Colors for our master bedroom

Anna B
by Anna B
I am getting ready to re-do our master bedroom. We live in a 1950 raised ranch house, so our bedroom is a very small, a 10'x14' box. It does have a large 4'x6' window on one wall. We have no plans to renovate any time soon, so it just needs refreshing. I saw a small bedroom done with navy ikat bedding with mint accents and barely a whisper of mint walls. I kind of liked it. My husband likes lighter grays, medium blues and khakis. I have no idea how to accessorize those colors and they seem dark to me. I just want a calm, fresh space. We need a new headboard for our queen bed and already have a distressed honey colored wood armoire in one of the corners. Remarkably, the closet is giant and deep so our closet organizing system takes care of all of our clothing and accessory storage. I am in a clueless state of mind.
  6 answers
  • Cheryl @ Artzzle Cheryl @ Artzzle on Mar 01, 2015
    Hi Judy. We lived in a 50's rambler for 22 years and I found so many ways to style and rearrange small rooms. People today are going back to those styles too, to downsize and get the one level living factor. Our current home was a newly built rambler. We moved in in 2004. Small bedrooms here too. Do you have any pictures of the room you could send, to give a visual and locate the window wall? Do you have a queen or full bed?
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    • Cheryl @ Artzzle Cheryl @ Artzzle on Mar 01, 2015
      @Judy H. A good designer doesn't tell you what your style should be. They help you find and develop it yourself. That's the fun for both parties :) Okay, the room is small. That naturally limits the size & number of pieces you use. It is what it is but that doesn't mean you can't have a beautiful space. It does suggest a little caution for your choices. Too much of any one thing might be just that ... too much. I mentioned neutral possibilities for the expensive items, i.e. spread and drapes, simply because down the road, if you tire of a bright, jazzy print ... it's easier and cheaper to replace smaller pieces for a change of look. Spreads and drapes are big ticket items, that you might want kept more neutral. My advice on pattern is, if you fall in love with a patterned spread for example, and you can work up a color scheme with it - that you like - use that spread. It's your bedroom - you want to LUV it. Two points to consider re: matching patterned drapes 1. It might tend to overpower your little room 2. Matching is usually cost prohibitive. Either too expensive to afford or too cheaply made to hold up with wear. BUT AGAIN, if you fall in love with a matching set, you can neutralize it with your other choices. Just REMEMBER, Judy, it's all up to you. You should go have fun, doing lots of window and sample shopping. Put together a design board for yourself ... they call it a Mood board these days. Whatever you call it, it's not new - been around forever and at the very least, a good way to see possible choices all together. You asked about color for a neutral spread, light or dark. 1. Do you have a preference 2. Any pets or kids jumping in? I'd vote for a mid-tone or a bit darker, if yes to #2 ... unless you have white, hairy pets, then probably lighter. There are just things that may help you in your considerations. Good luck. You can reach me through my website if you want to talk more. These long pieces are hard to do here. I keep hitting something that erases half of my comment :(
  • Shari Shari on Mar 01, 2015
    Whenever I begin a new decorating project, I find it helpful to find something as my inspiration. It can be a picture (like the navy & mint bedroom you saw), or it can be something like a piece of art or fabric that sets the style and color choices. For the bedroom, I would suggest selecting your bedding first since that is generally the primary source of color. Once you have found a comforter or quilt, that makes it so much easier to select your wall color and the color(s) for accessories. Why not try to copy the navy & mint room you like and throw in some light tan (a cousin to khaki) for your husband's benefit? I have a guest bedroom done in navy, aqua and light tan. The comforter is a navy, aqua and tan stripe, the walls are a pale aqua and I have painted the vanity in the adjoining en suite bathroom navy.
    • Anna B Anna B on Mar 01, 2015
      @Shari That sounds pretty. Is the tan a light or medium color?
  • Lucille B Lucille B on Mar 01, 2015
    When I moved into my new home I painted my bedroom a soft pink to pick up the colors of a new bed spread. Looked great but several years later I needed a new bed cover and found it impossible to match the wall color. Repainted my bedroom ivory which eliminates the problem. Something to consider as textiles don't live forever.
    • Anna B Anna B on Mar 01, 2015
      @Lucille B Funny you say that, I already painted two bedrooms ivory because I just couldn't decide on what to do. I like a really creamy ivory.
  • Nancy S Nancy S on Mar 01, 2015
    I happened to have fallen in love with grey.. before 50 shades of gray came out. I had fallen in love with gray way back last fall, 2014, but I find myself redoing my bedroom walls and am looking for rose colored things. I happen to like white, green, and pink or shades of rose.. the green has to be light green, sort of like you mentioned.. but then again, I'm sort of hung up on the idea of Shabby Chic things. I find myself in ebay alot just looking thru the cabbage rose ideas but that went out a long time ago. We visted a long time childhood friend of mine way back in the late 90's. She had done her bedroom in the shabby chic cabbage rose and I loved it. Everything she had in there had a crisp linen feel.. and I know that she redid that room just for me when I came to visit. We had not seen each other in 30 years and it was amazing to get back together. Of course we did not have enough time. I had just lost my mother and it was the holidays between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have not chosen anything. I have just decided that the colors will come to me once I think about it for a litle while. This spring will be beautiful and those colors of Spring do not always stay with us tho.. here in the South.. we get into too much magic of humidity and I find that I want to redo things, like a new guilt or something at the beginning of Fall. I think maybe it's a good idea to have two colors in a bedroom that you can use with the changing seasons. I don't know.. I don't have a clue. I just found your comment interesting because I am exactly where you are.. closed in a box with the walls needing to be stretched to have more space. If you are not sure about it.. wait and it will hit you soon. just make sure that you want to get into it and redo the bedroom.. as there is nothing worse than coming into a room and realizing.."Oh my.. I've chosen the wrong colors".. and having to start over.. good luck..
  • Cheryl @ Artzzle Cheryl @ Artzzle on Mar 01, 2015
    Wonderful advice, Nancy. It's OK to take your time on the color decisions. There are so many places to look online for ideas. Hometalk is great, and for BIG PICTURES examples, Houzz.com is fantastic, as it shows full rooms and isn't as overwhelming as Pinterest. Finding basics would be easier on Houzz and then all the fun little stuff is on Pinterest and Hometalk. The internet is great that way. P.S. If you still like the cabbage rose ideas, search for that phrase on these sites. Any style or color favorites can be jazzed up a bit for a change. But you don't need to abandon favorites all together. Use them in a different shade or way, to update your look a bit. Color is such a personal thing and your bedroom is your most personal room, so go with your favorites.
  • Anna B Anna B on Mar 01, 2015
    Thank you so much Cheryl, you've given me so much to think about! I'm definitely going to do the mood board, what a great idea. I subscribed to your blog today, so I can follow your other posts and contact you to let you know my progress! Again, thank you for all of your help and helping me to "own" my room.