How to Design a Bedroom: 6 Helpful Tips

Did you know that twenty percent of all single-family home starts are custom home builds?

It makes sense why so many people decide to design their own homes. By doing so, you can create a place for comfort for many years to come.

The problem is that it can be challenging for those who have never designed a custom-built home before. Thankfully, it’s not as complicated as you might think. All you need to do is start by designing a house’s most important rooms, such as its bedrooms.

To help you to understand how to design a bedroom, we’ve created a guide. Keep reading and we will tell you what’s important to know.

1. Assess the Space

Before you can properly start designing your bedroom, it’s essential to first get to know the layout.

Start by assessing the proportions of the room, especially if the space is very small. When you’re doing this, get creative by focusing on more than just the floor space. Pay attention to how the room is shaped, and how high the ceilings are.

Also, make sure to identify any unique design challenges that the space poses. For example, if the room that you’re designing is small and has an obtrusive fireplace on one of the walls, it’s important to take notice of this.

And don’t forget to pay attention to how much sunlight reaches your room. This will help you to decide whether you want to use warm or cool colors, and how much artificial lighting you want to have.

The room’s size will impact what kinds of design decisions you make. This includes things such as decor, flooring, and kinds of windows.

2. Choose the Right Flooring

One of the first things you should figure out is what kind of bedroom flooring you’re going to have. You want to choose a material that you’ll love walking on. It’s also a good idea to choose materials that are warm and comfortable.

Since bedrooms don’t usually receive as much foot traffic as other rooms like hallways and entryways, it’s okay to use carpet of a lighter weight than other parts of your house.

Those who want their bedrooms to have a more natural feel often choose to install hardwood flooring. If you have hardwood flooring and want it to feel more comfortable under your feet, you can always add a rug at the side or foot of your bed.

Remember to choose the flooring that compliments the styles of other rooms in the custom home that you’re building.

3. Choose Your Bedroom Furniture

Those who are designing a bedroom often don’t realize that the bed should be treated as the room’s centerpiece. Therefore, they end up adding obtrusive furniture such as desks and nightstands which make the space feel cluttered and disorganized.

If you want to avoid making this mistake, the first thing you should do when choosing the bedroom’s furniture is decide how large your bed will be and where in the room it will be located.

As a good rule of thumb, try to find a bed that is at least six inches longer than the height of the person who is going to use it. If it is a bed for a couple, it should be wide enough for both of them to have their hands behind their heads without touching.

Choose a nightstand that is sized proportionally to the room. If the room does not have an adjoining walk-in closet, consider including an armoire or built-in closet.

4. Bedroom Lighting

You’ll need to have a bedroom lighting strategy that will accommodate for all of the various things you’ll be doing in the bedroom. If there is a desk in the room where somebody will be working, you’ll want to add a lamp or overhead light.

The most skillfully designed custom-built homes make use of layered lighting. There will often be a combination of overhead, floor, and wall lights. This means that it’s possible to change the mood of the spaces when needed.

If the person who will be sleeping in the room likes to read at night, make sure to install task lighting above the bed.

5. Add Shades and Curtains

When deciding what kinds of curtains to place in front of the bedroom’s windows, you’ll need to know how much privacy you want.

If the room’s windows are facing a street, you’ll probably want to use thick curtains. If the room is located on a second story and the windows are facing an empty field, it’s probably better to use lighter curtains.

Those who want to block light away should use window drapery. It’s also possible to use incorporate blackout lining in the drapes or curtains.

6. Keep Things Simple

The bedroom you’re designing should feel comfortable, safe, and sophisticated.

Don’t make the mistake of ever complexifying the design. It’s okay to add things like a bedside table, an armoire, and a small desk. But if you add anything more than this, the room will start feeling cluttered.

It’s also important to add one or two pieces of artwork, family photos, flowers, and pottery.