How to Decorate Attic Bedrooms

Many attic bedrooms have few windows, and the ones they do have are typically small. One of the main goals for decorating attic bedrooms is to bring in as much light as possible by capitalizing on the available natural light while bringing additional brightness through paint and furnishings.

Things You'll Need

• Furniture
• Linens
• White or yellow latex wall paint
• Paintbrushes or rollers
• Painter's tape
• Dropcloths
• Sail fabric
• Acrylic paints
• Artist brushes
• String lights
• Sea shells
• Mirror
• Victrola
• Rocking chair

Instructions

Beach Theme

1. Whitewash the walls of your attic bedroom to bring a light, bright and airy feel to the space. Clean the walls of the space thoroughly, and then create a mixture of fifty percent water and fifty percent latex paint and apply to the walls. The wood will still show through, but the white still reflects any light you have in the room for added brightness.

2. Paint the furniture white, deep blue or sea green to further enhance the airy feel of the attic bedroom while providing contrast and additional color.

3. Complement the whitewashed walls of your attic bedroom with beach-themed decorations. Build a boardwalk bed frame out of deck boards or attach filmy sailboat fabric to the wall behind your bed as a headboard. Paint an ocean mural on one wall in graduated shades of blue or paint a line of sand dunes with sparse patches of sea grass. Continue your beach theme by covering string lights with seashells and drape them to accentuate the angles of the walls.

Vintage Attic Bedroom

1. Paint the attic bedroom yellow to capture the natural light and to reflect the other lighting in the room. Embrace the old attic feel of your bedroom by decorating it with vintage furniture that looks like it came from your grandmother's house. A iron bed painted black with a white down comforter and a dresser made from walnut or mahogany work well together in a vintage bedroom and contrast beautifully against the yellow walls.

2. Add old lamps, a full length oval mirror, a cedar chest and a Victrola to accent the past and enhance the vintage feel of your attic bedroom. You can find vintage furnishings at your local thrift or antique stores or from online retailers.

3. Add an overstuffed wing chair or rocking chair with a cozy afghan to bring warmth to the vintage attic bedroom. Complete the room with braided throw rugs and colorful quilts on the walls and the bed.

Tips & Warnings

• Whitewash the floors of your beach-themed attic bedroom.

• Open the windows when you paint.

Resources

• Local Home Improvement Store