28 Bedroom Design Ideas & Tips from Professionals

Updated January 17, 2023 07:36 AM By Matt Langan

When you want to decorate a bedroom in your home, the possibilities are endless. Bedrooms are highly personal spaces, so they should also accurately reflect your unique design style and personality. However, decorating bedrooms is usually challenging because the rooms are often small, have awkward layouts, or are overwhelming to fill.

With the following 28 bedroom decorating ideas, we'll show you some of the best ways to make the most of your space.

Here's what we'll cover:

• Primary Bedroom Design Ideas
• Guest Bedroom Design Ideas
• Kids' Bedroom Ideas
• Small Bedroom Design Ideas
• More Unique Bedroom Decor & Design Ideas

If you're just beginning the process of planning your bedroom design, make sure you start with our in-depth guide to planning a perfect bedroom. Read: 13 Steps to Decorate a Bedroom

Plus, for even more interior design resources, don't miss our other detailed guides:

• Interior Design Styles Guide
• Interior Design Styles Quiz
• 12 Steps to Decorate a Living Room
• 42 Living Room Design Ideas
• Stuccco Online Interior Design Services

4 Primary Bedroom Ideas

Your primary bedroom should be a space where you can take a deep breath and recharge from your day. It's usually the largest bedroom in a home, and often has multiple windows and doors that lead to closets or bathrooms. This can make it challenging to figure out the right placement for the furniture, but you can use the following ideas to create a space that fits your style.

If you want the most efficient path to setting up a perfectly designed bedroom, try online interior design. You'll meet one-on-one with an experienced interior designer and get a room design in less than two weeks--plus, you can do it all from your own home! Start with free interior design consultation.

1. Balance the Rooms with Side Tables and Lighting

When you have the space, adding matching side tables to your bed is a great way to make the room feel balanced and harmonious. You can also add matching table lamps or sconces to continue the symmetry.

If symmetry helps you feel relaxed, you can add it to almost every element of the room. The example below uses symmetry in the window treatments, side tables, lamps, and even throw pillows.

On the other hand, remember that symmetry isn't required for a beautiful bedroom design. Many people actually don't prefer symmetrical bedroom designs and want more eclectic decor. Creating a calming bedroom that you love means following your unique design preferences. In fact, you can see many other examples of harmonious bedrooms without symmetry in the rest of this article.

2. Add a Large Floor Mirror

When space allows, placing an oversized floor-length mirror in a bedroom can add a beautiful touch. Mirrors automatically absorb and reflect light in any space, making the room feel large and open. Mirrors also come in almost every shape, size, and style that you can imagine, which means you can select the perfect mirror for your space. In this bedroom, the arched antique floor mirror has beautiful ornate detail and adds depth to a bright, modern space.

3. Add a Seating Area

A primary bedroom is a great place to add a sitting area. This can be used as a simple reading area or just a place for you to drink your first cup of coffee in the morning. Depending on the size of your room, your sitting area can be a small accent chair in the corner, or you can add multiple chairs in a larger space.

4. Highlight the Room's Height with a Four Poster Bed

Four-poster beds are not incredibly common, but they significantly impact the bedroom design. Since they add a significant amount of visual space vertically and horizontally, they highlight the space in a bedroom. For example, the four-poster bed in the traditional style bedroom above almost leads the eye toward the beautiful vaulted ceiling.

On the other hand, the modern and glam style bedroom below showcases a gold four-poster bed. If you have a bedroom with plenty of space, this is a great way to make a big impact. However, in a smaller room, a four-poster bed would actually make the room feel cramped.

3 Guest Bedroom Design Ideas

Guest bedrooms can be just as versatile as other bedrooms, with any style, format, and furniture choice that you want. You can use any of the design ideas on this list in your guest bedroom to fit your needs, whether your guest room is small, spacious, or needs to be multifunctional.

1. Leave Space for Guests

One of the most important tips for guest bedrooms is to leave space open for guests. Regardless of whether you plan to have short-term or long-term guests, they need a space to set down their bags. Plus, make sure you consider what will make the space comfortable for them to rest in.

