Bedroom makeover ideas, from small to big

Before you choose anything, stand in the doorway and name the problem. Too dark? Too cluttered? The bed in the wrong place? A color you have outgrown? A makeover that fixes the actual annoyance feels bigger than one that changes everything.

Write it down. Each idea below answers one of those complaints, and the list tells you where to begin.

It also helps to decide who the room is for. A guest room, a nursery and a couple’s bedroom ask for different things, and a makeover is easier when it answers one clear brief.

Surprisingly few things carry most of a bedroom’s feeling.

• Bedding. The largest soft surface in the room. Change its color and texture first.
• Curtains. Floor-length, hung high and wide, they make walls feel taller and soften light.
• Lamps. Warm bedside lamps instead of a single ceiling light make the room feel quieter in the evening.
• A rug. Under the lower two thirds of the bed, it adds warmth and ties the layout together.
• One wall. Paint the wall behind the bed instead of all four.
• Clear surfaces. Fewer things on dressers and nightstands calms a room more than anything you can buy.

Layout: try the bed on a different wall, with space to walk around it, and check what you see from the door and from the pillow. Omriss’s Change layout tool and Empty room tool can help you picture a new arrangement before you drag a mattress anywhere.

Floors and walls: replacing carpet with a wood-look floor, or painting fitted wardrobes the color of the wall so they fade into it, changes a room more than new furniture does. Omriss’s Remodel tool previews floors and wall finishes.

Calm bedrooms usually sit in one of three families: soft neutrals such as warm white, oat and linen; muted greens and blues such as sage or sea glass; or deep, cosy tones such as burgundy, forest or navy. Dark colors can feel wonderful at night and heavy in a small, dim room, so look at them in your own light.

Try colors in a picture first, then put a real paint sample on the wall and look at it in morning and evening light before you buy. The picture is for direction; the sample is for the decision.

Plan the work so you do not undo it.

• Clear and declutter before anything else.
• Do the messy jobs first: repairs, flooring and painting, in whatever order suits the trades you use.
• Then furniture and layout.
• Then rugs, bedding and curtains.
• Then lighting, art and plants.