European interior design is cutting edge, pushing the envelope with its avant garde construction, use of color and the juxtaposition of shapes and angles. Bringing European interior design into the bedroom allows you to take delight in the synergy and balance that is created when these elements successfully come together. This design style is always audacious yet practical. After all, functionality is a big part of the Euro design ethic.

Both color and shape are used to surprise the senses. It might not sound like a decorating scheme we would want in the one room of our homes that should be the calmest and most tranquil. But the furnishings of European design utilize clean lines and rectilinear profiles to create a spatial rhythm that is especially soothing in the bedroom.

For our bedroom European design interior, we will start with the Lifestyle Solutions Wilshire Four Poster Canopy Platform Bed. The lines are simple, but by tapering the posts of the bed and echoing the tapered shapes in the legs, both balance and visual interest are created. The height of the posts capped by the canopy frame is dramatic and stunning.

You can dramatize the bed even more by choosing canopy drapes in a bold, solid color or a bright pattern in contrasting colors. Matching the canopy linens to the window treatment will add more color to the room, as well as pull all of the elements in the room together.

To further layer the room with shape, we’ll select the Modus Maui Wave Three Drawer Nightstand, one for either side of the bed. The clever use of a convex/concave pattern to create a wave effect is European interior design at its most eloquent. Harking back to innovative Euro design techniques, the “crest” of each wave acts at drawer pulls. The sense of motion generated by the drawer fronts is perfectly framed by the “floating” body of the nightstand on a base narrower than the main part of this bedside table.

As an alternative to using the nightstand’s matching dresser, we’re going to punch up our European interior design with the Metropolitan Master 8 Drawer Dresser. While it still has a sense of motion, the gently curving lines emphasize the recessed sides, drawing the eye from viewing the dresser head on, but rather focusing on this beautiful furniture piece as a whole.

The wide stripes of the Hallmart Cinnamon 10 Piece King Comforter Bed in a Bag Set will give the bed a quiet, yet sophisticated look. The colors are ideally suited to a common Euro design palette that combines neutrals with earth tones.

The NOVA Lighting Swoop Dark Brown Standing Table Lamp advances the use of shape in the room. It also provides a cohesive context for the curving shapes that are a part of the dresser and nightstand, as well as the straight and angled lines of the bed. The lamp stand’s brushed nickel accents complement the dresser’s pewter finished hardware.

If you have chosen to bring color into the room with bright canopy drapes and window treatments, now is a good time to ground the room with an area rug that uses some or all of the colors. However, if you prefer to keep to the earth toned/neutral palette, choose a rug, like the Nourison Parallels PR20 Black and White Area Rug that emphasizes the shades already in the room while bringing out the rich finishes of the wood pieces.

This completes our series on European interior design. Tune in again next Wednesday for the beginning of a new mini series on how to create a specific designer look. And by all means, if you have a favorite design style you would me to focus on, feel free to email your suggestions to me.