If you’re working on designing any room and hired an interior designer, they would ask you to look for inspiration photos like the ones I’m going to share with you. Designers would use these photos to pick apart the things that they could find to recreate that same look in your space. Note that you can also learn to do that yourself. 

First, I want to give you a warning. When you’re looking for inspiration photos, make sure that you choose rooms where you like what’s in the room and not the architecture of the room itself. Don’t pick a room that has an A-frame vaulted ceiling when your room has 8 foot ceilings. With this difference, you’re never going to get the same look in your room.

Bedroom 1

For this first green bedroom, the inspiration photo is the first photo. You’ll notice there’s no green paint on the walls. What makes the room green is the use of velvet green drapes and green accents in the bedding.

The other things that you’ll notice in the room are a really warm wood dresser, a natural fiber rug, a four poster wood bed, a ceramic style lamp, and white bedding. In the second photo, I show you what the same items look like on a smaller budget.

Here are affordable ideas that are similar to the inspiration photo:

• Green Velvet curtains
• four poster bed
• night stand
• ceramic lamp
• jute rug

I use affiliate links so I can afford to keep doing this.  Hope it saves you time. See my disclosure policy.

Bedroom 2

In the second example, the room is painted green. The color is Clary Sage by Sherwin Williams. Notice when you look at the inspiration image number one the focus on the moldings. There’s a cream padded headboard, toile accents, and the lighting is brass. Did you know that you can buy wainscoting and pre-cut molding kits on Etsy for affordable prices? They’re already primed and all you have to do is mount them on your wall.

In this example, this is what it looked like when I pulled together a similar look onto a mood board. In this case, I decided I liked this room with an oriental rug in it. You can see how you can take your inspiration images to create a mood board. This tactic gives you the opportunity to play with different things to see if you like them in the space before you buy them. 

Did you know that Sherwin Williams has an app where you can take a photo of your room and try out any of their colors in your room? It’s called Color Expert. You should be sure to try that out if you’re thinking about painting a room. It’s free to use.

Here are items to replicate the inspiration photo:

• cream and wood headboard
• paint – Clary Sage
• double arm sconce
• belgian flax duvet
• night stand
• green toile pillows
• bench
• rug
• Precut primed moldings

Bedroom 3

In this third, more modern room, they also used green paint. The color is Privilege Green. In this room, there’s a gray padded headboard, sheer drapes along with green drapes, and the lighting is brass and black. 

Here’s what a similar room could look like. In this case, again, I decided I didn’t like the rug in the inspiration photo as much as the rug on my mood board.

Try these items to decorate a similar bedroom:

• paint – Privilege green
• drapes
• belgian flax duvet
• bed
• Sconces
• night stand
• rug

What I want you to see from these three green bedroom examples is that I didn’t have to buy any of these things until I could try them out on the mood board. It is like trying on clothes before you buy them.

I can see what goes together and what doesn’t. I can take light fixtures to try and I can pull them off the board if I don’t like them. I can put in a different rug or a different bench, all without having to lug anything or return anything.

Using a mood board is actually a great way to save money because furniture and rugs are hard to return. You want to make sure that you’re going to like the hard to return pieces before you buy them.

If you want a tutorial on how to do a mood board yourself, you’ll want to check out this blog post: Canva Mood Board Tutorial For Beginners.

If you have an interest in sending me an inspiration picture and having me put together a mood board for you, just shoot me an email at designmorsels@gmail.com.

The post Green Bedroom Inspiration: Turn your Dream into Reality appeared first on Design Morsels.

I’m going to share the four that I like to use along with a lot of examples of how to set color palettes. I’m also going to explain how you can find a photo of a bedroom that you love and recreate that same look in your bedroom on a budget using color.

You want your bedroom to feel like a place that is calm and peaceful because it’s where you sleep. A lot of times, that leads us to choose cooler colors like blues and greens instead of red and yellow, which are the warmer colors. 

1. Blue Bedrooms

There are a million colors of blue. There are cooler blues and warmer blues. The closer you get to violet, the warmer the blue becomes. 

Indigo Room- Setting Color Palette with Paint and Bedding

You can’t go wrong by looking at Pottery Barn for inspiration. This room is similar to the look you will find in a PB catalog. It’s an indigo blue.

In this case, they’ve painted the walls blue. You don’t have to do that if your circumstances don’t allow that. They’ve used the bedspread to set the color palette in the room. It has a nice mix of warm tones and blues. 

If you didn’t want to paint the walls in your room, you could achieve this same look by leaving the walls white and using more of the blues in the bedding, pillows, and upholstery. Also, you can always bring in that indigo color blue in artwork.

