The bedroom is one of the most private and personal spaces. It’s where we sleep, dream, and feel safe enough to fully express ourselves. It’s also the room we need to pay the most attention to when designing the space.
We consult three interior design and furniture experts on what to factor in when designing the layout and picking the colours.
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Bedroom Furniture Checklist: 7 Things to have
If you consider your bedroom a personal sanctuary, then you’d want the decor done right. This list will give you a head start on what you will need for that serene, cosy, and clutter-free bedroom!
1. Bed
This may sound really obvious, but it is important to have more than a mattress to sleep on. A bed with a padded headboard lets you lean back and sit up without having to feel the wall behind you! What bed frame you decide on affects the overall height of your bed too!
2. Bedside Table
A hold-all and storage for all your necessities when you’re in bed – night light, books, alarm clock, tissue paper, your phone while it charges, etc.
3. Lamp, Night Light
Perfect for bedside reading! Plus, you won’t have to walk over to the main switches before you hit the sack!
4. Window Curtains or Blinds
Consider how much light you’d like your bedroom to receive in the day and at night. Thin, sheer curtains allow sunlight to seep in, leaving the bedroom glowing with sunlight. Thick drapery, on the other hand, would ensure you get the “black out” treatment, and you can enjoy your privacy when night falls.
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5. Wardrobe
The bedroom is your sanctuary, so minimise clutter. Calculate the amount of storage you need, especially wardrobe space! Don’t forget that the size of your wardrobe would affect how much space you have for other pieces of furniture in the room. Pioritise, and choose wisely.
6. Vanity Table
A vanity table makes it easy for the ladies to get ready at the start of the day. Drawers or table-top organisers are essential to keeping your dresser neat. Consider investing in a built-in design like the one above if you’ve got a space-starved bedroom! Bachelors, you could skip on this one.
Read Also: 10 Bedroom Feng Shui Tips for Marriage and Romance
15 Bedroom Layout Design Ideas from Experts
It’s easy to give your bedroom the perfect finishing touch, the way professionals do, as long as you follow these simple rules by interior style guru Sarah Richardson.
Prop stylist and set decorator, Sarah Richardson
![105555-sarah-horiz-pattern-wide-1-683x1024-1 Having spent over 25 years in the industry, Sarah Richardson has done it all, from being a prop stylist and set decorator, to becoming one of the most sought-after designers and television personalities in Canada offering decor and design advice.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/105555-sarah-horiz-pattern-wide-1-683x1024-1.jpg)
1. Mix Things Up
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Torn between classical and contemporary, or country and industrial style? Don’t be restricted by a singular look. Instead, have the best of both worlds by incorporating a fair share of elements from two styles, into one space. This way, there are sufficient features to anchor both styles to create a holistic look.
2. Size Matters
Choose furnishings that are of the right size and scale for the room. You won’t want a bed that’s too large, as that will make the space look cramped. The bedroom furniture should complement one another to create a unified look.
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3. Bedside table height
How tall should your bedside table be? It should be at least as tall as the top of your mattress so you can access items from your bed with ease.
4. Choose patterns before colours
Begin by selecting a patterned fabric for one of your furnishings or accessories, such as cushions, throws or curtains. Pick a hue from the chosen fabric and match them with paint swatches. A trick is to go two shades lighter to achieve the palette for a restful environment.
5. Floating furniture for small bedrooms
Opt for slim legs or floating fixtures to make a small bedroom seem bigger.
It’s important to design the room in a way that’s both practical and pleasing to the eye. Make sure there’s a mix of different heights, and avoid overly heavy furniture.
Slim legs on the bed frame and table are ideal for a compact space or ask your designer to build you floating furniture for a clean, minimalist look.
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6. Space between furniture
Factor in ample space between furniture.
“Allow a minimum of 0.9m between the bed and walls, and at least 0.6m between the bed and low furniture, such as tables and dressers,” says Dess Chew, principal designer of Three-D Conceptwerke.
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7. Furniture of different heights
A low-hanging pendant light or ceiling beams will add drama if most of your furniture has a low profile. Such fixtures emphasise the height of the room by drawing the eye upwards.
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8. Use partition to segment space
A full-height wardrobe can partition your room into sleeping quarters and walk-in wardrobe area.
Use light colours and strategic lighting to ensure the room doesn’t feel small or closed off.
Where possible, incorporate sections where the light can shine through.
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9. Fill up awkward corners
Put in a reading nook or plants to fill up awkward corners.
Have an extra corner you don’t know what to do with? Mark Chen of Artistroom recommends filling the space with a single lounge chair (or a love seat) and a reading lamp. “Greenery works as well”, he says.
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10. Best bedroom colour: Naturals
Pick a colour that you find restful.
A bedroom should inspire calm and rest, so avoid bright colours. Pastels like blushes or creams can create a cosier ambience, while deeper hues create a cocoon-like environment.
Make sure the furniture and fixtures work in harmony with the wall colour to create a cohesive look.
“Pick colours that are more natural and soothing to the eyes. They will help you to relax and unwind after a stressful day,” says Amanda Pang, principal designer of AMP Design Co.
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11. Bedroom Colours: Maximum 3 shades
Feel free to mix up a palette – but not more than three shades at a time.
The contrasting shades of pink, grey and mustard in this bedroom, designed by Nikki Hunt of Design Intervention, help to make the space cosy and warm.
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12. Best Bed Position
Place the bed in the centre of the room, creating a “walkway perimeter” around it and zoning the room according to function, such as dressing, study and sitting area.
If possible, the full stretch of wall can be dedicated to your wardrobe.
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Ideally the bathroom door is nearby, so you can zone your dressing area. It helps to install a partition (as a headboard and divider) or place a dresser behind the bed, as well.
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13. Too much windows
If you’ve got too many windows or they occupy full spans of walls (lucky you!), such a condominium layout leaves you with hardly any blank walls to position furniture against.
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Since you probably should have the TV against a blank wall to avoid glare and have ease of wall-mounting, try positioning your bed against the windows.
Install thick drapes to combat bright sunlight, and act as a backdrop for your bed. Ideally, locate the bed at one end, so you can keep the drapes open for the rest of the room.
Alternatively, you can have the bed against a blank wall, and install a custom-made cabinet partition to house the TV. This can also help zone space, such that you can have a study area on the other side.
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14. Irregular-Shaped Bedroom
What to do if you’ve got a spacious but irregularly shaped bedroom, such as an L-shape, that is common in condominiums here in Singapore?
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Let the shape dictate how it can be zoned. For an L-shape room, rather than position the bed in the corner of the “L” (or middle point of the room), take advantage of the “nooks” at both ends.
Place the bed at one end for a more intimate sleeping area, and the dressing area — possibly creating a walk-in wardrobe — at the other.
You can place a sitting area in the centre portion, to connect the two separate zones.
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15. Small bedroom
Oh dear, you have a small room. (The biggest problem, isn’t it?)
A guideline is to try to keep the circulation to one side of the room. The goal is to get the three necessary accesses — the bedroom door, en suite bathroom and wardrobe —grouped together.
Even hotel rooms follow this, which is why they mostly have the same kind of layout where the entrance foyer, wardrobe and bathroom are near each other.
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