Room Of The Week
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Interior Design
Room of the Week: A Sexy and Sophisticated Main Bedroom Makeover
Like a Belgian hot chocolate on a cold winter's night, this room is soothing, warm and loaded with good taste
In a Q&A format, we talk to the designers – and examine the creative thinking – behind some of Houzz’s most loveable rooms.
Brief
The brief was to create a sanctuary for this couple – a bedroom where they could retreat to – that felt adult-like, sexy and sophisticated. The walk-in wardrobe is directly off the bedroom, followed by a small ensuite. Our clients wanted this area to feel like their domain away from the kids, the rest of the house, and the stresses of everyday living.
Our clients created an ideabook using Houzz for every room that was part of the brief. This was an ideal way to impart their thoughts and ideas to us in a visual and direct way – it is often better than trying to explain what style and feeling they’re seeking.
Find an interior designer or decorator near you on Houzz to revamp your interior
The brief was to create a sanctuary for this couple – a bedroom where they could retreat to – that felt adult-like, sexy and sophisticated. The walk-in wardrobe is directly off the bedroom, followed by a small ensuite. Our clients wanted this area to feel like their domain away from the kids, the rest of the house, and the stresses of everyday living.
Our clients created an ideabook using Houzz for every room that was part of the brief. This was an ideal way to impart their thoughts and ideas to us in a visual and direct way – it is often better than trying to explain what style and feeling they’re seeking.
Find an interior designer or decorator near you on Houzz to revamp your interior
Starting point
The starting point was a conversation with our clients about how dark rooms are often sexier than light rooms. That idea seemed so ingrained that I felt I had to give them a dark, moody and textural room; and what better way to achieve that than cladding it in French navy-seagrass wallpaper on a silver-foil backing.
Key design aspects
Colour palette: The wallpaper set the backdrop of the colour palette in terms of dark, inky blues, but I didn’t want to stay only in that tonal range. Hence the introduction of the rich mustard hue in the armchair and bench seat, and the pop of gold in the piping of the decorative cushions on the bed.
Materials palette: Seagrass wallpaper, velvet fabrics, bamboo silk rug, walnut furniture, light pendants, black industrial fan.
Key pieces of furniture/fittings: An oversize custom bedhead that stretches more than three metres wide to include room for the bedsides and bed-end bench from Heatherly Design. Mid-century walnut bedside tables from West Elm. Secto 4200 wood pendant lamps. Haiku Big Ass Fan in cocoa. The artwork is from Designer Boys. Custom decorative cushions on the bed from L&M Home and I Love Linen.
The starting point was a conversation with our clients about how dark rooms are often sexier than light rooms. That idea seemed so ingrained that I felt I had to give them a dark, moody and textural room; and what better way to achieve that than cladding it in French navy-seagrass wallpaper on a silver-foil backing.
Key design aspects
Colour palette: The wallpaper set the backdrop of the colour palette in terms of dark, inky blues, but I didn’t want to stay only in that tonal range. Hence the introduction of the rich mustard hue in the armchair and bench seat, and the pop of gold in the piping of the decorative cushions on the bed.
Materials palette: Seagrass wallpaper, velvet fabrics, bamboo silk rug, walnut furniture, light pendants, black industrial fan.
Key pieces of furniture/fittings: An oversize custom bedhead that stretches more than three metres wide to include room for the bedsides and bed-end bench from Heatherly Design. Mid-century walnut bedside tables from West Elm. Secto 4200 wood pendant lamps. Haiku Big Ass Fan in cocoa. The artwork is from Designer Boys. Custom decorative cushions on the bed from L&M Home and I Love Linen.
The bedroom before works
The bedroom after works
Thinking behind the arrangement of furniture/fixtures
A lot of bedrooms, in the way they’re laid out, dictate how the bed should be positioned. There are either doors to the ensuite or walk-in wardrobe, or walls with large windows on them. So in the final analysis, there aren’t that many ways of being creative with placement in a small- to medium-sized bedroom.
There are, however, things you can do to enhance that furniture arrangement and make the design sing.
In this case, we ran an extra wide bedhead almost the entire length of the wall to add scale and drama and optically increase the size of the room. We also chose drop ceiling pendants rather than having bedside lamps, since we wanted to push up the ceiling height and draw the eye upwards.
Thinking behind the arrangement of furniture/fixtures
A lot of bedrooms, in the way they’re laid out, dictate how the bed should be positioned. There are either doors to the ensuite or walk-in wardrobe, or walls with large windows on them. So in the final analysis, there aren’t that many ways of being creative with placement in a small- to medium-sized bedroom.
There are, however, things you can do to enhance that furniture arrangement and make the design sing.
In this case, we ran an extra wide bedhead almost the entire length of the wall to add scale and drama and optically increase the size of the room. We also chose drop ceiling pendants rather than having bedside lamps, since we wanted to push up the ceiling height and draw the eye upwards.
Challenges you worked around
One of the challenges was the lighting in the room, which doesn’t get a lot of natural light. We embraced this by making the room dark, but it did mean we had to be smart in terms of the lighting plan: we put the downlights on a dimmer and created dual switches for the hanging pendants, both from the entry and each bedside respectively. The Big Ass Fan is on a separate switch but the owners prefer to use the remote to adjust the speed and turn it on and off as they please.
One of the challenges was the lighting in the room, which doesn’t get a lot of natural light. We embraced this by making the room dark, but it did mean we had to be smart in terms of the lighting plan: we put the downlights on a dimmer and created dual switches for the hanging pendants, both from the entry and each bedside respectively. The Big Ass Fan is on a separate switch but the owners prefer to use the remote to adjust the speed and turn it on and off as they please.
Why do you think this room works?
This room feels like a cocoon that envelops and hugs you. When you’re in it, you literally feel carried and supported and all the worries of the world seem to fall away. Oh and it’s sexy, warm and loaded with texture – a bit like Belgian hot chocolate on a cold, wintry night.
Your turn
Which ideas seen here would you steal for your own bedroom? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Missed last week’s Room of the Week? Catch up here with Room of the Week: A Kitchen Where Marble Meets Meticulous Joinery
This room feels like a cocoon that envelops and hugs you. When you’re in it, you literally feel carried and supported and all the worries of the world seem to fall away. Oh and it’s sexy, warm and loaded with texture – a bit like Belgian hot chocolate on a cold, wintry night.
Your turn
Which ideas seen here would you steal for your own bedroom? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Missed last week’s Room of the Week? Catch up here with Room of the Week: A Kitchen Where Marble Meets Meticulous Joinery
Sponsored
Answers by Ioanna Lennox, creative director of Ioanna Lennox Interiors
Who lives here: A family with two teenage daughters
Location: Concord, NSW
Room purpose and size: A master bedroom, approximately 4 x 3.5 metres
Budget: Approximately $15,000 to $20,000