Blue and Red Bedroom: Setting Color Palette with Wallpaper

The second bedroom is inspired by a Ballard bedroom. They’re setting the color palette with the wallpaper. 

I do love wallpaper. But my problem with wallpaper is that it’s expensive and it has a short lifespan. I think back to my childhood with wallpaper. I had a big pink and green floral wallpaper on all the walls and even the ceiling. If you put wallpaper up that has a lot of pattern, you can get tired of it pretty quickly. 

Wallpaper Art & Fabric Design Tip

Instead of papering the walls, I like to use the wallpaper in a much smaller and more affordable way. You can frame the wallpaper. Then if you get tired of the wallpaper, you just take down the artwork instead of the wallpaper. 

If you go to a website like Spoonflower and you see a wallpaper you love, you can get that same print in fabric and just get a few yards of it. That can be the inspiration for your room.

Deep Blue Bedroom: Setting Color Palette with Paint, Bedding and Window Treatments

In this third example, it’s a much deeper blue. You can see again they put blue on the walls, but you don’t have to.

They’ve used the rug to set the color palette in this room with deep blues and reds. If you couldn’t paint the walls, you could bring in a lot more of that dark blue with the bedding, upholstery, and window treatments. 

Pale Blue Bedroom: Setting Color Palette with Paint

Here’s a much lighter blue. They’ve used a lot of neutral colors to warm up the space because the blue is bright and light. They’ve used a rug that has a lot of texture and window treatments that are warmer. 

If you want to recreate this look in your room by painting the walls, you can. Keep in mind, it is much faster to change the look of a room without painting the walls. Instead, change the fabrics, artwork, and rug.

2. Green Bedrooms

The second color that I love to use in a bedroom is green. Maybe because it’s what we see in nature. Green has a calm feeling.

Deep Green Bedroom: Setting Color Palette with Paint

In this bedroom, they’ve used a deep green on the walls. They’ve broken up the color with an Oriental rug that has every color of the rainbow in it. 

Muted Green Bedroom: Setting Color Palette with Artwork

In this more modern green room, I think they’re using the artwork to determine the color palette. They’re bringing the color green through to the walls, bedding, and drapes. 

Neutral Green Bedroom: Setting Color Palette with Bedding

In this last example, the green bedding is picked up also in the upholstery. Notice the room has a lot of neutral tones to it. If you don’t want to go all in on a color, it’s a great way to incorporate some color without going to the extreme.

3. Pink Bedrooms

Pink doesn’t have to be a feminine color palette. There are plenty of more muted pinks that just give the room a soft and warm feeling.

Dusty Pink Bedroom

In this first example, it’s a pretty modern bedroom. The pink is a dusty color pink, and it’s mixed with a lot of neutrals. 

Pink and Black Bedroom

In the second bedroom, they’re using a rug with a lot of pinks in it to set the color palette. I don’t think this room looks overly feminine either. I feel like the pink is a really warm color.

This pink bedroom is a good color palette, if you want your bedroom to look cozy.

4. Neutral Bedrooms

The last color palette that I like to use in a bedroom is an all-neutral one.

Adding Texture to Neutral Bedrooms

If you want to go with all neutrals, you want to make sure that you use a lot of different textures in your room and different shades of neutrals. Use different creams and different whites. 

You can see in this case, they’ve used a rug that has a lot of texture. The wood headboard is another textural element. An all-neutral room can still feel really warm and cozy if you get enough textures in there. 

Here is another post I’ve written on six things you want to do in every neutral room, and bedrooms are no different.

What I want you to see from each of these examples is if you find a picture of a bedroom that you love, the chances are pretty high that the color has something to do with it.

If you can pick apart the elements of that room that you like, you can recreate the look in your room by finding fabric, rug, or piece of art that has the same color palette and build your room around it.

The post 4 Best Colors For A Bedroom appeared first on Design Morsels.

Today I’m going to share the five things that I like to change out in my bedroom that can give it a completely different look without changing any of the furniture or painting the walls.

And I’m going to give you four bedrooms where I change these four things.

Add A Rug

First thing you’re going to want to do in your room is add a rug. This is true whether you live in an apartment or a house, and even if you have carpet. I love this one from Boutique rugs.

I use affiliate links so I can afford to keep doing this. Hope it saves you time. See my disclosure policy.

I love to put a really great rug in every bedroom. Don’t put a small rug. If you have to go for a less expensive rug, a bigger rug always feels a lot more luxurious in a bedroom.

Add Window Coverings

The second thing is drapes in a bedroom. I like to layer them. Not just because you want to block out light, but these things bring a lot of texture into the room that make it feel a lot more cozy.

Add Lighting

The third thing is lighting. Lighting is one of those things that we overlook almost always. Every room needs to have three sources of light and that doesn’t count what’s coming in the window.

