Create a Cosy Bedroom Sanctuary
At the end of a long day, our bedrooms provide sanctuary from work-day deadlines and hectic schedules. A bedroom should have an unassuming, comfortable feel that promotes calm and rest from the moment we step through the door.
Bedrooms should also reflect our personal definitions of what we find restful and comforting. For some, dark painted rooms promote instant slumber; for others, lighter shades help to soothe away the stresses of the day.
Whichever direction you choose to take with your bedroom, make it a place you enjoy beginning your day in or just cannot wait to return to in the evening.
Colour drenching with browns and neutrals
Embrace colour drenching to create a sumptuous bedroom scheme. This design technique saturates a space with one colour to craft a bold, unified look. Browns and neutral shades work particularly well for colour drenching in bedrooms, cultivating a calming and restful ambience. Here, Split Pink wraps around the bedroom space to create a warm relaxing palette that’s easy on the eye.
“Comforting natural tones are perfect for bringing warmth to bedrooms and can be used in an all-over scheme to create a cocooning feel.”
Wall: Split Pink
Skirting & Architrave: Attic II
Ceiling: Roman Plaster
Learn more about colour drenching in your home
Warm and cosy bedroom colours
Light-absorbing colours bring depth to a room and place emphasis on shadow and light. Creating atmosphere, rich colours have a wrap-around feeling, especially when painted in our Absolute Matt finish, which gives the colour an almost velvety appearance.
Regal and magnificent, colours like Adventurer create warmth and reassurance in bedroom design schemes. To amplify this, paint Adventurer on characterful panelled walls and team with China Clay on furniture pieces, such as bedside tables.
For a slightly brighter colour, Baked Cherry is an impressive, sumptuous red. For a truly cosy bedroom, team with Córdoba, a dramatic aubergine hue and Invisible Green on panelling and below the dado rail.
Wall: Baked Cherry
Dado Rail: Córdoba
Lower Wall: Invisible Green
Dark and mysterious bedroom schemes
Dark colours are synonymous with creating cosy bedrooms, as they allow our minds to relax and create a sense of end-of-day.
Choosing colours close to black offers endless possibilities for coordinating with bed linen and furniture. Mid Bronze Green, from the Victorian era, connects the bedroom to the view beyond the window without being obviously green. For a cooler approach, paint walls and woodwork in Basalt. Add a colour highlight into the scheme with small furniture pieces painted in the vibrant Orange Aurora.
Alternatively, wallpapers in dark colourways give the feeling of a dark room with a softness that is broken up by the informality of the pattern. Pomegranate in Prophet is a Baroque paisley design with a small-scale print in the background that gives it a relaxed, welcoming appeal.
Walls: Pomegranate Prophet
Ceiling: Portland Stone
Skirting: Portland Stone Dark
Panelling bedroom walls
Panelling is an effective way to create cosiness and character in a featureless bedroom. Create panels behind the bedhead and paint them in Scree, a light-absorbing delectable grey, which becomes more intense in the shadows of the panelling.
If panelling your bedroom isn’t an option, Old Gloucester Street wallpaper in Tome will do the work for you. Use this elegant wood panel-effect wallpaper behind the bedhead – or on all four walls to bring a sense of timeless grandeur to your bedroom. This wallpaper perfectly coordinates with the French Grey Colour Scales family - ranging from cool to warmer grey paint shades.
Wall (panelled): Scree
Wall (above) & Flooring: Shallows
Cosy bedroom ideas in Pink
Look to Tuscan Red for chalky, sun-kissed hues that have a timeless feeling. This pigment has been used for centuries to colour paints and cosmetics, and it will reflect a healthy glow in your bedroom. As an alternative to painting all walls in this delectable colour, paint the lower half of the walls to just above the headboard height, to frame the bed. Then paint the rest of the wall in French Grey.
Alternatively, Nether Red is a beautiful and profound mud red. It is best seen on all walls of the bedroom for the ultimate in cosiness and comfort. Pair with French Grey Dark on woodwork for a harmonious look.
Lower Wall: Tuscan Red
Upper Wall: French Grey
Ceiling: French Grey – Pale
Walls: Nether Red
Drawers & Door: French Grey – Dark
Discover more ideas for incorporating pink paint
Serene bedroom scenes
There is no better colour than green to cool the mind and calm the spirit. Drift away surrounded by walls painted in Ambleside, inspired by the legendary children’s writer Beatrix Potter and the beautiful part of the world where she had her second home.
This dark green paint has muted blue undertones that complement Aquamarine above the headboard. For something brighter, and perhaps for creating a cosy guest room, consider wallpaper and paint combinations to make visitors feel instantly at home.
For turn of the century charm, the Hencroft – Pink Primula wallpaper design is simply joyful. Pair with Pea Green paint on wood panelling for a truly vintage feel. For a paint that crosses the blue-green-grey divide, Livid is deeply restful and versatile. Pair with Fern wallpaper in Sage Blue and paint flooring in Bone China Blue.
Top: Aquamarine
Bottom Half: Ambleside
Back Wall: Aquamarine Pale
Inside Panelling: Hencroft – Pink Primula – National Trust Papers
Panelling: Pea Green
Door: Loft White
Gentle schemes for subtle cosiness
Achieve a feeling of cosiness, without the use of rich, deep shades, by bringing nature indoors. Wallpaper your walls with Stag Toile in Moss and pair with dreamy Dorchester Pink for painted alcoves.
Find comfort going to bed surrounded by reassuring motifs taken from nature, such as Asterid - Nightshade. Or wake up with exotic birds in the Darwin design in Serein (c.1760), teamed with Lamp Black on woodwork to sharpen the look.
Layer this look with natural linens for a comforting environment for relaxation.
Wallpaper: Stag Toile – Moss
Left wall: Perennial Grey
Top shelf: Dorchester Pink
Skirting board: Grey Moss
Cosy bedroom schemes for Kids and Teenagers
Pink in its multitude of hues is wholly reassuring and comforting. It can range from delicate pinks to deep almost-red shades.
To create a cosy bedroom for younger family members, paint dusky Hellebore on all walls and team with contrasting colours such as Olive Colour, Citrine and Lemon Tree on the headboard.
Or opt for playful Cape Red with Jack Black floors and Slaked Lime – Deep walls for an uplifting feeling. Bringing this kind of positivity to the bedroom can be just the tonic to ‘one of those days’.
Wall: Hellebore
Headboard: Olive Colour, Carmine, Citrine, Lemon Tree, Pink Slip & Loft White
Find further inspiration for how to make a bedroom cosy amongst our gallery of inspirational bedroom design schemes.
Add warmth throughout your home with our advice for cosy living room schemes.