Friday, May 17, 2013

Cozy Bedroom Colors

A cozy bedroom incorporates warm colors in the decor.


A cozy bedroom is warm, snug, inviting and comforting. Whether your room is large or small, the decor creates a tranquil atmosphere. Your color palette is the basis for selecting a color theme. Warm colors are vibrant and have yellow overtones. Cool colors create a serene environment and have red or cyan as their base. Since paint is the easiest element to match, select the wall color last. A tint is a color with white added, a shade is a color with black added and a tone is a color with gray added. Choose your flooring first, followed by furnishings, lighting and bedding. Coordinate the wall color as a backdrop for your decor.


Flooring


Carpeting makes a room cozy and warm. Select a neutral color such as creamy white or a very pale gray. Any shade of white, black or gray is considered neutral. A neutral carpet allows changes to the color scheme without having to replace the carpeting. A sculpted carpet is trendy but cooler in texture than plush carpeting. Hardwood flooring is cool but can be made warmer through the use of area rugs, and tile flooring is the coolest. Stay with a plush, pile carpet for a cozy bedroom.


Furnishings


White wood bedroom furniture is one of the coolest choices of furnishings. For a cozy look to the room, walnut or pecan wood is inviting. Mahogany is dark with red overtones. creating a heavy feeling. Honey colored wicker is cozy. Leather is sophisticated. An inexpensive, round glass-top table hung with a fabric skirt that reaches to the floor is warm. Consider a pink and green floral, or a blue and purple tartan for a warm fabric. Match it with a tufted fabric headboard of lime velvet or pale purple moire and your look moves into the warm and cozy category.


Window Treatments


If you are using fabric on your headboard and side tables, use a contrasting neutral for your window coverings. A long, flowing drapery panel in a neutral creamy white muslin or pale gray sheer that pools on the floor is luxurious and inviting. A valance or tieback in matching furnishing fabric ties the draperies to the room's theme. Wrapping a thick drapery pole in the same fabric is a subtle decorating addition and adds to the coziness of the room.


Bedding


A bedspread is flat, staid and conservative. For a warm, cozy feeling, use a down-filled duvet, and cover it with a neutral-on-neutral duvet cover in dusty pink or dusty violet; tints that use white as a lightener in the color scheme will work. Use a matching bed skirt that reaches to the floor. Monochrome, or one color, is flat, whereas a pattern of a single color that is textured adds depth and warmth. Highlight the bedding with fabric-patterned shams and throw pillows that match your headboard and table skirt, and toss a woven or fur blanket over the top of the duvet at the end of the bed. Use the sham/headboard/table fabric on chair or stool upholstery, or add another solid hue that blends with your color scheme.


Wall Color


Once all the elements of your decor have been selected, take a fabric sample of either the table skirt or duvet cover to a paint store and look for a wall color that coordinates with your choices. For a dramatic effect, paint the wall behind the bed a darker shade, but stay within the same color family. Crown and base molding should be a gloss in a lighter tint and the ceiling can be painted a darker shade if the ceiling is high or a lighter tint if it is low. A very pale pink, violet or blue are all cozy colors and warm up the look of a room.

Tags: color scheme, color with, duvet cover, wall color, color that, cozy bedroom