Those three lights can include overhead lights, sconces, floor lamps. You’re going to see in these examples what a big difference just changing out a few light fixtures can make.

Add Art

The fourth thing is art, and art is one of the hardest things to pick out because it makes a statement about you (at least for me it’s the hardest thing to choose).

There’s some great places now where you can find art on a budget and you can even get inexpensive art framed on a budget like Minted, Society6 and ETSY.

A hack I like to use is I put in the colors that I want use in the search bar. For example, “blue framed art”. Then I see art that looks cohesive with my color palette.

Add New Bedding (Maybe)

And the fifth thing is Bedding, and that’s a bonus because a lot of times I just keep my bedding the same.

For a similar bed, see this one at Serena & Lilly or this one at Pottery Barn.

If it’s neutral, if it’s cream, if it’s a solid, you can change everything else out in the room and still use the same bedding. But if you find some bedding that you love, that’s another great way to change up the look of your room.

Four Examples of Bedrooms

I’m going to show you just how changing these five things In fact, really just changing these four things can give your bedroom a completely different look.

You’ll notice in these bedrooms that the furniture is going to stay completely the same. I chose a really simple bed so I can illustrate just how much these other four things can change the way the room looks.

Blue and Cream Bedroom

In this first room, I let the rug set the color palette. Then I used a brass lamp and a brass chandelier.

On the windows, I layered cream drapes with bamboo shades and I used a piece of art that was cream and blue. I did add a new duvet cover with fabric from Spoonflower.

Green and Gold Bedroom

In the second bedroom, the color palette changed to green and a gold color. There’s dark velvet green curtains, black floor lamp and nd black sconces. The rug is what I use to set the color palette.

The artwork is black and neutrals.

Pink Bedroom

Third room is a pink and blue color scheme. I’ve got pink velvet curtains. The color palette again is coming from the rug. It’s a beautiful cream and pink. I used a rattan floor lamp and some brass sconces and the artwork picks up the blue in the rug.

Neutral Bedroom

The last bedroom is all neutral. I’ve chosen a cream wool rug for the floor.

There’s a wood lamp. There’s a simple cream shade on the window. There are two black sconces and the artwork is also neutral. What I want you to notice from these four rooms is that they all look completely different. They’re the exact same room with the same bed, but they all have a completely different look and making your room look different.

It doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy all new furniture. You can just change the rug, the lighting, the window coverings. and a new piece of art and you can have a completely different look to your bedroom.

Check out my video where I show you how to do this for yourself in Canva.

The post 4 Things to Change Your Bedroom Fast appeared first on Design Morsels.

The NAME doesn’t really matter, but it’s useful because there are so many options of things to buy online. The name helps you save time.

I break every design project into four steps. I’m going to share the process I used for my bedroom so that you can apply these steps to your own projects. But first, here’s a few inspirational images.

Step 1 – Function/Style/Mood

The first step to making any room work for you is to really think about how you want to use the room. Some rooms have to serve dual purposes. how you need to use the room if there are multiple purposes.

Do you want a spot in your bedroom to sit and watch TV or read a book? Do you need a desk in your bedroom? Do you need lots of storage outside the closet?

Next, think about how you want the room to feel. Here are a few words you could use for a bedroom: calm, serene, cozy, simple, relaxed, casual. I’m aiming for cozy and academia. I DO need storage because our closets are very tiny and we need seating (to store our clothes).

This sounds like a joke, but my husband does WILL either throw all his clothes on the floor every day, or he will lay them in a chair. That’s reality. I do need seating.

Step 2 – Color Palette

I have a post about the four easiest ways to choose a color palette. In my bedroom, the palette is based on fabric. I’ve included the floor color and the wall color in my palette.

That being said, there are certain parts of the room that I can’t/won’t change which are part of the palette. I won’t change the floors or the wall color. But you’d be surprised what you can do without changing these things.

If you look at all of the inspirational images, they all have dark walls. That’s something I might consider changing, but not right away.

Step 3 – Space Plan

Once you have figured out a color palette the next step is the floor plan. In a bedroom the most important thing to place is the bed. I’ve tested mine on two walls, the only two where the bed fits.

I like to use the free floor planning tool at Pottery Barn to test out the arrangement. You don’t have to buy any PB furniture, you just use pieces that have the same/similar dimensions as your furniture and it can help you to see how things fit without moving them. Don’t focus on the colors. THIS TOOL MAKES IT SO EASY.

Option A – In this version the bed sits right in front of the windows. In addition the door opposite the bed opens to my dining room (not ideal). This is how the house was when we bought it, AND how we had it for several years.

Option B – With the use of this tool (instead of moving this VERY heavy bed, I discovered a second arrangement which I like much better.

