There’s no one “correct” vision for outfitting your nest, but there’s definitely a compelling argument for embracing the “less is more” aesthetic when it comes to decorating your bedroom, especially when balancing style with the need for organization in tight city quarters. Capacious walk-in closets and floor plans with plenty of room to roam are certainly not de rigueur in the average downtown home, so you need to redefine what’s really necessary in a “master” bedroom. It may not always be grand—but it can always be great!
Whether you’re executing a dramatic overhaul or just doing some minor redecoration, the best way to achieve a divinely dreamy master bedroom is to move everything out of the room and start with a blank slate. I guarantee that if you take everything out, then evaluate, one at a time, whether you want to reintroduce each item, you will soon have a rather large haul to donate to charity. Don’t wait for spring to reevaluate what you’re stashing in your bedroom; the time to purge is now . . . and often.
You may not want to dedicate precious space to a big bed frame, but a sleek and simple wall-mounted headboard will give the bed structure and contribute to the room’s decor. Inspired by the channel-back profile of a classic Marcel Breuer midcentury chair with upholstery detail, this headboard is tailored yet tactile and brings a bit of fun and colour to the mix. While you may want to keep all of the main elements in the room streamlined and sparse, a headboard is the ideal place to experiment with pattern and colour. This jaunty modern textile has a groovy vibe and makes an ideal cover for it!
Who says your bedside light needs to sit on a table? If you’re tight on space, consider installing pendant lights that hang from the ceiling instead of devoting precious room on your nightstand table to a reading lamp. When house rules dictate sleek and modern style, a pared-down hanging light may be just the right night-light.
Closets aren’t always the first priority when approaching a design scheme, but if you’re living in a home that is spatially challenged for closets, you’ll need to devise solutions to keep the clutter at bay. Old city houses are famous for having minuscule closets of inadequate depth, which proves problematic for many a clothes-horse. The simple solution in this not-so-grand master bedroom was to install his and hers L-shaped, floor-to-ceiling closet systems on either side of the bay window for maximum customized storage with minimal visual clutter. With an efficient mix of folded and hanging storage, even the smallest spaces can have a “place for everything, and everything in its place.” By committing to adequate square footage to keep your haven organized, you’ll be able to assess the leftover space and prioritize what’s needed versus what’s nice to have.
An upholstered bedroom chair brings texture, colour, and pattern to a bedroom (and serves as a pit stop for things you aren’t quite ready to hang up . . .). If you’ve got a compact space, a chair that offers sculptural interest and a hit of colour without occupying too much space might be the right solution. Here, a compact bay window even offers enough room for a multipurpose table for you and your better half!
Thanks to the growing number of city dwellers living in small spaces, furniture design is evolving in multifunctional ways. Before you sign up for a run-of-the-mill box spring as the “foundation” of your mattress, why not consider a solution that does double duty? Replace that old-school box spring with a stylish yet inexpenisve storage bed base with numerous ample-sized drawers.
Old houses are constructed of lath-and-plaster walls, but there are other solutions to bring a light, bright touch to your home. Instead of rebuilding relocated walls in the standard stud-and-drywall construction, consider alternate materials that save space and add style. Instead of drywall, we installed panels of tempered glass, then covered them with vinyl adhesive that was digitally printed from a contemporary photograph. The glass panels are installed to stay, but the vinyl art can be peeled off and changed whenever the urge to redecorate strikes!
