Bedtime bliss

bliss Bedtime

Bedroom style guide

By Natasha Parrant

Putting together your room is like deciding what you’ll wear for the day.

There can be lots of items to choose from and you want to express your taste, have comfort, stand out, and represent yourself authentically – especially since you’ll be spending time in your room almost every day. When it comes to laying out your bedroom, it’s a challenge in itself. You want to be creative and unique, but show your interests, favourite colours, photos of memories, and follow the latest trends, which are constantly changing, so it’s nice to change the layout of your bedroom whenever you like.

The bed

As referenced by your home and garden magazine, the first thing you have to know is, “Your bed should always be the focal point of the room design”. Think about the materials of the bedhead and surrounding furniture, and find bed covers and duvets that will go well with the colour and texture of hard items like your lamp, artwork, drawers, bedside tables, desks, chairs, and so on.

Pick two or three co-ordinating colours or different shades of one colour to have a variety. McKenzie and Willis’s interior advice on ‘Buying Guide: Duvet Covers, Bedspreads and Comforters’ stated that bedspreads or duvet covers can portray the tone of your bedroom design.

A duvet comes in many different colours and styles and is low-maintenance.

A bedspread is a “decorative layer for your bed”, which is lightweight, great for layering, fully covers a bed, and can be quilted.

Dulux porcelain paint in a bedroom would suit those who love the symbolic representation of love and romance. Photo courtesy of Dulux New Zealand’s Colour Forecast 2023.

Dulux Colour Forecast 2023 - Balance palette. Artwork: Swimmers Ritual by Marko Hrubyj Piper, Studio Gallery. Photograph: Lisa Cohen. Stylist: Bree Leech.

The style

Create emotion with different colours, materials, and patterns to create your vibe in your bedroom. Soft colours bring peace, happiness, relaxation, and bright colours bring fierce, confidence, energy, love/passion. White or sheer curtains are a nice touch to any room because they go with any colour in the room. Black-out curtains are also good for those who like the colour and help you sleep well at night. Get some décor and ornaments like art, tapestries, stickers, posters, photos, candles, plants, letters, and funky lights. Have a look at stores like Iko Iko, Tea Pea, The Warehouse, Shut The Front Door, and more for inspiration

Latest trends

Look at the Dulux New Zealand Colour Forecast 2023 for some ideas on this year’s trends such as bedroom colour ideas like their balance palette, which shows light pastels; soft greens, sky blue, moody teals, and accents of red and black.

Their paint colours; Dulux Manorburn Quarter, Dulux porcelain, and Dulux Dunedin would go well on the wall of any bedroom. Once you choose your wall colour, mix and match the wall with the bed, bed head, ornaments, and furniture around the room so the colours pair well with each other.

Bedroom accessories

The Warehouse creative director Jade Turner shared bedroom trend tips with your home and garden and says “the right colour in the bedroom can really make a difference and bedlinen is an inexpensive way to make a big change”. He also says sage and white can create peacefulness while mixing and matching with bright prints and patterns can “make your bedroom pop,” which makes it feel fun and lively. “These [prints and patterns] can easily be swapped out depending on new colours and trends.”

To make the most of your space, Jade also recommends choosing furniture and décor that will make your bedroom feel spacious. Bedside tables and lamps on either side of the bed would display good balance. A large floor mirror against the wall will bounce the light around, alternatively, hide the mirror under the bed or wardrobe if there’s not enough space.