Step 4 – Shop/Arrange

I always recommend assembling a mood board so that you can see how the pieces you’re considering go together. This is the mood board for my bedroom.

I use affiliate links so I can afford to keep doing this. Hope it saves you time. See my disclosure policy.

• Pottery Barn rug
• Pottery Barn bed
• Repose grey paint
• Cain backed black chair
• Black watch plaid fabric (inspiration)
• black nightstand
• blackwatch plaid blanket
• dark wood dresser
• blue and white drapes
• bamboo blinds
• Vintage moonlit art
• chandelier
• lamps
• blue and white ticking blanket

If you liked this post you might also enjoy bedroom decorating mistakes to avoid or a master bedroom makeover.

The post Dark Academia Cottagecore Style appeared first on Design Morsels.

I started looking for yellow and purple fabrics. The floodgates opened when I discovered how many adorable fabrics there are in these colors. There were so many choices that I had trouble narrowing it down to just a few options for them to decide between. (here are just a few)

The linchpin was the raison-colored chairs. The color is so rich that I used it to help me decide which fabric to use. I loved the second one the most, but the raison chair went best with the last fabric.

The inspirational photos they provided are below.

Four Steps to Decorate Any Room

1. Function, Mood and Style

The first step to decorating any room is to consider the function of the room. It’s a bedroom, so we know sleeping is one function, but what else do you need to do in the room?

These girls like to read so they need a place with light to read and a place to store books. There are also TWO pre-teen girls in here, so storage is a requirement. Consider this when you are choosing everything. Even nightstands can provide storage.

The style Kathryn settled on is Scandinavian and the mood is “bright and cheerful”.

2. Furniture Layout

The beds had to go on the east wall, so that made the arrangement pretty simple. The chairs needed to go by a window, which made the west wall the only choice for that. Here’s the final layout.

If you want a free furniture layout tool, click here.

3. Color Palette

Kathryn has already painted the room a buttercup yellow. The floors are oak wood. Based on the fabrics above, which provided my color inspiration here is our color palette. The floors are part of that palette.

You might be wondering, where do I use the fabric if that’s my inspiration? Re-upholstering furniture is expensive, but it’s affordable to get pillows made and even drapes, if you know the right places. You can also use fabric in a frame as art.

4. Decide What You Need & What to Keep

Almost everyone wants to keep some of what they already have. You want to make sure to use the items you want to keep in your space plan (step 2) and your color palette (step 3).

At this point, it should be crystal clear which pieces you are missing. The fastest way to find these items is to use your style, color and size in your search. This really cuts down the volume of pieces that will work.

For example, if you’re looking for a chair use the search, “Scandinavian 30 inch (or petite) purple chair”. That search is SO specific that you don’t have to sift through millions of chairs.

I’m sharing the lighting plan because I believe that lighting can play such a big roll in the how well-designed any room looks.

Details of the room

I like to use inexpensive furniture in kids’ rooms because as they grow they like to change things. This is especially true with art. The art I recommended is really inexpensive, so it can be easily changed out.

• Spindle natural oak twin beds
• Quince European Linen bedding in cream
• Paper Flowers fabric
• 60″ IKEA malm dresser – I like to use inexpensive furniture in kids rooms because as they grow they like to change things
• Bookcase with drawers beneath
• Scandinavian wood table
• 2 drawer night stand
• Ottowa rug 8×10
• White rattan pendant light
• Naturalist wood ball table lamp
• Swing arm lamps
• Nordic wood track light
• Floating shelf
• Bargain 6 piece art

I use affiliate links so I can afford to keep doing this. Hope it saves you time. See my disclosure policy.

If you liked this post you might be interested in this post about decorating a tween boy’s bedroom.

The post Scandinavian Girls Bedroom appeared first on Design Morsels.

What stays? The master bedroom is fully carpeted and there is no budget to change the flooring. She also wants to keep the paint, which is a nice neutral creamy color and her queen bed.

This is my favorite kind of makeover. You can see that it’s possible to dramatically change a room just by adding a few pieces to what you already have. Just changing the lighting, drapes and a few pieces of furniture makes a big difference. It takes a lot less time and money and you can still end up with a space that looks new.

This video that walks you through the process, with tons of other bedroom examples.

Function Questions to Ask Yourself

Before you do a redesign of any space in your home you have to consider how you need the room to work for you. For example, do you need your bedroom to have a desk in it? Do you need more storage because your closets are small? Do you want a seating area? Will you watch TV in your bedroom?

Julie desperately needed more storage and requested some hanging storage because the closet space is limited. She also wanted a seating area but wasn’t interested in a TV in the bedroom.