For instance, make sure there is space on the side tables for guests to put their phone at night. Consider leaving dressers, side tables, or ottomans empty for your guests instead of your own storage. These details may seem minor, but they create a feeling of warmth and make the guests feel that they are welcome in your home.

The guest bedroom shown here is a 2D rendering from a Stuccco interior designer, not a completed bedroom design. That means that this photo is simply a visual display of a room's potential design, taken from product photos from actual stores.

When you use Stuccco online interior design, you meet one-on-one with a professional designer before receiving a rendering like this one. You get to provide feedback if the design doesn't perfectly suit your style or needs until you find the perfect design for your space. Plus, you can start the process with a free online interior design call. Schedule yours right here.

2. Keep It Neutral

If you expect to host a variety of different guests, choosing a neutral color scheme might be your best choice. Neutral colors are often the easiest to work with and the most appealing to a wide range of people.

However, a neutral color palette doesn't mean that the room needs to be all beige, boring, or in a specific design style like traditional or transitional. For example, the bedroom below incorporates a wide range of textures, patterns, and neutral colors to make the space unique without being overly bold or colorful.

However, as interior designers, we know that design is meant to be challenged and experimented with. In fact, that's exactly how interior design styles grow and change over time. Therefore, if the rest of your home is colorful, bright, and bold, your guest bedroom should match too!

3. Make a Guest Bedroom that's Multifunctional

It's common for homeowners and renters to need to use every space in their home for multiple purposes. In fact, in our research about what buyers want in a home, the need for multi-purpose spaces continues to increase. However, the size of bedrooms isn't increasing along with it.

If you want a dedicated space for guests, but need to use a bedroom for other purposes, think about using space-saving bedroom furniture like trundle beds or murphy beds.

A murphy bed like the one pictured above can be folded up to become part of the wall whenever it's not needed. Trundle beds, on the other hand, need to be set up all the time, but allow you to store and hide a second (or even third!) mattress in the room without taking up more space.

Another option is to use your mattress as a daybed. The photo above shows a room that functions as an office and a guest bedroom. By decorating the twin mattress with throw pillows and using beautiful under-bed storage, the bed can be used as a reading nook when it's not being used by a guest.

5 Kids' Bedroom Ideas

As a parent, it's natural to want your child to love their bedroom. However, when everything your child seems to want is Nickelodeon-themed, it can seem impossible to create a beautiful yet fun space. While we can't guarantee that you won't end up with a Paw Patrol comforter or poster on the wall, here are five ideas for your kids' spaces.

1. Use Muted Colors

Out of all the rooms in apartments and houses, kids' rooms and nurseries are typically where people incorporate the most color. However, they often think only of a few typical shades, like bright blue, pink, rainbows, and neutrals. Instead, let's look at how you can utilize uncommon colors and shades to create stunning rooms that appeal to children and adults.

Although bright colors can be beautiful and fun, try choosing a muted color palette. This little girl's bedroom feels like a fairytale come to life with just a pale pink shade on the walls, furniture, and rug. It's undeniable that almost any toddler or young child would be thrilled with this bedroom. Plus, the design and color could easily be transitioned to a teenager's room by simply changing some of the furniture.

Check out the other side of this bedroom on our inspiration page.

2. Use Unconventional Colors in a Nursery

Even baby nurseries can be designed with unconventional color schemes to create beautiful and unique spaces. For example, the room above uses pale green wallpaper to create an accent wall, a pale pink crib, a deep blue dresser, a white bookcase, and a gold mirror. Even with a variety of colors, shades, patterns, and finishes, the room looks cohesive, harmonious, and beautiful.

In a different example, the nursery below uses a deep pink or peach color, emerald accents, and a variety of patterns and textures. The combination of those elements creates a stunning, feminine nursery that appeals to young children and adults at the same time.

3. Add Life to the Space With a Mural

Another unique way to bring a child's bedroom to life is with a bold mural or design on the walls. Most renters and homeowners don't add bold designs to the walls in their living rooms or kitchens, but kid's rooms are an ideal place to add extra fun design touches that reflect their personality.

