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Design Dilemma: In Search of that Restful Bedroom

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When the world is stressing you out, a bedroom offers a restful retreat that allows you to decompress and recharge. Close your eyes, and you’re off to the land of nod. Problem is, not all bedrooms properly fulfill this mission, and there are usually clear reasons why:

1) The bedroom is filled with junk. Piles of books on bedside tables and piles of clothes on chairs simply remind us of how much work or cleaning is to be done.
Solution: Declutter.

2) The bedroom is too stimulating. Color, artwork, patterned textiles, can be fun — especially in other rooms in your home. But in a bedroom, there is always the risk that there will be too much going on.
Solution: Limit the amount of patterned textiles. Choose serene colors for your walls. Opt for artwork that sets a mood of quiet and calm rather than excitement. Limit color to one splash set against a palette of neutrals.

3) The bedroom is over-furnished. Rooms that feel like furniture warehouses do not feel like rooms you want to curl up in.
Solution: Investigate built-ins. Try wall sconces instead of bedside lamps, beds with built-in storage underneath to eliminate a dresser or two. Look for any ways possible to take most furniture, other than the bed, out of the room. If you are looking for a particular type of bed, then visit the on-line bedroom furniture store Bedstar.co.uk today. They have an excellent range of quality wooden and Leather Bed designs at affordable prices for all.

4) The bedroom is for more than just sleeping. Did you stash an exercise bike or stairmaster in your bedroom? Or maybe a computer, a television, your stereo? Any space that has so much activity in it is not going to feel like a retreat.
Solution: Eliminate all objects that have nothing to do with sleep. Yep, that includes the  TV and stairmaster!

5) The bedroom has become one large closet. Are there rows of shoes around your bed? Are there hooks groaning under the weight of piles of clothes? Or worse, piles of dirty clothes on chairs and dressers? This is one of the most common bedroom problems and it totally inhibits a feeling of serene repose.
Solution:  Put shoes and clothes away in the closet and allow your bedroom to breathe.

6) The bedroom is not cleaned and aired out regularly. Ever walked into a bedroom where there’s no air? It definitely does not set a mood for rest.
Solution: Keep your windows open and allow cool, clean air to circulate each day.

Below, find a few bedrooms that embody that quality of rest:

Above an extendable wall sconce eliminates the need for a bedside lamp.

Above, the bedroom is kept neutral with one splash of color in the form of an oriental rug.

Above and below, furnishings are kept to a minimum. Built-ins are used to eliminate furniture, and there’s no clutter anywhere!

Images: Nuevo Estilo; Nickey Kehoe; apartmentherapy.com; Remodelista.com; Frederic Vasseur; Debbie Bliss Home by Lisa Cohen.