HOME STYLE

Add a rail and a few wire drawers sets from a well-known Swedish company and Bob’s your uncle. I have a small bedroom, with very little space, so have eschewed doors altogether and use curtains instead, with a good metal track so that they swish across easily. Oddly, they spend most of their time on my husband’s half (or more accurately, eighth) of the wardrobe.

I’d always go for carpet rather than hard flooring, both for comfort on bare feet and noise levels. I have had clients say they prefer hard flooring because carpets trap the dust, but unless you vacuum every day, trapped dust is better than dust being blown around.

If you do go for hard flooring and add rugs, do make sure they have a non-slip underlay.

Bedding can be a minefield. In order to give some interest to that acre of bed, a lot of people like patterned bedding. Attractive bedspreads can be easier to find, but most people have duvets.

Good reasonably priced patterned duvet covers that work with your décor are hard to come by, so snap them up if you find them. Mind, this is one thing I’m a purist about (unless it’s water and no ice in my whisky, but that’s another article) and I want plain white cotton or linen bedding.

Lighting and electrics are a big issue and should be considered early on in the design process. Making sure you have sockets where you need them sounds obvious, but is very easy to overlook and can scupper your great design scheme – extension leads are not the best look, nor the safest.

Think in layers of light, from rushing out to work on a dark winter morning, where strong overhead light means you begin to wake up, even if it makes you look like death in the mirror. So good, reasonably flattering lighting is important for the dressing table and the best is the all-round lighting of a classic Hollywood mirror, such as this one by Illuminated Mirrors. You can also get good backlit ones if this look is not for you.

Bedside lighting is important but there are lots of options: wall lights; mini reading lights so your partner can sleep while you start another chapter; classic table lamps, two ceiling hung pendant lights – just make sure they not positioned to strangle you when you get out of bed in the night.

For furniture, buy the best mattress, not necessarily the best bed, you can afford. If you have the space, it feels very generous to have two chests of drawers instead of standard sized bedside tables. If not, there are some wonderfully styled smaller chests.

If you want a dressing table consider, using a small desk instead – you’ll find there is greater choice.

It’s always useful to have chairs in a bedroom, whether it’s for sitting to put on your socks or just as a night time dumping ground for clothes. There are some wonderful space saving gentlemen’s valet stands available, which work just as well for ladies in my view!

There are other, less tangible design aspects for a good night’s sleep – such as banning televisions and, if the light affects you adding blackout linings to blinds and curtains.

Dang, I’ve hardly mentioned how to make it look good – that may need to be another article. Sweet dreams.

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