Murals can be relatively simple, like this abstract sunset wall mural or the curvy lines shown above. If you're comfortable with a paint brush, you can add something unique and eye-catching to a bedroom wall in a matter of hours.

If the DIY approach isn't appealing to you, you can create the same impact with removable wallpaper or even high-quality wall decals. In this Stuccco design, the interior designer used a wall decal to weave the rainbow design and color scheme through the room. Another great option is removable wallpaper, which can give you an even larger scale mural-effect or accent wall.

When you use Stuccco online interior design, you'll get a list of every item needed to make the design a reality. Plus, since Stuccco is not affiliated with specific brands, you can be confident you're receiving the most ideal items for your space--and in your specified budget.

Learn more about online interior design by booking a free consultation.

4. Make It Bohemian

Many parents really struggle with kid's bedroom decorating ideas. If you feel stumped about your kid or teenager's room design, consider using a Bohemian design style.

Bohemian designs are arguably one of the most versatile styles, because they can be used for infant nurseries (like the design rendering below), teenagers (like the finished Stuccco design above), guest rooms, and master bedrooms.

They can also be designed with neutral colors or with bright colors. Regardless of the room type or the color choices, boho room designs typically use lots of texture to bring life to the space.

Plus, bohemian designs are a great starting point because of their popularity. It's easy to find inspiration on Pinterest and on Stuccco's inspiration page. Plenty of online and in-person stores also carry plenty of bohemian decor items, making it one of the most accessible styles.

5. Experiment with Colors & Layouts in Shared Kids' Rooms

When kids share a room, it can be difficult to find a layout and design that works for both or all of them. Most parents automatically think of bunk beds or placing two beds on opposite walls of the room, but there are actually many unique ways to set up your kids' beds. For example, the bedroom above places the beds in a corner. This leaves the middle of the room completely open, which is ideal for active kids who need plenty of space to play.

A few other layout ideas include:

• Facing opposite directions
• Perpendicular bunk beds
• Feet facing toward each other

If your room doesn't allow for many layout options, you can divide the space with nothing but paint. The designer below created a simple wall mural to clearly divide a small bedroom into two spaces.

10 Small Bedroom Design Ideas

While large, spacious bedrooms are easy to admire, an average bedroom is only 132 square feet. Most renters and homeowners in the U.S. have a small bedroom (or only have small bedrooms) that can be challenging to design.

In small rooms, the primary goal is to incorporate as much storage as possible without overpowering the space. You should still want your bedroom to reflect your style and be as functional as possible. Here are ten different ideas to make small bedrooms feel bigger and maximize storage.

Related: Read our five best design tips for small spaces.

1. Less is More

There are an endless number of small bedroom decorating ideas, but make sure that you carefully select each design and decor item. Interior designers have been operating with the belief that less is more for generations, and it's still just as important to remember.

Even if you have space to add a piece of furniture or a storage item, it may not be the best design choice. You may not need every table lamp, dresser, or side table that you see online--leave enough room empty for you to enjoy what you have. Resisting the temptation to fill every empty space in your bedroom will make all the difference in it's functionality and relaxing feel.

2. Add Storage in Your Headboard

Although it's common for bedrooms to include a dresser or a bookshelf, some rooms simply don't have enough space for bulky furniture. In a small bedroom, you'll have to get creative about your storage solutions. One way to do that is by incorporating additional storage into unusual spots, like your headboard. The headboard above uses simple IKEA cabinets!

3. Maximize Storage Under the Bed

Another way to maximize storage in small spaces is by using under the bed storage. It's relatively common for people to use plastic tupperware bins and hide them under their bed. Another option is to raise the bed and display the under-bed storage. Not only is this easier to access, it's also unique and can add even more personality to the room.

4. Use a Loft Bed

If under-bed storage is appealing to you, take the idea even further with a loft bed. In this bedroom, the bed is raised to fit multiple drawers and bins underneath, while keeping a beautiful and stylish bed frame and headboard. The patterned wallpaper in this space brings even more personality to the room.

