The bedroom is the one room in the house where you can prepare a comfortable space to sleep and rest. Do you know that the bedroom space has been used differently by different cultures? For the nomads the bedroom is anywhere where they can lay their head on. To them, a soft patch of grass buffered by an animal hide mattress is comfortable.
In medieval times the bedroom for the knights and soldiers used to be a cot made from hay in the great hall. The lords and other members of the royal household had chambers with the traditional wooden bed. The more influential members of courts had apartments with proper bedrooms featuring canopy beds and minimal furniture.
In Africa bedding was made of sedge grass which had a very aromatic scent. The scent helped the sleeper comfortably sleep and made the space cozy. It was also an effective pesticide. The grass was woven together to form a hardy mat. Some cultures still use this grass to form mats for everyday naps. Egyptians had the typical traditional wooden beds with intricate designs on them.
The Chinese would build a fire on the area where they would later sleep. When the fire was extinguished the ashes would be left in place to keep the area warm as the person slept on top of them. Eventually, this form of heating the floor evolved into fire being built under the stones.
Modern bedrooms have come a long way from those times with thematic furniture and exceptional lighting options. The western design of a bedroom has become the yardstick for a comfortable bedroom and with good reason. Technical advancement makes it easier to achieve some of the modern comforts that we have become so accustomed to. But the truth is that the bedroom needs updating every now and then in order to make it a great space. It can never remain a static space or it will lose its allure.
Why do you need to update your bedroom?
To boost our mood
The same environment can become monotonous even if it is exceptionally well done. A quick low-cost update to your bedroom can make it exciting and enticing again so you are happy to spend time in the space. A new brighter color or a modern fixture can give you that giddy feeling making you look forward to waking up or even going to bed at night.
To personalize your space
If you are not the one who decorated your room, giving it an update can help you inject some of your unique personality into space. It gives you a sense of ownership and tweaks the space to accommodate exact preferences. The way you decorate your bedroom is a reflection of your character and personality.
To increase the value of the house
The more modern the house the more it will fetch on the market. Having a modern bedroom is a huge selling point when it comes to real estate. The more trendy the fixtures the more you prospective buyers will fall in love with your house. Low-cost updates can be just as effective at updating the look of your house as full scale remodels.
How to update your bedroom
1) Experiment with colors
Consider the impact of an excellent mix of expressive and neutral colors in your bedroom and how refreshing that can be in enlivening up the room. Your bedroom is a private sanctuary where you can explore and experiment with your wild side (decor wise). You can also decide to envelop the space in one neutral or pastel color to make it cozier.
2) Upgrade your house style
The longer you stay with the same décor in your bedroom the more outdated it looks. A dated looks old and uninviting which can be unattractive even to you. Even the most timeless styles will have elements that look dated after a while. Turn the theme from a rustic feel to a more contemporary look.
3) Explore new furniture
Try a range of different things that make you happy or that you have always dreamed of. For example, you can get a rocking chair that will introduce the rustic, antique furniture but paint it white to give it a modern look and throw on an artsy cushion or interesting gold accents.
You can also bring in a chest of drawers or a full-length mirror with LED lights. The point is to create a focal point or a statement piece using the furniture. You can get exceptional pieces from thrift shops and sales.
4) Utilize fabrics
Fabrics can be used in different contexts in the bedroom: As bed linen, curtains and throws or on the wall. When using them as bed linen choose something with a bright color or patterns if everything else is muted in the room. The same applies to when using curtain fabric to update the look of your bedroom choose patterned and bright colors if your bed linen features subdued colors like grey or even black and white/ivory. In the event the fabric is used to block an entire wall consider using a bright color for a room with neutral or pastel wall colors. Also, make sure it has a pattern whatever the intensity of the colors on the walls. It is not a good idea to put a plain fabric on an entire wall because it does nothing for the décor.
5) Get some wall art
Did you know that using a scarf in a creative way can create an interesting wall art piece that you can periodically change? This is an inexpensive way of getting some art on your wall. Just make sure you can create interesting shapes with the scarf.
Alternatively, buy some street art and put it upright above the headboard. A great place to get inexpensive and interesting pieces include thrift shops and also from the street artists. Get your portrait done at the beach for an affordable price.
6) Use wallpaper
For the bedroom make sure you choose vinyl-based wallpaper which offers you more patterns to choose from. Plus these types of wallpaper are easy to clean and maintain not to mention they last for longer. They also come off easier meaning you can update them as often as you would like. You can use the wallpaper right behind the wall where the headboard rests. This gives the room a focal point.