Here’s a space plan for Julie’s room. Ignore the colors, I used Pottery Barn’s free space planning tool to get a layout she liked, but all of the pieces below are not from Pottery Barn.

There are two doors in the room, a pocket door on the left leads to the bathroom and closet and the door on the right leads to a hall.

Choosing a Bedroom Color Palette

There are a few different ways that you can choose a color palette. Professional designers recommend using fabric as your inspiration. This is a shortcut because you don’t have to choose colors that go together, the fabric designer has already done that for you.

You don’t have to use fabric for your inspiration, you can use a painting or a rug. These are often things that have a combination of colors, whether they are complimentary or analogous.

In design school we were taught that a color palette should be one of three options: complimentary, analogous or monochromatic. A complimentary color scheme means you use colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel, like blue with orange or yellow with purple. There is more contrast between the colors.

Analogous colors palettes use colors are next to each other on the color wheel, like blue with green or blue and purple.

A monochromatic room is all one color. Here’s an example of an all white and off-white bedroom.

Complementary colors look good together but there are some amazing bedrooms that don’t follow these narrow color definitions. Don’t feel like you have to follow any rules as long as YOU like the colors you choose and you use them intentionally throughout the room.

In a bedroom, you want a color palette that makes the space feel peaceful and relaxing. This is the color palette that Julie wanted to use and her inspiration for these colors, which is a piece of art. Julie really likes bold colors, as you can see with her peacock chairs.

Here’s a look at the room before and after. We intentionally sprinkled the colors in her color palette around the room.

• Art from Wayfair (the inspiration for the color)
• Sloan Chairs from Interior Define in peacock with a matching ottoman
• Gwen Accent chair in gold from Interior Define
• Velvet comforter cover from West Elm in Dark Moss
• Axel Light chandelier from Shades of Light
• Swing arm wall lamps from shades of light –
• Night stand – West Elm
• Wardrobe – Wayfair (this one has both hanging and drawer space
• Dramatic Pine prints – Wayfair
• Allabaster curtains from West Elm
• Carmine rug (see below)

I use affiliate links so I can afford to keep doing this. Hope it saves you time. See my disclosure policy.

Rug Over Carpet?

Julie didn’t want a rug over her carpet, but I love a good rug to pick up all of the colors in the palette. There’s nothing wrong with carpet in a bedroom. It feels so cozy and can have a modern look.

But you can also put a rug over your carpet. Here’s Julie’s room with a rug added. Which do you like better?

If you enjoyed this post, would you like a FREE ROOM MAKEOVER? Really, no strings attached. All I need from you is a few photos you can take using your phone. I also need a few inspirational photos or pins that are in a style you like.

If you enjoyed this post you might like how to get a quick bedroom makeover without buying new furniture, how to choose carpet for a bedroom or read more about choosing a color palette.

The post Master Bedroom Makeover appeared first on Design Morsels.

The dust ruffle I had in mind is one that is easy to remove and throw in the washing machine.  

I also wanted a bed skirt that was three panels that tuck up under the mattress, but not all the way. This way they can be easily removed and washed without taking the mattress off.

Materials Needed:

• Fabric. I chose an indigo denim fabric partly because I wanted a dark color. Be careful when you order fabric online to determine if it is one piece of fabric or individual 1 yard pieces. If you have a queen or a king size bed you will need to buy a lot of fabric.  
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Iron
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Measuring tool
• Straight edge
• Fabric pen or chalk pen
• Straight pins

A word about choosing fabric. Pay attention to the weight of the fabric. You will want a fabric that is cotton duck or canvas weight. That’s the problem with many of the cheap bed skirts that you can buy on Amazon, is they are so light weight that they don’t hang properly.

Make sure you wash the fabric before you begin to prevent the final product from shrinking. 

I use affiliate links so I can afford to keep doing this.  Hope it saves you time. See my disclosure policy.

Step-by-Step Guide to DIY Bed Skirt

This bed skirt is really like three panels, each with a header that slides under the mattress. You make each panel separately and then sew them together.

Measuring For Your Bed Skirt

•  First, measure the length of your bed from the head of the bed to the foot of the bed to determine the length of the side pieces.   For example, my king bed measures 80 inches on the sides.
• Next, measure the width of the end of the bed from one side to the other.  A king bed measures 76 inches.
• Lastly, you will need to determine the “fall” of your bed skirt.  Usually this will be from the edge of the mattress to the floor.  My fall is 14 inches. Because the pieces are quite long, I found it to be easier to mark out my measurements with fabric chalk.

Cutting Your Fabric

• Lay out your fabric on a large surface. You will need to cut a total of 6 long strips of fabric.  You will need to cut 2 long pieces, one for each side and a piece for the end.  
• In addition, for this design, you will need to cut 3 narrow panels that will lay between the mattress and the box spring, the header. These header panels will be the same length as the sides and the end, but much narrower, I made mine 6 inches.  
• Remember to add about an inch to ALL your measurements to account for seam allowance and hem allowance.

