Sweet dreams

Melissa Penfold

YOUR BEDROOM is the most private room in the propping them up like soldiers is the American standard. house, and it should be the most personal. Your bed Leading Australian designers tend to use a pair of should feel like the ultimate sanctuary and make you pillows that lie flat, combined with a couple of upright happy every time you get into it. European pillows propped at the front. We agree. SHOW-OFF-Y BEDS ARE A THING OF THE PAST You want FITTED SHEETS ARE PASSÉ Opt for a big, flat bottom to create a place for slumber that looks beautiful, yet sheet. Mattresses are all different depths and fitted also cultivates a state of serenity. sheets never seem to fit properly. Buy a flat sheet that’s A BEDROOM DOESN’T NEED MUCH A bed with a proper a size larger than your mattress and tuck it in neatly bedhead, a comfortable chair, bedside tables, lamps and with square hospital corners that are tight and smooth. storage suffice. Pick a few objects and place them exactly. TOP SHEET OR NOT? You don’t really need a top sheet. LOOK FOR QUALITY BEDDING Feel is everything. Bed Let a doona do the job of a sheet. You’ll be able to make linen and quilts have to be irresistibly tactile and soft. your bed faster and more easily in the morning. Go for practical neutrals in white and off-whites and DON’T MAKE A BEDROOM OPPRESSIVELY FEMININE natural fibres – cotton, linen and wool. Avoid too many pinks, chintz fabrics and a mountain DON’T MIX TOO MANY PATTERNS Or florals. Unless you of cushions on the bed – they scare men. want your bedroom to look like a garden. SMALL THINGS CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT Try a pair GET THE RIGHT PILLOWS By all means keep your of bespoke cushions in a luxe velvet or embossed silk. favourite pillow but also invest in plump goosedown MIX IT UP For added warmth and comfort, consider pillows that make your bed look welcoming. The a lightweight quilt or throw for the end of your bed. ultimate test to find out if you should replace your DIM THE LIGHTS A dimmer switch is vital if you have pillow? Fold it in half and if it doesn’t spring back into overhead lighting, otherwise rely on lamps and candles shape it’s probably past its prime. Keep only those which which make you (and your bedroom) look beautiful. are fresh, fluffy, comfy and make you happy. PUT ODDS AND ENDS IN THEIR PLACE Don’t let detritus SHOULD PILLOWS LIE FLAT OR NOT? Laying your take over your bedroom: stow electronics, loose change, pillows like a stack of pancakes is the posh British way; and odds and ends elsewhere, or in your bedside table. 1 Meridiani ‘Lauren’ bed, POA, cavitco.com 2 ‘Basix’ linen quilt, $799, halemercantilecolinen.com 3 The suites at Rae’s on Wategos in Byron Bay were recently transformed by Sydney designer Tamsin Johnson. 4 Santa Maria Novella ‘Melograno’ in terracotta pomegranate, S90, dunlin.com.au 5 Chinese lacquer bedside cabinets, $3200/pair, orienthouse. com.au 6 Aerin ‘Luc Objet’ sculpture, $1250, beckerminty.com 7 Vera Wang ‘Degradee’ dinner set, $129/four-piece, wedgwood.com.au 8 ‘Five Star Hotel’ Egyptian cotton pillowcases, $125/standard pair, hotelluxurycollection.com.