A good night’s sleep can never be underestimated, and creating calming spaces—much like these serene bedroom ideas—can be a major contributor. In recent years, the idea of “palate cleanser” decorating has spread across the home, but the bedroom has always emphasized the rejuvenating power of peaceful surrounding. According to interior designers, bedrooms should be meditative, uncluttered spaces, tempting you beyond just nighttime slumber with an afternoon nap or an hour of reading. With these nine serene bedroom ideas, AD PRO Directory designers put comfort and quietude at the forefront.
Jade McNeil Interiors
After her clients purchased the unit next door to their apartment on New York’s Upper West Side to fold in a new bedroom, bathroom, and den, local designer Jade McNeil immediately knew the small bedroom should be light and bright, “Preventing too many visual breaks where the walls meet and giving the illusion of a larger space,” she says. Reserved for the homeowners’ daughter, who recently went off to college, and out-of-town guests, the bedroom also needed to be simultaneously whimsical and sophisticated.
McNeil’s starting point was a Phillip Jeffries grasscloth wall covering embellished with silver rivets. “I wanted to play with the vertical lines in the wallpaper, [so I] designed a custom headboard with New York Art Upholstery to flow in the opposite direction, giving definition and harmony to both textures,” she says. Fashioned out of a Romo Fabrics cotton velvet, it’s married with sconces from France and Son, terraced nightstands, and a window seat, complete with built-in storage and Kravet fabric-shrouded cushions, and it overlooks a tree-lined street.
Rushda Hakim Design
The only directive that Rushda Hakim, principal designer of her namesake New York studio, considered when crafting one of the four bedrooms in a downtown Manhattan apartment for a young family, was the inclusion of a large television. “We built out a custom mantle with an electric fireplace to divert attention from the screen and used the Samsung Frame—our favorite TV— which poses as an art piece when not in use,” Hakim elaborates. Beyond this must-have entertainment component, Hakim decked out the space with a Phillip Jeffries silk wall covering, Interlude Home seating with cozy bouclé upholstery, and a custom bed swathed in Kravet fabric and flanked by Visual Comfort & Co. sconces. Its grounding headboard, Hakim notes, is an “imposing yet tasteful element that stands out as a testament to the principle that grandeur need not be extravagant.”
Chango & Co.
For years Brooklyn firm Chango & Co. was keen to design something as fantastic as the Larsen Fabrics–cloaked headboard that morphs into a window bench in the primary bedroom of this townhouse on New York’s Upper West Side. The sole hint of direction offered by the clients was that they “wanted the space to feel light, with neutral colors and a layered approach. We took that and worked toward expanding upon it and creating the most beautiful version of what they were envisioning,” Chango & Co. creative director Susana Simonpietri says. Complemented by an Atelier Demiurge chandelier, a Studio Paolo Ferrari side table, and chairs from Maisonjaune Studio, “The monochromatic room,” points out Simonpietri, “employs high-quality wool, plaster, silk, and linen to strike a quiet note of relaxation.”
Lucinda Loya Interiors
At the 2022 Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas, Houston studio Lucinda Loya Interiors made a splash with a guest bedroom and en suite bathroom centered on the theme of female empowerment. “We called on design elements that reflect the notions of confidence, metamorphosis, resilience, and grace,” Loya says, noting how the starting point was Daphne, a hand-knotted Tibetan wool and silk rug inspired by the Daphnis moth from The Rug Company’s Rodarte collection. From there, Loya incorporated custom pieces by her team’s own design, drapery from The Shade Store, and organic stripes painted in a trifecta of Benjamin Moore shades. Most notable is the closet hatched in collaboration with fiber artist Abi Ogle that doubles as an interactive installation with its kaleidoscope-like reflective peephole. “Echoing between the honeycomb of mirrors and gently radiating warm light,” Loya says, “it becomes a distinctive portrait that shifts and changes with each viewer.”
