Avoid These Decorating Bedroom Disasters

Sunshine Drapery sliding glass doors window treatment

We all know people who have that annoying talent for decorating their homes just like those glossy magazine article pictures. We also know people (all three of them) who throw decor together and somehow, it all works out. Thank goodness for those cable TV shows examining rooms and then doing something amazing to decorate them. It gives us all a sense of how to judge space, lighting and possibilities. What no one mentions, though, are the disasters resulting from lack of understanding these things, especially when it comes to decorating bedroom spaces. Now, don’t laugh; well okay, laugh, but not too hard. We’re going to examine some of those disasters, so you’ll know what not to do when decorating your own bedrooms.

Color

In stark reality, color rightfully belongs on paint chips in paint stores. It simply does not belong on walls. When judging paint colors before decorating, most people are thrilled with their choice. In the store, that is. When it gets onto the walls, people have some interesting reactions:

The lady who had her kitchen walls covered in sponge painted red wallpaper. She stopped in on her lunch break to check the progress, and she burst into tears. It took her three years to afford to have that paper removed and replaced with a more fitting color.
The lady whose husband was, unbeknownst to her, color blind. He painted the house what he thought was tan. She returned home after work to find her house painted lavender.
The guy who wanted a bright cheery bathroom, so he chose what he thought was a soft yellow. His bathroom now looks like a very small school bus.
The lady who wanted a purple room and chose a shade she liked. It looked like Barney lived there. She then painted over it with a soft gray. Now the room was an interesting mix of grayish purple when seen in natural light. She needed a few months to afford to have it repainted.

The moral of the story is to bring the paint chips home and examine the chips in different lights. Also hold the paint chips vertical instead of slanting them. Light shines on the paint chips differently when they are slanted. Another trick is to take a stark white piece of paper and make a hole in the center of the paper. Check out the paint chip through the hole. The color will more closely resemble reality.

Furnishings

What is more romantic than a bedroom featuring a four-poster bed complete with hangings? If an antique, it could have belonged to a queen or perhaps a romance writer a century earlier. Dark woods make excellent chests of drawers and dressers or vanity tables. The trouble with bedroom furniture is that it is sold in sets. Now, we’re not saying that’s a bad thing. It is, on the other hand, boring. People often try to rectify this decorating faux pas by purchasing something different. It is unfortunately a disaster when the piece you’ve bought at an antique store won’t make it around corners to get into the bedroom. Sometimes it is too big to get through the door. The disaster ends when you try to get a refund on furniture you can’t get into the room. Love patterns? Avoid the mistake of using the same pattern in the draperies, the fabric-covered headboard on the bed, the quilt and pillows on the chairs. Some of the worst bedroom décor features the same pattern repeated on every surface and everywhere imaginable. To avoid this particular disaster, mix patterns and colors, textures and shapes. Sometimes a hodge-podge is more attractive than repeating something. Decorating is such a personal thing, that it’s difficult to determine what is disastrous and what is just quirky. We’d love to hear some of your decorating stories (and bring pictures)!