LIGHTS OUT! SHINING A LIGHT ON BEDROOM DESIGN
When embarking on a renovation or new build, people tend to focus on the most seen or used spaces first like kitchens, living rooms, or family rooms. The “private spaces", like bedrooms, are often neglected due to renovation fatigue or just plain budget. We tell ourselves "it’s just for me, I’ll do it later", but then the room is easily forgotten.
And yet the bedroom is one of the most important rooms in the house. It’s where we bookend our days. It’s where many of us retreat to in a busy household, and where we curl up to read, rest and restore at the end of a long day. So let’s give bedrooms their due and look at how to create that perfect retreat.
GH Beech House Condo Bedroom
GH Hambly Bedroom
GH Logan Loft Bedroom
A lot goes into creating a beautiful bedroom and it starts with defining the overall mood for the space. Do you want something joyful or vibrant? Or, do you prefer something more quiet and serene? In the three bedrooms above, a different mood is evoked in each one of them.
In our Beech House bedroom, we were briefed by our client to create a dramatic, colourful and pattern-heavy room that would energize her in the mornings. In our Hambly bedroom, our clients wanted a modern, peaceful oasis free of clutter and wrapped in a soft colour palette. And in our Logan Loft bedroom, our client asked for an organic wabi-sabi inspired space.
Once you've determined the overall mood for the room, it's time to choose the bed since it is the most important piece in the room. In our Oxford House principal bedroom, we chose an elegant hammered brass canopy bed to take advantage of the high peaked ceilings. In the same home, in our client's guest room, we did a fabric covered canopy bed for maximum drama and cozy factor.
We have a particular love affair with fabric headboards and we like to design them with colourful patterns and interesting shapes. The headboard at our West End house is a great example of this. But, sometimes budget does not allow for a special headboard, and in the kids' bedroom at our Crowe Lake cottage, we nixed them all together and instead clad the walls behind the beds in knotty pine.
Next come the bedside tables and lighting. A bedside table is a very personal choice. It can either be just a surface to put items down on or it can work hard from a storage standpoint (we have hidden many a CPAP machine away in bedside tables over the years!).
There are some things to consider when picking your bedside tables. Try to keep the table roughly the same height as the mattress for easy access. For king beds, bedside tables that are at least 2 feet wide are preferable so that they don't look dwarfed next to the bed. And of course a mix is always more interesting, so avoid matching bedroom sets.
Lighting is also critical to the overall look and feel of a bedroom. We always like to place lamps on bedside tables for ambience and if our clients are big readers, then we like to double up the lighting to include directional wall sconces (as shown above in our Bingham and Oxford Bedrooms).
GH Sandpiper Bedroom
What do you do if the only place that works for your bed is in front of a window? In our Sandpiper bedroom, we wanted to take advantage of the wall-to-wall window, without skimping on cozy or light. We chose a low-profile bed that allowed maximum light to filter into the room, and pretty block print drapes to add softness. This is one of our favourite solutions - we'll jump at any opportunity to add pattern and fabric to a room!
GH Kawartha Lakes Barn Sleeping Loft
GH Florida Golf Home Twin Bedroom
What about bedding? Bedding is absolutely key to pulling the whole room together. Are you into patterned or plain bedding? Linen or cotton? We love it all at Griffin Houghton, but tend to lean towards patterned bedding when our headboard or walls are plain and plain bedding when our headboard or walls are patterned - except of course when we break all the rules like in our Beech House bedroom.
Sheets are an extremely personal choice. Do you want a silky smooth percale or a worn-in linen feel that is a bit more casual? How about a little scallop detail?
Below are some of our favourite places to shop for duvet covers and sheets.
So, are you thinking it’s time you redecorate your bedroom now? Go for it - you won't regret it!
Contact us for all your design needs at studio@griffinhoughton.com
We would love to help.
