How to Choose a Bedroom Decorating Style

The bedroom is the first and last room people see during the day, so it is odd that the bedroom is usually last one decorated in any home. People spend the majority of their time getting other rooms in the house designed to impress. The bedroom offers endless possibilities, and the homeowner can let loose with her personal decorating to make no one other than herself happy. Read on to learn how to choose a bedroom decorating style.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Consider the room's inhabitant. The first step in choosing a bedroom decorating style is to take into account whose room you are making over. Different people dictate different styles. You would decorate a little girl's room differently from a boy's room, and a child's room at any stage will be vastly different from an adult's room. Even a guest room has different needs than a master bedroom and will need to be decorated accordingly.

2. Ease into your task. Once you know for whom you are decorating, there's no rush to get it done. Feel free to take all the time necessary to decide how the room should look. For ideas, make a trip to your library and check out books on how to decorate bedrooms, and invest in magazines that focus on the same. The Internet and catalogs are also great sources for ideas, and you can print and cut out pictures to make your own personal scrapbook of ideas.

3. Live in the room for a while before taking on the job. You know who the room is for, you have been collecting ideas and all this time you haven't done a thing in the room. That is fine. People should live in their spaces for a while before deciding to paint, make draperies, buy new bed linens and select furniture. Experience the room for a period of time to see how it is truly being used and the lighting at different times of the day.

4. Steal from the pros. When staying in a hotel or even watching a movie, check out the bedrooms. You can pick up some solid decorating tips and trends because these rooms are designed by professional decorators. Take what they do and add the personal twist needed to make the bedroom come alive.

5. Analyze the attraction. Spending time with your clippings and notes, you should see a trend emerging. Certain colors, fabrics and furniture styles will be dominant in the majority of the pages you have collected. You may see bright colors with clean, modern lines or a softer, more muted palette with traditional furnishings, youthful or more sophisticated, now you are on the track to begin decorating the room.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider the floor space. When redecorating any room, the size will inevitably determine exactly what you can put into the bedroom. Figure out how many nightstands, what size bed and what other items might fit. Take these measurements before heading to the store.
• Push the limits of your personal style. Decorate the way you truly want to in the bedroom, and don't be afraid of trying out those colors you were afraid to put on the living room wall. The bedroom should reflect you and only you.
• This is your retreat, so whether you want to be soothed or rejuvenated, add the things that mean the most to you. The bedroom is a great place to add family photos and children's artwork.