5 dos and don’ts of master bedroom decorating

Last week, I decided to redecorate our master bedroom for summer. This was mostly due to the fact that I desperately need to get the dining room molding finished and I was looking for an excuse not to work on it. Michael Hyatt calls this the “Resistance.” I like to call it good, old-fashioned procrastination.

As I was exercising my decorating mojo, I thought it might be a good opportunity to share with you some of my top tips for decorating the master bedroom.

1. Do switch out your bedding set seasonally.

I like to use one king-sized sheet and comforter set for the fall and winter months and a different one for the spring and summer months. It keeps the room from getting a “stale” feel. Here’s my warm weather version:

I change out the art and accessories seasonally, too. This is why I tend to stick with neutral paint colors for my walls. It offers more versatility when I want to redecorate a room. My bedroom wall color is Valspar’s Smoky Pitch 4007-4B from Lowe’s.

2. Do mix and match master bedroom furniture pieces.

Designers will tell you that a room should look like it was assembled over time, not picked up yesterday at a furniture store. To accomplish this, you have to consider veering away from matching sets. For example, in my master bedroom, I have two different nightstands. One came with the bed as a set and the other is a vintage piece given to me by my mother-in-law. They work well together in the room because of a few factors:

1. They have a similar feel. Mine have nearly identical finishes (although this is not always necessary) and the carved details make them seem like they came from the same time period. There are situations when these “rules” can be broken, but they are good starting points. So when choosing mismatched furniture, look closely at the legs and other details and choose ones that are similar. For example, you may want to avoid pairing a modern, straight-legged piece with an ornately carved one. Unless you’re Nate Berkus, that is. 😉
2. They share a common accessory. Each of my nightstands has the same lamp, which creates cohesion.
3. Their heights are similar. My vintage piece is actually about six inches shorter than the other nightstand, so I use a stack of books to make the lamps the same height, which connects the pieces. In other words, don’t worry if your pieces aren’t exactly the same height. Just plan to accessorize them so the vignettes as a whole end up looking that way.

3. Don’t hang artwork that is larger than the furniture beneath it.

The artwork I’ve hung over my nightstand is slightly wider than the nightstand below it, which is a big no-no. (Hey, you use what you’ve got, right?) This creates disproportion and makes the artwork look too “heavy” for the room.

I recommend using pieces that are 20-30 percent narrower than the furniture below them. This allows the furniture to properly “ground” the artwork. This is also a good rule of thumb to follow when hanging flat-screen TVs or items above a fireplace mantel.

4. Do create vignettes using odd-numbered groupings.

The vignette above is made up of a collection of three elements: the shells/starfish, the books/teapot and the framed photo. This grouping varies in height and texture, which helps to “fill in” the spaces between the objects. Refrain from displaying objects in a straight line or with the same height and width, which creates a “target practice” look. For more information on why odd-numbered groupings work, read this article.

5. Don’t display pictures of your kids in the master bedroom.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my kidlets. They are so cute and cuddly. 🙂

But considering they also consume about 90 percent of my life, it’s nice to have a kid-free zone in my house where I can escape relax and remember I’m not just a mom. In my master bedroom, you will only find photos of me and the hubs.

So that wraps up a few of my master bedroom decorating dos and don’ts. Do you have any of your own? Please consider leaving a comment and sharing.

I’m linking this up to: The Shabby Creek Cottage, House of Hepworths, Easy Living Mom, Saving 4 Six, A Glimpse Inside and House of Rose.