How to Decorate Your Master Bedroom in English Country Style

An English country style bedroom emphasizes lived-in comfort and traditional styling. Although the style is typically busy and cluttered, you may want to use a little restraint in the bedroom to promote a more restful atmosphere.

Things You'll Need

• Stencil Paints
• Wallpaper Paste
• Stencils
• Bedspreads
• Carpets Or Rug
• Curtains
• Drawer Chests
• Dust Ruffles (bed Skirt)
• Lamps
• Nightstands
• Pictures
• Pillow Shams
• Throw Pillows
• Wallpaper
• Wallpaper Borders

Instructions

1. Keep in mind that English country style rooms have the appearance of containing pieces accumulated over many generations. This heirloom approach welcomes the mix of substantial Chippendale and daintier Sheraton, ornate Victorian and gracefully curving Queen Anne.

2. Choose mostly subdued colors. Patterns may be of a large scale, such as toile and florals.

3. Select a tall, imposing bed. Wooden four-poster and canopied beds are popular, but iron and brass fit the look as well.

4. Find furniture in woods including walnut, mahogany, pine and oak. Painted furnishings and wicker are also appropriate. Depending on the size of the room, select a tall highboy and/or a broad dresser, a desk, night stands, a settee, a bench and an overstuffed or wicker easy chair. A round table - covered with a skirt to the floor - makes a great bedside table and can hide a cache of magazines or paperbacks for nighttime reading.

5. Cover the bed with a chenille spread or a flounced-and-quilted coverlet. Florals in delicate colors are popular spreads, and shams, toss pillows and bed skirts complete the bed dressing.

6. Light the room with traditional lamps. Ginger jar, lead crystal, brass and candlestick styles are good choices.

7. Use a Victorian floral-pattern carpet, a subdued Oriental rug, sisal or an understated wall-to-wall carpet to cover the floor.

8. Plan on very full curtains. Valances, tiebacks, flounces and trim may be used.

9. Dress up walls with wallpaper, a wallpaper border or a stenciled border.

10. Hang a grouping of pictures (landscapes, family portraits, etc.) or an important painting above the bed, dresser or other furnishings.

11. Cover tabletops with bric-a-brac - anything from old china to framed family photos and silver candlesticks.

Tips & Warnings

• If your master bedroom connects to a bathroom, remember to carry your decorating scheme - especially the colors - through into the bathroom.

• If you want to avoid an overly feminine look, choose a paisley instead of a floral print and a tailored or pleated dust ruffle instead of a gathered one. Forgo lace, and accessorize with wood boxes and architectural fragments rather than dainty vases and china figurines.