Sewing The Pieces Together

• Hemming the Raw Edges: With a hot iron, press a 1/4 inch hem to the bottom of each panel, then turn that on itself and press again.  Essentially you will have a half inch hemmed edges along the bottom of each panel.
• Using your sewing machine, sew a straight line along each pressed hem.  Do the same to the sides of all your panels.  

• Attach the Header : Before you sew the sides and end together you want to attach the narrow header panel that will go under the mattress to each piece separately.  You can do this by simply placing the narrow header panel right side down on each of the main skirt pieces, 2 sides and one end.  Using a straight stitch, sew the small panel onto the larger panels of the bed skirt.  

• Sewing the Panels Together: Now all you have to do is attach the side panels to the end panel.  Because the panels are a bit bulky, I used straight pins to hold everything in place for this step.  With right sides together sew a straight line to connect each side to the end.  

Attaching Your Bed Skirt

The wonderful thing about this bed skirt is how easy it is to put on AND take off.  You don’t have to remove the mattress and fight to keep the skirt in place when you put the mattress back.  

There are a few options. If your mattress is really heavy (like mine), you can just tuck the header under the mattress and you’re done.

If you feel you need more stability you can use upholstery pins to fasten the bed skirt to the bed frame or the box spring.  So easy!!!  This means no shifting when you change your sheets or wash your custom bed skirt in the washing machine.

My mom has a bed skirt like this and we secured it with duct tape (if you don’t have the pins).

Traditional bedskirts often don’t offer the perfect fit. So, why not make your own bedskirt?

With this easy DIY bed skirt you can customize your fabric and ensure it fits the length and sides of your bed, all the way to the bottom of the mattress. I am so happy with the end result and the best part is it was easy to make and easy to put in place.

If you liked this post check out how to make a slip cover for your headboard and a rug size guide for bedrooms.  

The post Tailored Bed Skirt Tutorial: An Easy Sewing Project appeared first on Design Morsels.

In this article, we’re going to delve into the art of choosing the perfect rug to go under your king bed.  I will give you a comprehensive guide to help you understand how to choose the right size, position it correctly and how to find the right style for you.

The best part? This won’t just be a theoretical guide (like lots of rug sellers have). I believe that real-life examples are the best way to learn and get inspired. That’s why I’ve collaborated with real homeowners who have given us a glimpse of their bedrooms. These real-life examples, showcasing a variety of room sizes, styles, and rug choices, will provide practical insights into how a rug can work with your king size bed.

So, whether you’re moving into a new space or simply looking to spruce up your existing room, this guide will help you make an informed decision.  This will help you get one step closer to the bedroom of your dreams.  Let’s dive in!

King Bed Sizes

Before we delve into choosing a rug it’s important to understand the object at the heart of our discussion: the king size bed. King beds are aptly named for because they are BIG.  

Standard king size beds typically measure 76 inches wide by 80 inches long.  On the other hand, California King beds, have slightly different dimensions. They measure 72 inches wide but are longer, coming in at 84 inches.  

These dimensions are important because the rug has to sit under your bed (ideally) and give you adequate space on both sides of the bed.  The bed isn’t the only thing that determines the size.  Next, we’ll look at how room size and furniture layout affect the size rug that’s right for you.  

Rug Placement Options

I wrote a post about three rug placement options for bedrooms, if you want to read more.  

A picture can speak a thousand words; you can also see the rug placement options.  The best option if you can afford it in a master bedroom is to have the rug extend underneath the bed. The less desirable options is to place rugs on the side of your bed.  

You will want the longer side of the rug to go perpendicular to the bed.  

Standard Sizes for Rugs

If you are going to buy a rug, the most popular and affordable sizes are 9×12 and 8×10.  The right rug size should be proportionate to the bed and these are the best rug size for bigger beds.  You might be tempted to save and get a 6×9, but here’s an illustration to help you see why that isn’t a good idea for a king-sized bed.  

The photo with the 6×9 rug shows you that if you do this, you won’t have a rug to give you a soft landing when you get out of bed, or into bed.  A smaller rug might be less expensive, but it looks out of proportion to the size of your bed.  Putting a small rug at the foot of the bed doesn’t give your room that cozy luxurious feeling a large rug will.  

How Does Room Size Factor In?

The dimensions of your room play a role when choosing a rug for your king-size bed. A room large enough for a king bed can accommodate a larger rug.  If you want a large size rug, the general rule of thumb is that the rug should be at least 12 inches from the walls on all sides, like this room.

