’t want to add anything that does not have a specific purpose; including items that are solely decorative will not reflect true modern style principles. 

Modern style furniture has clean lines and streamlined detail. Profiles are strictly angular, geometric or asymmetrical. It can even have a “space age” appeal; so decide which modern vibe will work for you.

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Eclectically Speaking – The Bedroom Room Eclectic Style

Friday, September 10th, 2010

An eclectic style bedroom contrasts new with old; trendy with classic; distressed finishes with highly polished surfaces. It has the feeling and appearance of being transitional in nature. Eclectic style has the added advantage of being totally unique to you; the embodiment of your tastes and experiences. It’s also about layering and the use of different textures for maximum effect, which is perfect for decorating a bedroom, because it’s such a personal space.

When decorating a bedroom eclectic style, the spotlight is on you, the person doing the decorating. Since it’s all about mixing and matching different design and style elements, start with furniture ideas you like or plan to buy two or three new pieces of furniture in different interior design styles you enjoy, like a transitional style platform bed, a contemporary chandelier or floor lamp or a traditional nightstand. In addition to grouping furniture pieces of different styles together, an eclectic décor also gives you the freedom to use accent furnishings in surprising ways. Putting an accent chest like the Butler Specialty Artists’ Originals Console Cabinet in Tiger Stripe Finish in the bedroom is bold and dramatic.

While an eclectic style bedroom should look mixed and matched, it shouldn’t look cramped, cluttered or jumbled. Ultimately all elements – walls, furniture and accessories – should be balanced to make your interior design individualistic yet warm and comfortable. An easy way to accomplish this is to pair each element with its opposite. For example, each antique or reproduction piece in the room should be matched with something contemporary or retro. If you would like to create a really dramatic mood in your bedroom, use contrasting elements instead of furniture pieces and accessories that complement one another.

Carefully combining traditional, transitional and contemporary styles together will create an eclectic look and feel that is sophisticated and trendy, while being totally unique to you at the same time. Don’t forget that this is the one room of your home that should be a sanctuary; while it should be visually interesting, it should also be designed to relax and refresh. When decorating a room, but especially when decorating a bedroom, a particular mood is largely due to the delicate blending of soothing neutral and earth tone palettes with splashes of bold or unexpected color. Because of its diverse nature – a less formal approach to the use of color and shape – eclectic style possesses a casual elegance that is ideal when decorating a bedroom.

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From the Design Files of Heather B – Small Teen Bedroom

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Design Question

My daughter wants to redecorate her room. My dilemma is that the bedroom is small. The dimensions are 11′ high ceilings, in a 13′ x 11′ room. One wall has sliding glass doors that lead out to the pool (we live in FL) which she rarely uses. Another wall has the room entrance and a large four panel louvered door closet, which basically leaves two walls with a corner in between to place her bed, dressers, desk etc. We have used in the past probably every possible configuration we can think of, so I was looking for some help or new ideas.

The furniture pieces involved currently are a dresser with a mirror, a lingerie dresser, an oversized night table, a corner desk, and a wrought iron full size bed. All the furniture is white. The walls currently are chocolate brown. Can we place the bed in front of the sliders? Or is that a just not done? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Design Answer

Arranging furniture in a small bedroom can be tricky, but not impossible if you follow a few general guidelines.

  • When redecorating a bedroom, the first thing to do is to decide what the focal point of the room will be. Typically in a bedroom, it is the bed. For a cohesive bedroom interior design, the other furnishings should be arranged around the focal point. Once you have chosen the room’s focal point, you can then decide how to arrange the furniture.
  • Start with the largest bedroom furniture piece in the room, which in this case from the great detailed description you gave will be your daughter’s bed. Choose the wall that will best accommodate the bed.
  • Make sure that your daughter will be able to move around each piece of furniture easily without bumping into something else. Ensure that doors and drawers can be opened and closed without impeding the room’s traffic flow.

There are no rules about using the sliders as a “wall” for the bed. As long as it is not one of the house’s escape exits in the event of an emergency, there’s no reason that the bed cannot be placed in from of the sliding doors.

If your daughter doesn’t use the sliding doors, another option is to put the corner desk in the corner formed by the glass doors and the wall, and then place the bed on an angle in the corner that was occupied by the desk. Sometimes placing the bed on an angle in a small space opens up the room by altering the focal point. See if this little trick will work in your daughter’s bedroom.

