How to Decorate a Master Bedroom

Master bedrooms lead double lives. In the morning, they need to be helpful enough to get you dressed and out the door on time. In the evening, they need to be calm and relaxing so you can unwind before your head hits the pillow. I think it’s a lot to ask of a room when it comes to decorating! Here are my top three tips to consider when planning your room.

Tip 1: All Is Calm

You want to walk into your bedroom at night and feel so cocooned and cosy that you leave all your worries at the door. I’m not the biggest fan of busy wallpaper in bedrooms as I find it distracting. I chose ‘Chic Shadow’ by Dulux as it works wonders in sending me off to sleep.

Get the lighting right and you can easily control your room’s purpose – bright for getting ready, cosy for sleeping. I prefer to have lots of options depending on my mood – I did this by installing a dimmer switch to our main pendant light, then added two matching bedside table lamps and another table lamp by my getting ready area (handy for dark winter mornings). All bulbs shine warm light as I love the softening effect it has on the room. To add a bit of character, I opted for a vintage-style light bulb (where you can see the filament) in the main pendant light. The other lamps have Philips Hue wireless light bulbs, which you can control via your phone. You can set the light to 1-100% so lots of options! (Sounds techy but it’s really effective, especially if one of you wants a brighter light to read by before bed. You can also take it that one step further and invest in an Amazon Echo Dot and control your lighting via voice activation!)

Paint colour and lighting are the key players when it comes to creating a sense of serenity.

Jenny Lambert

Tip 2: Smart storage

Bedrooms play home to all your personal possessions that you usually require in a hurry. Clothes, hairdryer, perfume, underwear… The more organised you are with your storage, the quicker you’ll be. My husband and I created getting ready zones that offered lots of storage for our grab-and-go essentials and ensured we didn’t get in each other’s way too much-! I prefer to stand up when getting ready (if I sit down I take twice as long-!) so purchased a chest of five drawers and placed a vanity mirror on top.

By setting it up on the same wall as my windows I get the best light when applying makeup. I added hooks to the side of the unit to hang necklaces – a quick trick that avoids tangles. My husband uses a picture rail underneath a mirror to store his daily essentials. This is a really useful solution if you’re tight on space and budget. When it came to clothes and shoes, we opted for Sharps Henley wardrobes in ‘Stone’ to make full use of the floor-to-ceiling space and to keep everything tidy and accessible.

I loved that I could design my side (shelves on the left for t-shirts, jeans, shoes and handbags, hanging space on the right) while my husband could also tailor his side (all hanging space for shirts, suits, t-shirts and jeans). I added a full-length mirror on the inside door to avoid the room looking too busy, while my husband included a tie rack

Jenny Lambert

Tip 3: Get personal

While you want to create a useful but relaxing space, it also has to represent you as it’s the most intimate room of your home. I can’t advise on what this would be as it’s so personal, but for me – artwork and cushions is where I make the room feel like ours. It doesn’t need to cost the earth either – simply frame special cards, photos or create your own art, for example I made the heart art above our bed by gluing buttons to card and popping in an IKEA frame. If you’re looking for cushions with a bit of character, Etsy is a great place to start.

Small bowls are great for storing jewellery

A glass plate is a pretty way to display perfume

Add a variety of cosy textures

Picnic hampers make great storage for winter clothes

Invest in good underlay for carpet, you won’t regret it!

Janny Lambert