Interiors

Dreamy Bedrooms

More than any other room in your house your bedroom needs to be calm and organised as well as being comfortable, practical and appealing. The bedroom is where you start your day and finish your day so it should be given due favour and attention. For many, the bedroom is also a sanctuary to escape to when in need of rest and comfort, so why overlook the details that go into good bedroom design?

Practically speaking, the more you have in a room, the busier you will feel when you are in it. Your bedroom should not have any more furniture than you really need. After a fabulously comfy bed and simple wardrobe, I recommend not cluttering your room with much more than artwork, an eyecatching mirror, glamorous lights and simple bedside tables.

Anyone who works from home will know the pressures that stem from the office. One look at your desk will only bring on a headache and many have been known (myself incuded here) to work in the home office until the early hours of the morning. For that reason alone, any office work, computers, files, etc., should absolutely never enter the bedroom. Your bedroom should only have restful and comforting items in it. The bigger the bedside table, the more you will fit on it. Therefore an elegant table with only room for a lamp, book and a glass or candle is more than adequate.

White is very restful and can work wonderfully in a bedroom where space is at a premium, but it is important to avoid a stark or clinical feel. By introducing texture and accent colours, the latter will be avoided. Also, another tip for those working with white, a shaded white such as Jasmine White, Dulux or New White, Farrow and Ball is much less clinical and cold. The small amount of yellow pigment in these colours takes the grey effect from pure white.

Red is a colour that should be avoided in bedrooms. Research has shown that red instills anger and creates headaches. If red is on your wish list, tone it down to something like Tir na Nog, Crown, or Shamira, Dulux Moda, which are much more mellow than Manchester United red!

Feature wallpaper is a great way of adding interest and texture. It also enables you to leave your own personal stamp on the room. Some of the nicest bedroom papers around at the moment are from Colefax and Fowler, Ulf Moritz and Habitat. Less is more and remember to go for elegance rather than trend-setting. Trends will come and go but elegance lasts a lifetime. I always avoid loud colours and patterns, choosing textures instead. Ulf Moritz papers (available from Silk Road, Malahide Rd Ind. Park) use crystals and glosses to create pattern. Wardrobes with mirrored doors and beds with storage drawers underneath are great for small spaces. Painted floor boards are a much softer option to pine or deal floor boards, and will double the size of the rooms visually. Satinwood is the type of paint to go for rather than old-fashioned gloss.

If space allows it, a bench or ottoman at the end of the bed is a luxurious extra. It can serve as both a seat or a place to leave hastily abandoned clothes, books and breakfast trays.

When it comes to choosing the bedroom lighting, don't take the easy route and go all recessed spots. Operating theatres come to mind here rather than bedrooms! Bedside lamps and one simple chandelier or fabric-covered lightshade are much easier on the occupants of the room. Check out National Lightings Impex and Searchlight chandelier range or Laura Ashley's ever reliable chandelier selection for inspiration. Avoca and Brown Thomas are another haunt of mine when seeking out elegant bedroom lights.

If you are considering a freestanding bed remember that it requires more space than a bed with a wall mounted headboard. Headboards can be upholstered in many lucious textured fabrics and hung as high as your taste allows. So remember, when it comes to bedrooms, aim for a stress-free environment, as much cosiness as possibe and simple relaxing colours.