Hope this is helpful in giving you a workable solution. Thanks for writing in. Come back next Monday when we tackle another interior design question. Keep sending me those emails and don’t forget to include pictures if you can.

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Soul Mates – Furniture Pairs that Just Belong Together

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

It’s easier to make a splash with some pieces of furniture than it is with others. But when you pair certain pieces of living room furniture together, say a fireplace and a club chair, you not only up the room’s “wow” factor, you also add another layer of comfort and functionality to your living space.

A club chair or a recliner parked beside an accent table instantly forms its own grouping separate from rest of the living room. Just add a lamp and you have your own personal space for reading the latest bestseller or catching up on the evening news.

In a living room or family room, pairing a loveseat with the Butler Specialty Plantation Cherry Wood Nesting Tables increases your options: it allows you to have a meal in front of the television; a place to put two different bowls of munchies while watching a movie; and when entertaining, you can move the nesting tables around the room to wherever else they are needed.

Placing an unusual mirror above a console table in a foyer makes a statement about your personality and the home you’re welcoming people into. Whether the mirror is an attention grabber or not, pairing a console table and a mirror together is a practical combination – you can set down your keys or purse to check your appearance or fix your lipstick just before you go out the door.

To create a conversation piece and punch up the room’s visual impact, include pieces of furniture that are typically found in other rooms, such as a dresser in the dining room instead of the traditional sideboard or a baker’s rack in a hallway in lieu of  the standard console table.

I have stayed in places where there was no nightstand by the bed; it always causes me minor annoyance at the realization that I have to now get out of bed to turn out the light just as I feel I could easily drift off to sleep. A nightstand or a bedside is the perfect companion for any type of bedroom, from a master bedroom to a guest room to a child’s room. If you want to ramp up your bedroom décor replace the standard night stand with a hand-painted accent chest or a bachelor chest, which is slightly wider than a nightstand but not as wide as a dresser.

Pairing furniture pieces in such a way as to increase the room’s functionally is just good sense. You can also make your furniture pairings stand out and grab attention by selecting living room, hallway and bedroom furniture pieces that are unique and striking.

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Inspiration from the Tropics for a Master Bedroom

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

For many of us, the bedroom is the one room of the house where we physically and mentally shut the door on a busy world that constantly demands our time and attention. The master bedroom especially should be a retreat that will relax, refresh and revive you. Don’t let space and your budget, (or lack thereof), stop you from designing the master bedroom that you deserve. There are ways to create the look of a luxury tropical resort without spending a lot of cash. When decorating a master bedroom, the overall look should be tranquil, comfortable and luxurious, so taking inspiration from the tropics makes perfect sense.

Traditional style as adapted by colonists, particularly British colonists of the Victorian Empire is the perfect example of how tropical materials and motifs were incorporated into bedroom furniture construction and design for a look that spells the ultimate in style and sophistication. The Tommy Bahama Home Island Estate Barbados 3 Drawer Chest brings a tropical feel into the bedroom interior design through the use of leather wrapped carved wood posts made to resemble bamboo. The lamp has a woven rattan shade, a common material found in tropical areas of the globe. It’s the little details that add up to a master bedroom that will be your own personal tropical retreat.

In a master bedroom, the bed will be the natural focal point of the room. Popular choices when choosing a bed for you master bedroom are the four poster bed, the canopy bed or the sleigh bed. Because of their imposing and commanding profiles – soaring posts for the poster and canopy beds, a covered frame top or draperies for the canopy bed and the sinuous “S” curves of the sleigh bed panels – any one of these types of beds will provide the perfect stage for layers of pillows and accent cushions in exotic fabrics silks and brocades. Ditto for when choosing bedding to dress the bed. Bedding and upholstered accent chairs or bed benches can also include exotic animal prints.

For a master bedroom to be inspired by the tropics, bedroom furniture should be constructed of tropical woods such as teak, mahogany and ebony or have rich, medium to dark finishes. Case goods like dressers, bachelor chests and nightstands commonly include pineapple motifs, faux bamboo posts and cane or rattan panels. Bedroom furniture accent pieces, including bed benches and armoires, can have louvered or open lattice doors or accents. Do you ever dream of retiring to your own tropical island? Well, just open the door to your bedroom.