The rule of thumb when choosing wallpaper for your bedroom is to choose one that features more of the color on the accent walls. You can repeat one or more colors from your original wall color in the wallpaper. This enables you to create drama and contrast in your wall while complementing the colors in your room.
7) Use patterns on the decor
Another rule is to use large or smaller patterns on the wallpaper compared to the patterns in your drapery. Sometimes plain wallpaper is sufficient, especially when working with heavily patterned fabrics. There is also the option of textured or metallic wallpaper to add more character to a room.
8) Use mirrors
Consider using a mirror in the bedroom to infuse more lighting into the space. If you want to update a small bedroom and make it look bigger and more airy, using a mirror tricks the eye to believing that space is bigger than it is. This is because mirrors reflect light instead of absorbing it. Place the mirror next to the artificial light source but not directly in front of it because then it becomes blinding. However, you can put it in front of a natural source like a window and it will look like you have two windows. Make sure that you work with a large mirror to give an illusion of more space.
9) Modernize the lighting
Layering the lights in your bedroom is the best way to update the look of your bedroom. This entails finding the best balance between ambient, accent and task lighting. You can now make the room seem large, cozy or accentuate certain aspects of it. Table lamps and pendant lights are a great addition to the bedroom. Don’t forget to use a dimmer to take the room from natural lighting to relaxed lighting and vice versa.
10) Choose the right bulbs
The wrong number of lumens can make even the most luxurious and modern bedroom appear drab or unattractively bright. Too bright and it will look unsavory and too dull and it will look uninviting. The balance is using between 2700 and 4000 lumens in the bedroom. Also, choose an appropriate bulb color ranging from warm white, cool white and daylight. Colored bulb-like red and blue aren’t very attractive
11) De-clutter the room
Sometimes the best update you can give your room is cleaning up and removing items that you are not using in the room. Does the baby have their own room? Then remove their crib from your bedroom. Is the treadmill not working? Remove it from your space.
12) Consider re-carpeting
Re-carpeting your floor sounds like a major project and an expensive one at that. But you can use rugs to make the space cozier and strip the floor of old and worn-out carpeting. And the rugs don’t have to be the more expensive Turkish or Persian variety. There are some cheap but extremely durable options on the market.
13) Choose high-quality bedding
You may not be able to do anything about the dimension of your bedroom with your budget but you can buy yourself one or two statement bedding pieces. The bedding can make a massive difference in the way a bedroom looks. Choose a comforter/duvet that is high quality as well as throws with faux fur. This makes the room look luxurious. Also, choose colors that are cool and luxuriant like deep burgundy or deep blues.
14) Introduce a couch
A couch makes space feel even more comfortable so you can have a place to read from away from the bed. Some décor experts recommend adding a desk to the bedroom so you have a place where you can read from. This is still being debated as sleep experts recommend not having a desk as it changes the purpose of the bedroom as a place to sleep.
15) Stick to a theme
Create a winter wonderland with your bedroom décor or an introspective sanctuary with deep purples and maroons/burgundy. You can update your bedroom gradually by buying items with a certain theme when you come across them. if you like to have different themes through the seasons you may need to have pieces to dress your bedroom accordingly according to the theme.
16) Incorporate technology
Did you know that technology doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective? If you already use Google home in your home just utilize it in the bedroom as well. For example, it can be effective in being an alarm clock. Also use it for a playlist in the bedroom that relaxes you. Air Purifiers are also great as they remove impurities in the air.
17) Rearrange the furniture
You can update your space simply by moving your bed around and the surrounding furniture. Just placing your bed next to the window can be an inspiration since you wake up to natural light pouring into the room. Consider doing this regularly in order to keep the room fresh and exciting.
18) Put some work on the ceiling
Don’t forget the ceiling. Put something fantastic like a chandelier or recessed lights. You can even put some decorations to go with the theme of the room like glitter for a winter wonderland or the colors of a favorite football team for a little boy’s room.
19) Create private nook
Creating a private nook gives a clear demarcation to the room. It is an inexpensive way to update the space as you can create this nook with anything you have in the home like an ottoman or a simple chair. This can be the place you have your morning coffee or meditation time.
20) Invest in storage pieces
Storage pieces like closets, chests of drawers and hanging closets bring organization to the room but they can also be used to update a room. They become the focal point of the room while bringing a crucial function to the room.
Conclusion
It is important to always remember that the bedroom is a means to an end not an end in itself. The end is your comfort and healthy sleep habits. It has to be updated consistently to maintain the two.
Does your bedroom meet these two needs? If not, consider some of the above tips to update it and make it cozy.