It’s important to measure your room before deciding on the size of the rug. A well-chosen rug should anchor the bed in the room but still leave some exposed floor space.  Larger rooms can hold larger rugs, but you don’t have to cover the entire floor.  In fact, some of the most stunning rooms show off the hardwood floors in one area of the room, like this one.

In the bedroom below, they opted to go with a rug that gave only partial coverage.  It’s an 8×10, but a 9×12 would be better.  The rug doesn’t cover enough of the side of the bed so that when you step out of bed you land on the hard floor. 

Furniture Layout – On or Off the Rug

The arrangement of other pieces of furniture in your bedroom can also influence the choice of your rug. For instance, if you have a bench, chairs, bedside tables, or a dresser in your room.  Should these pieces be on or off the rug?  

In this picture the rug is under the bench and the front legs of the nightstand, but not under the chairs.

What’s right for your room depends on your furniture. It is easier to see how the pieces in your room will look with a rug by using a floor planning tool.  I like to use the free floor planning tool  from Pottery Barn.  To use it find furniture similar to the size you own (by searching the PB items) and see how they fit with the size rug you are considering.  

You can give a bedroom rug a “try on” without buying it.  You can put in the room dimensions for your bedroom and it’s a great way to experiment with furniture placement. 

Rug Style Preference

Last, but certainly not least, your personal style plays a part in choosing any rug.  Style is about how you want the rug to look and feel.  Do you want something neutral or something that is a focal point with lots of color?  Do you want something soft and plush or minimalist?

Read more here to help you narrow down the right style rug.  

The best way to decide what style you want is to look for inspiration on Pinterest.  Pin five bedrooms (not 100) that you love the look of and notice the rug’s design in the pictures you like.  You can even use google image search to find similar rugs.  

Price can also play a role in the size rug you choose.  A large area rug is not cheap unless you go for synthetic materials.  No matter what style of rug you choose the bedroom is one room that’s worth getting a high-quality rug pad.  You can find really affordable rugs (and rug pads) on Overstock and Wayfair.  

I personally love wool in a bedroom because it’s so soft. Tufted wool rugs are a good option if you want a really soft rug.  This type of rug is much softer than the hand-knotted rugs.   This style is an excellent choice for low-traffic areas.  

If

The post Find the Perfect Rug for Your King Size Bed: Real examples appeared first on Design Morsels.

There’s a freedom in that.  You could choose something really off the wall or something really personal that you love.  Choosing art for the wall above your bed is often the prime spot.   There are some general guidelines for choosing art that goes above a piece of furniture.  You have to consider the scale of the furniture when you decide.  

Whether you have a king bed or a queen bed, interior designers use some rules when choosing art for above the bed.  Many things in interior design come down to proportions.  Things look and feel better when the proportions are right.  I’m going to share a bunch of options with photos to go with each.  This will help you to get the look you want if you’re looking to hang art above your bed.   

General Guidelines for Artwork Size Above a Bed

Before we start looking at the style of your wall decor, let’s talk about size.  

Width rule – A good rule of thumb for art above a bed is that it should be 2/3 to 3/4 the width of the bed.  This includes the width of your bed frame.  If your queen bed is 60 inches and the frame is the same width, your artwork should be between 40 inches and 45 inches.  This could be divided up into as many pieces as you like, but all the pieces together should be this wide.  A typical king bed is 76 inches wide, artwork should be 50 to 57 inches wide.  This could be one large piece or any number of smaller ones.  

Height rule – This rule isn’t about how TALL the art should be.  The height rule is about how high the artwork should be.  It’s important to keep artwork with the center at eye level, or close.  If the artwork is hung much higher than eye level, it looks strange.  You feel like the house was made for a giant.  If you hang a gallery or multiple pieces, you want the center of the grouping to be at eye level.  

Distance Above Headboard – The other measurement to consider is the distance from the top of the headboard.  As you can see in these examples, there is often not much space between the top of the bed and the art.  This depends on the headboard size.  If you have a really tall headboard, you’re going to have to keep the artwork close to it to make sure that the middle is at eye level.  

You can satisfy these size guidelines for a single piece of art or a collection of smaller pieces.  In fact, building a gallery wall of more mid-sized canvas prints can be less expensive than getting one large piece to fill the width above the bed.  The formula is for the total width of all the pieces including the open space between pieces.  

You might think that if you have high ceilings, the artwork should be hung higher.  That is not the case.  Artwork doesn’t get higher as the ceilings go up.  The art needs to be anchored to the furniture or it feels like it’s floating.  

​The reason the formula exists is that our eyes like to see things that look in proportion.  That doesn’t mean you won’t find examples of a king sized bed with a 24-inch piece of art.  But an undersized piece of art doesn’t give you the sense of proportion that feels good to your eyes.  

