In the last post, I talked about redecorating your bedroom to better suit your needs. Now I will complete the process by explaining how to arrange your bedroom. Painting your bedroom is only half the race. To win the race and give yourself an excellent night’s sleep, you need to furnish it properly. Oftentimes your old furniture won’t work with the color scheme you’ve chosen, even if you’ve chose a scheme based on the white wood bedroom furniture you already have. The reason for this is that sometimes the room simply takes on a life of it’s own. The color scheme might not work the way you designed it to, especially once the paint dries and you move the furniture back in. Or the white wicker bedroom furniture itself might be old and in need of replacement by newer, more viable specimens.
Of course, the biggest piece of furniture is the bed. Other furniture pieces have their place in a bedroom, too. An armoire or dresser, for example, is the perfect place to store your clothes if you don’t have a closet. A nightstand is an absolute must-have for a bedside lamp and a few midnight reading materials. A desk might be useful if you like working in your bedroom. Other items you can use are mirrors, makeup vanity tables, etc. All of these can make the bedroom a true living space.
The highest priority for you in redecorating and rearranging your bedroom is making sure it is peaceful. If after this process your bedroom still isn’t peaceful for you to be in, you may as well not have ever done it. To ensure your bedroom is peaceful, there are a couple of things you can do.
- Don’t have a television! This way you bypass having the outside world intrude on your private resting place and you get the peace of mind you want. Having the television (if you have one at all) in another part of the house clearly separates your outside world from your inside world, consequently giving you a greater distinction between your work/social life and your home life. This gives you the peace you want because having that distinction allows you to set firmer boundaries and take better care of yourself. Many, many people do not know how to set boundaries at all, and they free rein to people to whom they would be much better off telling to keep their distance. By the same metaphor, television can invade your boundaries, too. Keeping it in another room maintains your boundaries, doesn’t pollute your relax time, and makes it easier to focus on rest and recovery to better prepare to face tomorrow.
- Make sure your mattress is comfortable. This is a particularly big one since you will obviously spend the majority of time in your bedroom in your bed. If not, make sure the chair at your desk is equally comfortable. A good mattress will be built to last you a long time so that you don’t have to worry about buying a new one every so often. Make sure you choose a good frame, box springs and mattress in order to have an agreeable bed.
After deciding what kind and how many pieces of furniture you will have in your bedroom, the arranging is pretty simple. There are a few common-sense notions to keep in mind when placing your furniture around your bedroom, so make sure you remember the following ideas:
1) The bed usually goes against the center of the wall that is opposite the doorway into the room. This is because the bed commands attention being the natural focal point of the room, especially if the bed is a double-size, queen-size or king-size.
2) If you have a window and it’s frequently open, do not place the bed directly under it. The open window will create a cold draft. If you have two windows, however, placing the bed between them works very well.
3) You obviously must avoid placing the bed so that it obstructs a doorway into the bedroom, closet, etc. Did you also know that placing a bed at an angle sometimes helps the room look bigger? Placing it at a right angle to a corner of the room creates this effect nicely.
4) Additionally, you can make the room seem bigger if you keep it free of clutter, especially toys if you have children.
5) A chest placed at the foot of the bed can provide a needed storage area and help make the room look classier.
6) If you want to, place two nightstands on either side of the bed. This will help visually balance the room and make it more appealing.
Aside from this specific tips, there are only a few things I can say more: don’t congregate the furniture on one side or in one part of the room. This will unbalance it and create an awkward vibe. Instead spread the furniture out around the room to make it more open.
That’s it for now. Remember, redecorating and arranging your room isn’t difficult at all if you stick to the principles. Happy sleeping!