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Country Living Cottage Style – Cottage Style Bedroom Ideas

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Interior design for a bedroom should be soothing, comforting and inviting, which makes cottage style perfect for the room that is the place where you relax and restore yourself after a busy day. A cottage style bedroom has a lived-in look that shares many similarities with both shabby chic and casual country. But cottage style has that little extra something else that reflects the timeless charm of a seaside inn or the nostalgic memory of a long-ago family vacation by a mountain lake.

Start with the walls. Colors typically found in a cottage style bedroom include the yellows of lemons, buttercups and sandy beaches; the blues of a summer sky, a seascape and twilight witnessed from winding country road; and the greens of summer grass, forests and country apples. Soft pastels in milk paint are a good choice. Using painting techniques such as glazing or stenciling are also some other ways to give the room a cottage style atmosphere with a little touch of country thrown into the mix.

The cottage style palette can also be brought into the room through furniture pieces like the Riverside Furniture Splash of Color California King Panel Bed. Cottage style furniture is commonly made of wood. Beds and other types of bedroom furniture like dressers or a chest of drawers might have beadboarding, decorative molding or scalloped aprons. Headboards and footboards commonly have round finials. Finishes are often distressed for an antiqued or lived-in appearance. While wood is the construction material of choice in a cottage style bedroom, a tufted headboard in off-white, cream or a soft pastel such as rose or mint would not be out of place.

When choosing fabrics for dressing the bed, window treatments and/or an area rug and accessorizing, cottage style does possess a certain country air. But expanding on traditional country choices, cottage style fabrics are a happy mix of fabrics: ginghams with silk, wool with velvet, plaids with patterned or striped linens. While they can also include classic floral motifs, cottage style bedding colors tend to be brighter and more intense.

The time to really solidify the cottage style look is when accessorizing by adding those details that matter. Use ceramic bowls to hold jewelry; spare change or small miscellaneous items. Select lamp shades with a floral pattern in pastel shades complete with ruffles or bows. Include candles or hurricane lamps for that real cottage style touch. Mirrors should be decorative with molding or metalwork accents. Cottage or country artifacts like enamelware jugs or porcelain wash basins are perfect cottage style accessories.

Visit again next week for the final part of this mini series where we’ll take a look at the cottage style dining room. Also if you feel so inclined, send me some interior design style suggestions for upcoming min series: I’d love to hear what styles you would like to explore further.

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From the Design Files of Heather B – Tight Space Studio Apartment

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Design Question

Hi Heather, I have just moved to a studio apartment in the city and I’m tight on space. As you walk in the door, to the right is the kitchenette and to the left is the bathroom. Straight ahead is the bedroom area and it’s all in one space. The furniture I have is a double bed, wooden chest, a bedside table and lamp, a computer desk and chair, a small table for 2 along with a bamboo mat.

I want a Japanese style because of the lack of space in the unit as its size is of two normal sized bedrooms. Can you help me with any ideas?

Design Answer

The first trick to decorating a small space is to think cozy instead of small. You don’t want too much furniture in the space, because that will make it cramped. But you can err on the side of caution, too, but having not enough of the “right” kind of furniture; by that I mean the right number and right type of furniture pieces that will make you comfortable and your home welcoming.

The second trick to decorating a studio apartment is to choose furniture that is in scale. Many people make the mistake of thinking “small” instead of compact. When buying bedroom furniture or living room furniture for small spaces think dual purpose like a futon, which can double as a sofa and a bed; entertainment center, dresser or armoire, as focal points in the room. Make sure that you have enough room to move around each piece of furniture; that you will have enough room to pull out your desk chair when sitting at the computer; opening drawers; or accessing cabinets, etc.

More Tips for Decorating Small Spaces

Japanese style is a great choice for studio apartments, because lines are simple, walls are typically unadorned and colors are earth tones or soothing neutrals.

Add a large framed mirror directly opposite either the window or the door; this will help to make the space appear larger.

Select furniture that includes some type of open design like chairs with ladder backs; headboards with a lattice or openwork pattern; open style bookcases or storage shelving units; or tables with glass tops. By selecting furniture that isn’t “solid” (as in dense) looking will also help to make your living space look larger.

Thanks for writing in. Stay tuned next Monday when we tackle another interior design question. And don’t forget to keep sending me those emails!

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From the Design Files of Heather B – Small Apartment Help

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Design Question

Hello! I ran across your post about interior design help from the Interior Design Forum.

