While many things in life change and evolve, the steps to creating a beautiful bedroom do not.
Once upon a time author and designer Mary Carol Garrity laid out a road map to creating a stunning space in which to relax and regenerate, and this advice still gets me through my room refreshes today.
I thought we could all use a reminder from her this spring as we look to breathe a little new life into or completely transform our rooms during spring cleaning.
1. Select functional but attractive furniture
Before you think about fun stuff like colors and fabrics, you have to make sure your bedroom is fully functional. Start by drawing up a floor plan that works for your daily life. For instance, if two people are going to share the bed, you don't want one side pushed up against a wall, making it difficult for the person on the inside to get out of bed easily.
As you think through your floor plan, determine which existing pieces of furniture will stay, which will go and what you need to add to make the room work better.
If your room feels tight and cramped, consider paring down your furnishings. For example, if you have a TV in your bedroom that's housed in a large cabinet, replace the cabinet with a console table that eats up less room.
If your room is large and lofty, you might need to add a few larger pieces of furniture to ground the space. Many new homes have lots of built-in storage in the closets to hold clothing, minimizing the need for dressers in the bedroom. But I still encourage clients with large spaces to fill to add a dresser, armoire or bookcase to give your room some visual appeal and balance.