Greer Interior Design
Windsor, a waterfront residential beach community in Vero Beach, Florida, is where Austin-based Greer Interior Design conceived of a vacation home exuding a breezy Anglo-Caribbean spirit. Here, owner and principal designer Jennifer Hartmann “wanted to create a calming, timeless bedroom that opened up to the beautiful grounds and private garden, in a fresh yet refined space,” she says. Along with her studio’s own custom designs, including a linen rug and bench covered in Mark Alexander fabric, Hartmann wove in a four-poster bed from Ironies, a Maguire swivel chair upholstered in a Rose Tarlow textile, Joseph Jeup nightstands, and Mr. Brown London lamps. To successfully bring a soothing bedroom to life, “It’s all about the palette and fabrics,” says Hartmann. “Natural materials and colors are essential.”
Ritual House
Heather Giovannelli’s client desired a bedroom that transported him back to his beloved Bali. So the owner and principal designer of Los Angeles studio Ritual House conjured Southeast Asia in this home on the Caribbean Island of St. John by recreating elements of traditional Balinese architecture that “emphasize open-air living spaces, harmony with nature, and connection to the spiritual,” she says. For example, there are high-vaulted ceilings that combine mahogany, bamboo, and palm leaf thatch; energy-efficient warm, white plaster walls; and now discontinued Porcelanosa porcelain wood-like tiles that can stand up to the humid weather. They are paired with the likes of a CB2 Andes Acacia wood platform bed, a Jenni Kayne fiber wall hanging, Jonas Wagell lamps for Audo Copenhagen, and, most memorably, ocean vistas. “Natural tones and feeling rested,” Giovannelli adds, “are timeless.”
Urbanology Designs
Inside the University Park, Texas, abode that Ginger Curtis, founder and CEO of nearby North Richland Hills–based practice Urbanology Designs, realized for a family of five, there is a tucked-away private suite for the parents featuring an Allied Maker pendant and smudge art by Andy Black. Its centerpiece? A massive 100-square-foot mattress “the size of a small home office,” as Curtis puts it, that accommodates snuggling with all three kids “on Saturday mornings with ease. If a playful outburst were to arise, there would be no tumbles off the bed.” Using a soft but nubby looped fabric, the custom headboard designed by Curtis and her team subtly wraps inward toward the bed like a hug and embraces its expansiveness. “The feeling of serenity that is evoked by the gentle curves truly epitomizes understated elegance,” Curtis says.
Brad Ramsey Interiors
Nashville designer Brad Ramsey struck a deft balance between the modern vibes the husband craved and the traditional ones the wife favored for their new build in Brentwood, Tennessee, by melding clean lines with soft textures. The bedroom is no exception. “For starters, the view is the magic, so we wanted it to be as unobstructed as possible,” Ramsey says. “This led us to make decisions like hiding the TV in the wood slat ceiling, covering the windows with sheers, and floating a seating area in the middle with swivel chairs.” Those swivel chairs from Thom Filicia for Vanguard Furniture mesh well with a Four Hands marble coffee table, Jaipur rug, Visual Comfort & Co. pendants, and the showstopping walnut bed custom-made to coordinate with the details on the ceiling. “You would think it would weigh down the room and make it feel too heavy,” Ramsey admits, “but the linear lines actually elevate the space.”
Weatherleigh Interiors
Leigh Kirby, owner of Weatherleigh Interiors, spends most of the year in New York, not far from the 1835 farmhouse in Fairfield County, Connecticut, that she extended with an 800-square-foot primary suite in the back. “It was beautiful to see how the 1800s portion of the home blended seamlessly with the more modern-day addition that we constructed by laying The Hudson Company white oak flooring throughout both sections,” she recalls. The new space, which mixes a Design Within Reach bed and BDDW side tables with lounge chairs from West Out East and Hans Verstuyft sconces, was imagined as a couple’s retreat. “I wanted it to be enveloped in a monochromatic color scheme,” Kirby says. “The walls are Tadelakt in a soft grey, and the curtains are made of a heavyweight Belgian linen.”
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