This room is particularly interesting for a few reasons. The room isn't especially tiny, but was a challenge functionally because it needed to be used for multiple purposes. The other side of the room looks completely different, with deep green walls, a storage cabinet, and a desk. In the workspace, a few small rugs are used with a completely different pattern and color scheme than the wallpaper.

However, because this room was strategically designed by a professional, all of the different elements work together. Even with a variety of unique design choices, the room still has harmony even though it is eclectic and hold. The end result is incredibly functional, unique, and stylish.

When you have a challenging room to design, Stuccco online interior design can help you create the perfect balance for your needs.

5. Embrace Quirky Bedroom Layouts

It's common for small spaces to have odd configurations, like strange wall bump-outs or awkwardly shaped layouts. Use some creative thinking to make the most of unusual spaces can help you transform them into unique features and even highlights of your home.

For example, sometimes odd areas can be transformed into nooks for storage or reading. In the bedroom above, simply adding shelves to a small area adds a stylish and functional space to the room. In the second photo, the closet space was transformed into a reading nook with a bed, comfortable pillows, and a storage area. The space is defined even more with green paint over the paneling.

In an attic bedroom, you could even add shelves in unconventional spaces. Make sure to read more about planning your bedroom design with odd spaces in our guide: How to Decorate a Bedroom

6. Double Your Dresser as a Nightstand

In this small main bedroom, the challenge came from the layout more than the square footage. If the bed was placed in the middle of the wall, it would be difficult to access the door. By shifting the bed to the right, the interior designer keeps the flow open.

Since there isn't room for multiple side tables, dressers, and shelves, storage space is maximized through the dresser. This uncommon layout is actually the most optimal for this unique space.

7. Create Drama with Floor-to-Ceiling Drapery

Small bedrooms can still have a major impact. This narrow bedroom doesn't have particularly tall ceilings, but the full wall of floor-to-ceiling curtains automatically draws your eye upward. In addition, the interior designer made full use of every space by adding small bedside tables and mounting sconces onto the wall. This provides a sense of symmetry and balance, while still leaving residents with space to place their phone or a book beside the table.

With a simple and affordable update, the small area is transformed into a sophisticated bedroom.

8. Maximize Vertical Space

When most homeowners and renters think about the space in their home, they are mainly thinking about horizontal space or square footage. However, vertical space is an incredibly valuable source of storage and, as you can see from the previous example, impact.

Take notice of the space in your bedroom that is not being utilized. For example, these tall, slim shelves serve as both a bedside table and bookshelves.

9. Maximize Wall Space

In addition to vertical space, wall space can also be transformed and maximized in small or oddly shaped spaces. For example, the small area around the door frame above is used for built-in bookshelves that hold a significant amount of functional and decorative storage.

Another very different example of maximizing wall space is the shoe and hat storage by Kate Bliss. Since there is a door on the right side of the photo, this nook area was probably very challenging to figure out. Instead of wasting the space or only using it for a photo, the designer added simple wall shelves and hooks for hats and purses. The result is almost like a second closet, providing an incredible amount of storage with nothing but two walls.

10. Use Mirrors Strategically

We've already discussed how large mirrors are powerful decor items to visually add space and light to any room. Since small rooms generally don't have floor space for a large, sitting mirror, another way to incorporate mirrors is on the walls or even as a sliding door. This a perfect example of strategically choosing the right items to add design and functionality to a bedroom.

6 More Unique Bedroom Decor & Design Ideas

Whether your room is small, large, and belongs to yourself, your kids, or guests, there are an unlimited number of ways you can customize it for your needs and style. Our final bedroom decorating ideas can work in any type of bedroom, especially if you know what kind of interior design style.

If you haven't already, make sure you take the interior design style quiz to define your style!

1. Experiment with Color

Of all the rooms in a home, bedrooms are the most personal and private spaces. That's why it's particularly important to design a bedroom that reflects your unique style and personal tastes.

For example, your bedroom is a great place to try playing with color or patterns in a way that you might not do in a living room. The bohemian bedroom pictured here uses a variety of colors and shades that most people wouldn't put together, like blue, green, pink, and orange. However, the bedroom decor throughout the entire room helps bring all of the colors and textures together. In the end, this bedroom feels like a private haven, showcasing beautiful fabric and personalized style.

