Place a simple candle-and-stone arrangement on a night table.
Decorating choices such as paint colors, furniture style, light sources and accessories not only determine the visual impression your bedroom makes, they also combine to create a sensory mood that influences how you feel when you spend time there. Mix romantic and rustic decor to transform your bedroom into a simple and restful, yet indulgent, retreat suitable for any gender.
Pre-Raphaelite Art
Hang a large print of a piece of classic pre-Raphaelite art featuring a soft, romantic palette and a beautiful natural setting. Consider "Hylas and the Nymphs" or "The Lady of Shalott," both by John William Waterhouse. Mount the piece in a wood frame carved ornately but not painted, just stained and lacquered, to subtly juxtapose refinement and wildness. Position the art on the wall opposite the bed. Hang an unframed oval mirror on the wall over the bed, both reflecting the artwork and evoking the mirror-like surface of a lake.
Tree Bed with Canopy
Create a nature-inspired rustic, romantic canopy for your bed with tree branches. Buy or craft four sturdy dried tree branches of roughly equal length with all leaves and bark removed. Cut the thick ends of the branches flat so they can be stood upright. Attach one branch to each corner of the bed frame. A GoodHousekeeping.com article on decorating the master bedroom suggests "romancing the room" with a four-poster bed draped with a gauzy canopy. Adapt this idea by draping a length of diaphanous fabric between the upper sub-branches of each tree branch, forming a gauzy rectangle in the air around the bed. Attach the ends of each fabric length to the tree branches with liberal applications of hot glue. Twist tiny, white icicle lights in the branches if you like the Christmas-tree look.
Wash Basin
White porcelain and rough branches create a wild, romantic juxtaposition.
Set up a rustic, romantic arrangement with an old-fashioned wash basin on top of a peeling painted cupboard or side table. While you probably wash your face in the master bathroom, you can still pay homage to the days when people kept pitchers of water in the bedroom to rinse their faces in the morning. Stack monogrammed, vintage white linens next to a simple chipped basin and a pitcher holding an arrangement of fresh flowers. Alternately, install a white porcelain sink with an antique hand pump, complete with pump handle as the faucet, taking inspiration from a CountryLiving.com article on "Farmhouse Style."
Tags: tree branches, rustic romantic, your bedroom