Copy the look of a high-end hotel or spa to create a retreat in your own bedroom.
Hotel and spa rooms accomplish a lot with very little space, almost always including a full set of bedroom furniture, a seating and dressing area inside a single, often rectangular room. Copy the restful, romantic mood engendered by luxury hotels and spas in your own bedroom by unifying the space through the use of a limited color palette, minimal accessories and gleaming, polished surfaces. Make your bedroom comfortable by surrounding yourself with soft, lush linens, comforters and upholstered surfaces.
Instructions
Soothing, Neutral Palette
1. Relax the eye with a dark neutral color scheme that features deep jewel tones and white accents. Ignore the 60:30:10 color rule, which guarantees a can't-miss ratio for main color, complementary color and accent color; instead, use an 80:20 ratio for a soothing, uncomplicated hotel and spa-like scheme.
2. Paint the ceiling the same color as the wall to make the room feel more intimate and enclosed.
3. Paint with a semi-gloss paint to convey luxury and reflect light.
Luxurious, Soft Coverings
4. Purchase heavy, brocade fabrics for the comforter and silk or 400-thread count cotton for the sheets. Make the bed extra comfortable by adding a pillow-top mattress.
5. Cover the head of the bed with an assortment of different pillows, European pillows and shams. Create a finished look by hiding your box springs with a bed skirt.
6. Hang curtains on ceiling-mounted traverse curtain rods, doubling up on the rods to allow for two layers of curtains, such as a set of heavy, floor-length blackout drapes and a layer of sheers beneath it.
High-Quality, Dramatic Furniture
7. Purchase a tall, upholstered and tufted headboard and foot board and attach it to your bed frame. Place a dark antique trunk, vintage suitcases or a dark-wood bench at the foot of the bed.
8. Flank the bed with matching, dark wood end tables.
9. Create a seating area with an occasional table and chair or chaise beside the bed. Purchase pieces which incorporate the same you've used in other areas of the room, and favor comfortable, upholstered pieces.
10. Set your television on top of a dark wood sideboard-style dresser.
Details and Accessories
11. Install several layers of lighting, such as opulent overhead chandelier lighting, matching lamps on top of the matching end tables and wall sconces to round out the room. Install dimmer switches to control the lights for mood.
12. Add an extravagant, claw-foot soaking tub to one corner of the room, if you have the space and plumbing available.
13. Hang unobtrusive, coordinated artwork in gilded or dark wood frames so that the center of the painting or photograph is at eye level.
14. Add a vase full of fresh flowers atop your sideboard dresser to complete the look.
Tags: dark wood, your bedroom