Now that we covered what size the artwork should be it is time to consider style.  

Style Guide for Artwork Above the Bed

The most important rule about style is that the art should really be something that you LOVE.  No two people have exactly the same style, but it’s a good idea to get a piece that everyone who sleeps in the room likes.  Art can be a really easy way to set a color palette for your room.  

If you don’t have any clue what kind of art you like, Pinterest can be a great way to begin. Search for the words that describe a style you like + bedroom.  For example, you might want a cottage bedroom or a boho bedroom.  Pin images where you see art that you like.  This gives you a starting point.  

For example, if I search French country bedroom, I see lots of still-life paintings and botanicals in the bedrooms.  If I search for modern bedroom I see more abstract art and photo prints.  

My favorite places to find the art, once I figure out the style that I want is to look at Etsy.  There is SOOO much artwork, but narrowing down your search using size, style and even a color scheme makes it easier to search.  The good news is that if you want help, I love shopping for artwork.  Send me a photo of your room and let me know what your style is.  I might be able to steer you to some choices that you like.  

If you enjoyed this post you might like these tips for how to furnish a bedroom or bedroom decorating mistakes.

The post Size Guide for Art For Above Your Bed appeared first on Design Morsels.

This post was inspired by my mom. She has always had beautiful home, but over time her bedroom is so full of furniture that you almost have to shimmy around the bed. Don’t feel bad, she doesn’t read ANY blogs, even mine. Her bedroom could easily go from a 4 back to a 10 with just a few free tips.

If you are just getting started with your bedroom read how to furnish a bedroom in four easy steps.

1. Not enough light – You need more than the prewired ceiling lights even if you have a lot of natural light.  Various light fixtures giving ambient lighting make the bedroom feel cozy. Pendants, bedside lamps or wall sconces are necessary, and I love to use a floor lamp if there is limited room for furniture.  Every room needs three sources of light, including the bedroom.  

2. Wrong size rug – You want an area rug that is the right size for the room, which means when you step out of bed, your bare feet should land on the rug.  If your rug just sits at the end of the bed, it feels like you settled for a rug that is too small.   Read more about how to get the right sized rug for your bedroom.

3. Bed is too big for the room – You should have 18 inches minimum on all sides of the bed.  This leaves just enough space on the side of the bed for a nightstand or floating shelf.  

4. Not enough texture – Texture can come in different forms.  You can add texture through window treatments, rugs, upholstery, bedding, throw pillows and even wall hangings.  You can also add an upholstered headboard with slipcovers you can change with the season.  Read more about how to make a headboard slip cover here.   Your bedroom is the one room that you really want to feel cozy and texture can help a room feel warmer and more comfortable.  

5. Matchy bedroom furniture – Bedroom sets where the bed, nightstands and chest of drawers all match make the space look very generic.  I’m sure you can picture what I’m talking about.  It’s a good idea to mix up your furniture pieces rather than having everything match.  Adding individual pieces you like can have a huge impact and can still provide an overall cohesive look.

6. Too many pillows – While it is fine to have layers of pillows, if you have more than 5 pillows that’s not practical or functional.  2 pillows to sleep, 2 more pillows and one lumbar or center pillow.  You don’t want to have to put all of these on the bed every day and take them off.  It starts to look like a catalog rather than a bedroom that you actually live in.  

7. Matchy bedding – If you get all of your bedding in one fabric, the comforter or duvet cover, the decorative pillows and sometimes even the bed-skirt this makes your room feel more ordinary.  

8. Scale is off – If you have a large bedroom, you can have larger bedroom furniture.  If you have a smaller room, keep the furnishings on the smaller side.

9. Choosing colors that are too vibrant  – Bright colors like red, yellow, orange are not always the best choice for a bedroom.  You want to choose a color scheme with cooler tones like blues and greens that are more relaxing.  Try to use the less saturated version of the colors that you like.  The best way to accomplish this is to use greyed or muted tones instead of the brightest shades or bold colors.

10.  Too much furniture – You need a bed, bedside table/shelf, and maybe a dresser.  You don’t need more if it doesn’t fit. It makes the room feel cramped and uncomfortable when you try to jam too much in the bedroom. 

11.  Multi-function bedrooms –  If possible, keep your desk or your workout equipment out of the bedroom.   It’s hard to make the bedroom a place of relaxation when you have too much clutter.

A bedroom makeover does’t have to be expensive or time consuming.  Just a few small changes can make a huge difference in the overall feel of your room.  I hope this helps your address the most common bedroom design mistakes so that you can make your bedroom a relaxing oasis.  

You might also enjoy how to choose Bedroom carpet or how to get a European feel in your bedroom.

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