2. Add a Fun Headboard

It's somewhat common knowledge that in almost all bedrooms, the bed is the focal point. Headboards are so important in bedroom design because they ground and define the space. A bedroom without a headboard (or even something that represents a headboard) often feels like it's missing something.

In fact, you can clearly see the impact of a simple headboard in this photo of a bedroom before being staged by a professional designer and after:
 

It's important to note that this bedroom was virtually staged before it was listed for sale on the real estate market. The Stuccco design was planned strategically to appeal to the local real estate market and showcase the home's full potential to homebuyers. If you're planning to sell a house in the future, virtual staging is key to selling quickly and for the highest value. Learn more about virtual staging.

However, home staging is much different than interior design or decorating your own home. When you're looking for bedroom decorating ideas, you'll find that headboards can be made out of almost any material, and come in any shape, color, or style that you can imagine.

The most common types are upholstered headboards or wooden headboards. However, even within those two categories, there are an endless number of options. You can search through thousands of potential headboards in stores, or make your own. Almost every headboard style has a great alternative DIY option.

For instance, here's just a small collection of headboard ideas to inspire you:

• Ornate wood headboard: Could fit in a bohemian design or a traditional design
• Simple wood headboard with built-in shelf
• Tall upholstered headboard (2d design rendering)
• Leather strap headboard
• Rustic wood slat headboard
• Curved rattan headboard
• Carved wooden headboard ??
• Wood slabs as a headboard
• Room divider headboard
• Woven winged headboard
• Windows as a headboard
• Cane webbing headboard
• Upholstered headboard with scalloping

3. Create an Accent Wall

Since the bed is generally the focal point, another way to create impact is by making the entire wall behind the bed into an accent wall. You can see this type of design in many different photos throughout this article because accent walls are the perfect way to create a big impact in a bedroom and show off your individual style. It also contributes to the focal point of the room and keeps the space feeling balanced.

In this bright, mid-century modern bedroom, the accent wall is made with wallpaper. In other examples we've shown, accent walls were made with murals, removable wallpaper, and in some cases, with a large headboard.

There are plenty of other ways to put focus on one wall of your bedroom. You could create a gallery wall like this client, a large scale piece of wall art, or even add a board and batten wall with wood. The options are endless, so choose something that will ensure your bedroom reflects your personality.

4. Achieve a Zen Look with All-White Bedding

One of the most simple, yet powerful, bedroom ideas is to create an all-white design scheme. With crisp white walls, plenty of natural light, and cozy bedding, the room will feel chic and luxurious, like the feeling of a hotel spa. If you want a zen bedroom design that makes you feel like you're stepping into your own retreat, think about using this strategy. However, make sure it doesn't fall flat by incorporating texture and interest through your bedding and natural materials.

5. Create a Moody Vibe

If you'd rather take the opposite approach, go with a moody bedroom design. Choose a dark or paint color for the walls and choose dark wood furniture. However, you can create a moody vibe without using an all-black color or design scheme. You may prefer to use jewel tones to achieve the moody vibe while incorporating some beautiful colors and tones.

6. Add Drama with Your Ceiling

A simple way to add drama to your bedroom is to highlight the ceiling. This can be done by simply painting your ceiling an unusual color, adding wood beams, or creating a grid accent ceiling.

For instance, this primary bedroom ceiling adds interest and visual depth to the room. The subtle yet powerful design highlights the high ceilings and helps with the overall appeal in a large bedroom.

Creating Your Perfect Bedroom Design

After reading through this list of 28 bedroom decorating ideas, we hope you are feeling excited to make your bedroom even more beautiful. This list of bedroom inspiration ideas was created to help you make your bedroom perfectly reflect your individual style and maximize functionality.

To skip the long process of testing out your bedroom design, get one-on-one support from a professional designer--without having to leave your home! Stuccco online interior design can help you create a home that's perfectly suited to your needs, budget, and style. Get started by booking your free, no-pressure design consultation today!