How to Get the Bedroom of Your Dreams

I love blue. Any room with lots of blue makes me happy. My bed is blue linen and I change out the blue bedding seasonally. The walls are white and the ceiling has a blue tint. BTW my grandmothers bedroom was blue too with a big comfy chaise lounge. She’s been gone many years but I have wonderful memories of sitting with her in that blue bedroom.

My tiny bedroom is like a jewel box and I am the jewel nestled within. Walls are a deep turquoise, lined bamboo shades control light, and my curtains are a beige linen fabric with colorful hobo chic birds on a wire embroidered across. Winter flannel sheets are dark turquoise and summer percales are a muted coral with white pin dots. My quilt is a colorful abstract floral with a beige background, and side tables are yellow. A Georgia O’Keefe poppy print hangs on the wall, as well as several small old timey bird prints, some modern art, and a collection of African beads. When I turn on my bedside lamp, a deep coral ginger jar with a gold embroidered shade, the rooms glows. I love my tiny room, sleep and dream well in it, and am proud that the components come from Target, Walmart, Lowe’s, Pier 1, and IKEA. A balanced budget helps with sweet dreams too!

Gorgeous photos!

All this and you didn’t mention the biggest common feature across all these bedrooms — no tv! My husband is one of those people who falls asleep to the tv and turns it on as soon as he opens his eyes in the morning, and I quickly exiled the tv from our bedroom so I could get a little peace and quiet. If we truly want to watch something (like when you’re in bed sick), we pull it up on a cell phone, but for the most part we haven’t missed the tv once.

I love the first photograph, of the room created by Mark Cunningham. When I saw it I actually felt a palpable sense of calm. Contrast that to the feeling I had about the Sagaponack house with the four rows of bookshelves appointed with coffee table books laid out horizontally. I am done appointing my home based on self-conscious calculations about what other people will think based on which objects I choose to display. My experience with these types of books and objects is that they are never used and that they're put there rather thoughtlessly. Honestly, when I see a book that has not been read, I feel guilty about not picking it up and reading it. Stacks of these types of books actually create anxiety about my not having used them! What a waste of money and mental energy. Not the feeling I want in my most private and intimate space. There is simple beauty in surrounding myself with beautiful things and "just enough," no more. Many of these bedrooms do that -- and with elegance. Thank you!

Sadly, I think you lost people with the "grandma comment". I will say to all that are complaining, this was an article about ideas...no one says you can't do this in a studio or a small bedroom...no one said you had to have any or all of it. They were providing tips on creating YOUR perfect bedroom. I loved the bedrooms, and continue to make mine the most important room in the house.

I love the calming colors, neutrals bring me peace, remind me is time to slowdown. I personally have an all white ensemble of linens, a light gray headboard on a platform bed with a heavenly comfortable matress . White walls, some artwork and large windows that give me a view of my garden. I have very small night tables in a rich dark wood, small to avoid putting stuff to avoid distractions when in bed with my husband or getting my zzz's. No TV, no laptops allowed in my bedroom. I work in the engineering industry, very fast pace, presentations with bright colors, colorful charts and meetings in conference rooms filled with white boards filled with yet more colorful scribbles, and my office environment is an open space, in which it gets loud several times through the work day. So when I go to sleep, I will take the neutrals. after working and commuting, these colors are calming, bringing sense of quiet in my head. Every one is different, and we all respond differently.

We took the smaller room as our bedroom when we moved and gave away our bedroom furniture to the Salvation Army and the mover asked for the mirror. The previous owners had built a ceiling- to-floor 9-foot mirrored closet opposite the windows in the bedroom - and 2 additional closets in the small adjoining hallway. I am ready to repaint our bedroom and adjoining small hallway and bath the same as the existing color - buttery yellow! I love waking up to a cheerful room. We have 4 orchid prints and 4 orchid plates on the walls. and a small area rug with orchids and a small silver metal, modern version of an orchid. A mini flower oasis! A huge venetian style mirror is over the small, burl inlaid 1860s writing table. Our previous room divider - make in Spain with a very "Moorish" floral design is our headboard. Two chairs and 2 pedestal 1960 tables - also inlaid burl - from a previous living room are all our furniture. Our bed is on wheels to make for easier movement. A very happy, colorful and eclectic room - (also called mish-mosh style of decorating). Decorate with what makes a room very welcoming for you. I banish grey as it reminds me too much of hospitals and test centers affiliated with hospitals.

How much time and effort does it take to tuck in those sheets so tight that they look like the beds in the photos? Seems as if I might need a "bedding expert" to come every morning just to straighten out the sheets and tuck in the top covers. I HATE morning light; for me, wooden shutters work well. They are costly but for me a good investment. Just follow my advice--do not use white paint if you live in NYC or other urban area and keep windows open. In fact, no paint at all, just wood is best.

Beige is all the rage still. Every room looks like it's in the same boring, bland house. I await the return of chintz.

There used to be a home design magazine that showed rooms that cost $10,000 to design and furnish, and then a $500 alternative. I can't remember the name, but I wish it was still around.

