How to Create Different Bedroom Designs

French Country Look

The French Country Look is simple, uncluttered and restful, with plain, emulsion walls and filigree lace at the windows. Finish the walls off with a decorative border round the ceiling, doors and windows. Most French country houses would have exposed beams. If there are no beams, you can put up fake ones that have been purchased from an architectural salvage store, or use wood from a local timber merchant and stain it. An iron bedstead or a heavy, wooden one would have crisp white sheets and a white, crocheted cotton bedspread. Tall armoires, carved and paneled, and wooden chests and an upright chair would make up the furniture. The floor would be polished floorboards with a Persian or Aubusson carpet. Lighting would be minimal, with a pull switch by the bed to turn on an overhead lamp, with a glass shade and metal wall sconces with candle bulbs fitted inside them.

Farmhouse or Cottage

This look is simple, if not spartan, with a wooden or brass bedstead and simple, floral curtains. These could be made of muslin or a pretty cotton print with a small overall motif, and hung from a narrow pelmet. Furniture is freestanding, wooden, natural or stained; solid, no-nonsense and very well made. The floor can be pine boards sanded and sealed, or stained and sealed, then softened by rag rugs or kilims. An old-fashioned washstand will act as a dressing table. A small, wooden cupboard acts as a bedside table, with a small ceramic lamp with a parchment frame for reading in bed. (It’s more practical today to have an angled lamp, but choose the simplest style you can find.) The rest of the room would be lit from simple wall lamps and an overhead light with a frilled shade; the room shouldn’t be over-lit, rather try to create pools of light and dark. A quilted or patchwork bedspread covers the bed and the bed linen would be sprigged or white cotton. A small fireplace can be filled with a huge jug of dried flowers.

New England Style

This will be similarly sparse, with tongue-and-groove boarding or paneling up to dado level, painted a different color to the plain, painted walls above. Freestanding furniture might have small flower motifs painted on it. A wooden or cast-iron bedstead would be covered in a patchwork quilt. Framed samplers would decorate the walls. The curtains would be simply gathered on a rod, reaching to just below the window; you could choose whether to have a small pelmet or frill above them, or to leave them unadorned. Plain or painted wooden floor boards would be softened with rag or tufted rugs.