I am getting my first apartment in August so I have no idea how to best decorate a small room. Attached is the basic layout of the room I will be living in (unfortunately, that is the only perspective I was able to find) and the picture has been taken from the entryway.

I know the trick to make a small room to appear bigger is light, neutral colors, so I was thinking of maybe painting the whole room as such, or maybe have an accent wall behind my bed frame (the bed will most likely be rotated – vertical rather than horizontal) or the small portion of wall behind the desk.

I am currently a college student so a space promoting “concentration”, edgy but fun, or a mixture with sophistication would be great. I am really open to any ideas/themes you might have, so if it would be no trouble, I would love an input from you. Thanks!

Design Answer

The picture is fine – good enough to give me an idea of your new living space.

You’re right about the tricks to make a small room seem larger: maximize the source of natural light in the room and ensure there is a balance of task and ambient lighting; paint the walls a neutral or light shade; and use mirrors to “move” light around the room. I would choose deeper neutrals or earth tones over lighter shades. You could also go light shades of cool colors such as pale blue or green. Your instinct regarding pairing a neutral color with an accent shade is a good one. If you go that route, though, plan on using a bold or intense warm color (reds, oranges, browns, purples).

Match one or more colors in your bedding, curtains and area rug to the accent color you chose for the wall. If you decide not to use an accent wall color and you stick to neutrals, this will give you the opportunity to bring color into the room when dressing the bed and accessorizing the other parts of the bedroom.

The fact that the room already has mirrors in the form of closet doors is a plus. To get maximum mileage from these mirrored doors, place large framed (larger than the ones currently on the wall) pictures or prints with lots of lighter colors directly opposite. This also will help make the room appear bigger.

To attain an interior design look that mixes edgy and fun with some sophistication, selected contemporary bedroom furniture with clean lines and a smooth, darker finish like espresso, chocolate or cappuccino. Another tip to keep in mind when shopping for bedroom furniture for smaller spaces is to choose furnishings that are dual-purpose, like a platform bed with storage drawers; a bed bench that allows you to store extra bedding or seasonal clothing; or nightstand that can hold magazines or books.

Hope this is helpful in giving you a starting point. Thanks for writing in. Let me know how it turns out.

Come back next Monday when we tackle another interior design question. Keep sending me those emails and don’t forget to include pictures if you can.

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Global Warmth – Global Style Bedroom

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Whether it has a sophisticated look or a tribal village vibe, global style is eclectic, taking cultural elements from all over the world and merging them into a colorful, exotic palette that is richly textured. While the appeal of global décor style is to incorporate the artifacts and collectibles from your own world travels, it’s not a prerequisite. With local shops and boutiques bringing the world to our own back door, it’s easy to design and decorate a global style bedroom.

Since it can be bright, colorful and “noisy,” when decorating a global style bedroom, it is important to emphasize diversity while create a relaxing and rejuvenating bedroom environment. The appeal of this eclectic style can be largely attributed to how color is used and layered throughout the room. Choose where you would like to concentrate the color: if you would like to use a bright and bold color palette for the walls, plan on more neutral or softer shades for your bedding, curtains and area rug; when accessorizing with bright colors and fabrics, paint the walls with earth tones or neutral tints.

Once you have picked your color scheme, you are ready to select the global style furniture that you would like for your bedroom. In addition to cultural diversity, global bedroom décor focuses on natural woods, fabrics and organic elements. Think tropical woods like mahogany, teak and walnut for beds, nightstands and other types of bedroom furniture; fabrics like silks and wool for curtains, accents pillows and rugs; and organic elements like shells, wicker rattan and sea grasses for decorative accents on furnishings, lamps and accessories. No matter how sophisticated a décor look you are striving for, the overall effect should include subtle rustic elements that have a hand-crafted appearance.

To accessorize a global style bedroom, layer texture upon texture. This can include handmade wood candlesticks; a bedside lamp with a brocade shade in rich colors with gold braid; an upholstered chair or bed bench in woven fabrics of natural materials. Many shops, retail stores and boutiques offer unique collections of area rugs, sculptures, carved wood boxes and accent pillows that are original artifacts or reproductions with a tribal or ethic design elements. You don’t need to be a world traveler to enjoy the eclectic appeal of a global décor bedroom to get the bedroom interior design that best expresses your style and personality.

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