My clean as a whistle queen-size mattress is 45 years old. I turn and flip it when it sags now a bit here and there. I sleep like a log on it. (I'm even typing this message lying on it right now.) I most frequently launder the sheets and the heavily-padded soft and comfy mattress cover. A friend of mine has suggested I should purchase a new one. Should I? If so, why?

Enough. Just enough with the derogatory grandmother references. Does this sort of attitude help explain why we can’t have the best-qualified candidate for president?

The text says use darker soothing colors but the pictures all show the monochrome white or off-white. And, who wants one of those room fresheners right at the bedside? not me. Also, I think you discounted the number of people who sleep with their dogs or cats in the bed right next to them. Those white rugs are terrible at hiding dog fur.

Speaking AS a grandmother whose bedroom has pale green walls and whose bed boasts a white comforter and two pillows year in and year out, it's nice to be told I'm "fashion forward" again. I've always disliked fussy bedroom's. No rugs. Wall-to-wall is particularly bad for asthmatics like myself, and looks old faster than any other floor-covering I know. Tl;dr -- spend your money on bedding and light-proof window coverings, and maybe a small fan if your neighborhood is noisy. And BE NICE TO OLDER WOMEN!

Goodness! Such negative responses to beautiful rooms. These are meant to be examples, people, of how to get a certain kind of look. You take what you find is useful and to your liking and ignore the rest. Jeez!

My Sleep Caccoon ain't got but one streetlight right out by the crashin' waves near the lakeside. How am I supposed to wake up as a peaceful Butterfly-Man with Fire Trucks and Wahmbulances screaming through the highway next door all night long!?

Four-poster beds, four-poster beds, four-poster beds, four-poster beds, four-poster beds, four-poster beds, four-poster beds,

And how do the homeless manage this? I suppose being a Biden supporter is no different than being a Trump supporter, you just don't care.

And how much did designing these bedrooms with elaborate window treatments cost? What about some tips for people who don’t have second homes in the Hamptons?

I wish designers would address the needs of allergy sufferers. Fluffy bedding, fabric-covered walls, and carpeted floors look nice, but clog sinuses and can trigger asthma attacks, ruining what should be a restful night.

To me, walls and floors have nothing to do with it. My requirements for a good night's sleep are that the room be absolutely dark (I basically have a blackout curtain on the window, which is particularly useful in the summer, when it gets light out around 3:00 AM here in Latvia), that I have a panoply of comfortable pillows so that I can snuggle in, and that I have a fan alongside my head that I switch on each night for white noise. Apart from that, I could not possibly care what color the walls are (in the instance, they are light blue).

I’m all for excellent design and beautiful decor but these examples all represent a highly specific and overly well-heeled version of bedroom fare. I’m surprised that more relaxed and minimalist options weren’t included — this feels out of touch in a number of ways.

How are those insanely bright rooms calming? The only one that’s remotely calming and cave-like to me is the darker hued room. We hate muting the iridescent bright white shades in homes here in the states and it’s so unattractive and irksome. The opposite of calm, unless you make it completely devoid of natural light at night. Muted or even darker hues can also look modern, used correctly.

What's with the pillow hate? I guess I'm glad I can't afford a designer. My bed is comfortable and my walls aren't dreary gray.

Also, please give the word "vibe" a rest. And no to wall to wall carpeting - should we call that "suburban vibe"?

My recent bedroom renoation prompted the disposal of my old mattress and boxspring in favor of an all cotton futon and a new custom frame made of 2x4's...removing toxins from that area is supremely important and I am sleeping better already.

How about some creative tips for people with very small bedrooms that are typical for apartments in NYC. Or for people on a limited budget? Why does the default attitude of design articles seem to be that you have unlimited funds (to either have a bigger space or to decorate it lavishly)?

Lovely bedrooms but the designers seem not to consider that rugs and fabric on the walls can be bad for our health. I would suggest having a humidity check on any room before adding fabric wallpaper or large rugs to the bedroom. Woods floors are wonderfully easy to keep clean, dry ,free of mold, dust, mites and allergens. Of course rugs though comforting are magnets for all of the above and if you have pets we all know about rugs and pets. I know of people who find black mold on the walls after removing heavy wallpaper much less a fabric. Also light paint colors reflect more light, when in a city I prefer dark colors in the bedroom as we do need our caves to sleep well.

Yes, some of these bedrooms are lovely. Others are definitely the cure for insomnia.

ummm.... no. you can keep the lights, whites, and neutrals. In my room, one small wall opposite my bed is covered in a beautiful, vibrant orange wallpaper with large print magnolias that brings my heart joy when I look at it. other walls are in a very pale green to counter that. And white linen curtains and no blinds on the windows. I do not set an alarm unless I have to catch a flight and I let the sun wake me up. and my accessory is a leopard-print upholstered chaise lounge. I love to spend time in my bedroom at the end of the day as well as a weekend afternoon rest. I wouldn't have it any other way.

First of all stop denigrating grandmothers. I'm so tired of fashion or design choices being negatively labeled as grandmotherly. I loathe carpet and have found that laminate flooring isn't cold at all. The pad underneath keeps it perfectly warm and laminate is easy to clean unlike carpet which traps dust and allergens. The idea of fabric covering on the walls is very appealing but I wonder how well that works in really humid climates.