If your home is your retreat away from the craziness of the world, your bedroom is your own personal sanctuary within your retreat. It’s the one place where you can shut the door and be alone. But yet for many of us, our bedrooms don’t feel as cozy as they should.
If you’re looking for a way to make your bedroom cozier and more enjoyable, think intentionally about the design and aesthetics. With a few simple additions and fresh touches, you can transform your bedroom to the point that you’ll never want to leave.
6 Tips for a Cozier Bedroom
Creating a cozy bedroom is all about designing a space where you feel safe, relaxed, and in perfect harmony with your surroundings. While this will look different for everyone, there are several methods you can use to achieve the coziest design possible. Here are a few of them:
- Layer in Natural Elements
One of the easiest and most effective ways to increase the “cozy factor” in your bedroom is by layering natural elements into your overall design. This can include any number of materials, including rock, stone, and plants. However, the best choice is to add touches of wood.
Wood can be integrated in a number of ways, including wood accent walls, hardwood flooring, and wood furniture. There are obviously different types and tones of wood, so you’ll have to decide what your preferred look is. Dark and rich wood tones contrasted with white walls is currently a very popular look.
- Install a Fireplace
Nothing screams cozy ambiance quite like a fireplace in the bedroom. But before you say “That’s impossible!” consider how versatile today’s fireplaces are. Installing a wood-burning fireplace with a chimney is not going to be in the budget for most people. However, there’s nothing stopping you from installing an electric wall-mounted fireplace. (You can even install them on interior walls.) This helpful fireplace buying guide will give you some ideas.
- Rethink Your Lighting Design
Lighting alone has the power to transform the entire look and feel of your bedroom. The problem is that most homeowners never take the time to think beyond having a couple of basic table lamps.
Professional designers like to talk about lighting in terms of layers. You have ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. They should all work together to create the desired ambiance.
Ambient lighting is the general illumination of the space. This is your overhead lighting. And in a bedroom environment, you want overhead lighting to have a dimmable, warm hue.
Task lighting is designed for specific tasks. For example, you might have a lamp on your bedside table that’s designed for reading.
Finally, there’s accent lighting. This lighting serves a very specific aesthetic purpose and is usually intended to illuminate fine art or light up a built-in. To be effective, it should be two- to three-times brighter than the surrounding ambient lighting.
- Spend on Your Mattress and Bedding
You might not have the budget to splurge on tons of expensive upgrades and renovations. However, if there’s one thing you should spend on, it’s your mattress and bedding. These elements will make or break how cozy your bedroom is.
You need a mattress that’s supportive enough to protect your spine, but that has enough “play” in it to cradle your body. It should also be breathable enough to keep you cool in the warmer months. As for bedding, thick, heavy blankets are known to reduce stress and make people feel safe and secure.
- Add a Rug
Break up the monotony of your floor with an area rug. You can add an area rug regardless of whether you have hardwood, tile, or carpet. The goal is to create some visual interest, as well as a little comfort under your feet. If the rest of your bedroom’s color scheme is pretty neutral or monochromatic, this is a great place to play around with splashes of color.
- Keep it Minimal
Avoid trying to do too much with your bedroom’s design. Keep things minimal. This reduces feelings of stress and allows you to relax. We even recommend avoiding TVs and other electronics in the bedroom, as it can negatively impact your ability to fall asleep.
Give Your Bedroom a Makeover
The good news is that you probably don’t need to do much to transform your bedroom. It starts with identifying what you want your space to look and feel like. After this, it’s simply a matter of following the tips in this article and incorporating elements that make you feel comfortable and relaxed.