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Buying a matching bedroom furniture set or suite comprising a solid bed, identical nightstands, a dresser, a tallboy, and a mirror was the accepted norm 30 years ago. It certainly saved our parents’ time and hassle when buying the essentials and decorating their bedrooms.
But bedroom suites, with their uniform styles and materials, are considered old-fashioned and won’t win you any points with the people who set the trends. (Even though some people prefer this concept because it takes the guesswork out of design by delivering a solid foundation and style!)
Modern suites are generally far more appealing, but when bought as a matching furniture set, they still have the disadvantage of looking like you’ve copied and pasted a catalog page directly into your home.
And while catalogs may be designed to whet your taste buds for a quick sale, who wants to live in a sterile furniture showroom?
Is it better to have light or dark furniture?
A room filled with all dark or all light furniture can be dull, lackluster, and impersonal, so it is preferable to inject some personality by mixing the two and other textures.
If you’re suffering from the buyers’ regret of already having bought matching bedroom furniture and feeling trapped by its uniformity, all is not lost. Just palm off a few furniture items on a friend or family member, and you’re all set for a radical revamp.
How do I choose the right bedroom furniture?
To create the bedroom of your dreams, you might want to keep one or two matching staple pieces of furniture, like the bed and dresser. Lose the rest, and you have a clean slate. The furniture you’ve kept provides a point of departure and perhaps even a guide to the style direction you might want, be it a tropical beachy feel, shabby chic, or more masculine industrial vibe.
Stick with your chosen style and integrate furniture with that overarching theme to ensure a cohesive result.
You could, for instance, swap out the existing nightstands for something different. The mix-and-match style allows you to pick up non-matching nightstands instead of settling for two of the same. Throwing caution to the wind and buying whatever furniture pieces you love that fit within the style you’re striving for may yield fantastic results, but there is a proviso – you have to bear in mind scale and proportion.
Sure, a gargantuan, dark, hulking nightstand could be just what your partner would relish. Still, it would look ridiculously out of place when juxtaposed against a standard bed and spindly, feminine-looking side table.
Rather opt for two nightstands of similar scale, and you might decide to screw on similar legs or handles. You could also echo the hardware in other pieces, so if you use brass handles, this might be reflected in a brass chandelier, nailhead trim on upholstered items, or door handles. Otherwise, you could paint the pieces a color that tones in with window treatments, throws, or cushion covers.
The texture is enormously desirable in a mix-and-match setting, so don’t feel you can’t contrast a dark wood nightstand with a lighter one. Mirrored or lacquered surfaces, metal, glass, and even perspex all make for a fascinating range of textures and will reflect both the masculine and feminine aspects of the room. Properly blending the items in a room should deliver a sense of balance.
Apply the same wisdom to other pieces of furniture in the room, which can also be customized with upholstered tops or headboards reflecting some of the materials – fabrics or leather – and patterns being used elsewhere in the space.
How to brighten up a bedroom with dark furniture
Feature walls, bedding, rugs, throw pillows, lamps, and lighting features each has a role to play in updating or revamping a bedroom.
Mostly dark furniture may be part of a melodramatic, theatrical feel you want to create, but if you find this look depressing, the right lighting could make all the difference. Mixing and matching also bring antique or dark pieces into the 21st Century by brightening the room with color. By doing this, you may even impact the psychology in the bedroom.
Light, bright, airy white, or if you’re bold, attention-grabbing acidic limes, yellows, colorful orange and red walls and accent pieces – rugs, cushions, throws, pictures, or chairs—can transform dreary-looking dark pieces into things of beauty.
If you have the budget, light-colored flooring and/or a few pieces of eye-catching bright furniture lift the overall picture, and transparent or reflective surfaces like mirrors can throw light around the room, making it seem bigger, brighter, and less cramped.
Can you put a sofa bed in the bedroom?
If there is space, a sofa bed in the master bedroom is handy not only as a place to enjoy a good book, watch some TV, savor a cup of coffee whilst surveying your kingdom, or put on your shoes in the morning but it doubles as a place for youngsters to sleep if they have nightmares and don’t want to sleep in their rooms at night.
Sofa beds are also especially useful in a child’s bedroom for sleepovers or in a study/guest room where it may not be practical to have a bed made up as a permanent feature.
Color and pattern help to create a conversation between the various elements of a bedroom, making it feel coordinated and lively rather than bland. A great way to tie together style, colors, patterns, and textures is with matching cushion covers and a lampshade for the light fixture that you would probably need to be able to read on a sofa.
Much of what you choose to blend in terms of color and pattern is intuitive, but patterns like polka dots and plaid generally don’t work together, so take swatches to gauge what fabrics will work with your scheme before buying.
Ultimately, whether it’s a streamlined look with neutrals and minimal clutter you’re after, or an eclectic mix of personal treasures, having balance as your guiding light keep will help you create bedrooms that aren’t stark and lifeless or chaotic, crowded and overwhelming – the last thing you want in a place where you should be aiming for in a space designed for rest and relaxation.
Ready to inject a bit of pizzazz into your living space? Visit the Metropolitan Design Furniture website and start shopping!