Good to Know: The Primary Bedroom
Images by Lucy Call.
Today for Good to Know, we’re going to talk about designing the primary bedroom in my house! However, before we get started, I want to mention that we have stopped calling them “Master Bedrooms,” and instead are opting for “Primary Bedroom” or “Owner’s Suite” instead. If you’re curious about the origin of this term, and why we think it’s time to move away from it, you can read more here!
In past homes, my bedroom has always been a bit of an after thought. I would splurge on the main areas of the house, I loved designing my girl’s rooms, but by the time I got to designing my own space, I kept it pretty basic. With this house, I wanted to change that, and make the space and myself more of a priority. I treated myself to some nice things, and while it’s still a work in progress, I’m really happy with how it turned out. In the future, I’m hoping to hang more art and possibly wallpaper the room, but I am just so happy that I spent some money on my own room and created this space for myself! After all, we work really hard, and treating myself to some nice sheets, a big-girl bed, and tailored window coverings has been worth every penny.
Tips for Designing A Primary Bedroom:
1. Size - If you are building and designing your Primary Bedroom from scratch, we recommend that you are wise about the size of the room. When it comes to bedrooms, bigger is not better! Often the size of the Primary Bedroom is slightly too large, making it feel like you need another sitting room in your bedroom. Without that extra furniture, the space can feel cavernous and empty. In most cases, you really don’t need an extra large room. We think having room for a King-size bed, bed-side tables, an end-of-bed bench or sofa, and a side chair is plenty of space. This is not the case if you want to have a personal desk area or a TV watching area in your room, in which case you would need some extra space. For size reference, my bedroom is 16’ x 15.'
2. Flooring - From a design perspective, I highly recommend putting wood floors in your Primary Bedroom. We always like putting a rug under the bed, as it grounds the room and helps define the bed area. Having a rug help define the space still works if you already have carpet in the bedroom, we just prefer wood floors. If you really love the softness of carpet, get an extra soft carpet bound as a rug instead of wall to wall carpet. We did this in our upstairs living room, and it has worked great!
3. Bedding - Unless you have really enjoy taking a lot of time to make your bed and wash your sheets, I would select low-maintenance bedding. If you know me, you know that I despise duvets (they rarely sit right with the insert and they are annoying to wash and put back on the bed) and I don’t like top sheets either (they are always getting tangled). So, on my bed I have a fitted sheet, a coverlet, and a comforter. I have loved how easy and comfortable my new bedding selections are. Easy to wash, easy to make the bed, and I’m never going back.
As far as accessory pillows go, I love a simple, long lumbar pillow. I don’t mind a couple of sham pillows, and then a couple more accent pillows, but for myself, I like the ease of just the one lumbar pillow. For my space, I wanted a combination of bedding and pillows that would be easy to maintain and keep looking nice every day. This has worked out really well, and is comfortable, beautiful, and not a headache to maintain.
4. Window Coverings - Quality window coverings should be a priority in any bedroom, but especially in a Primary Bedroom. They add softness, they make the room feel cozy, and obviously the function is a must. This is my first time paying for tailored window coverings in my room and not using self-hem curtains from Ikea (which can also be great - don’t get me wrong) and I’m so happy I did. I highly recommend splurging on the window coverings (mine were done by Uptown Drapes).
5. Lighting - In a bedroom, we love to use layered lighting. This means that you have an overhead light, mid-level lighting, and task lighting. This lighting set-up allows you to have a lot of flexibility to adjust the light as you need it throughout the day. Having a light source that you can turn off while in bed is definitely a must. Sometimes, we place a light switch inconspicuously next to the bed, and always we have switchable lamps or sconces next to the bed.
A few notes about my bedroom sources:
Below this section, you’ll be able to shop some of the sources from my bedroom, and I just wanted to mention a few things about the items in my bedroom for you to keep in mind. The bed is one of my favorite pieces in the house and is extremely high-quality. It’s made in California, and was totally worth every penny.
The rug is from a company called Loloi, and we have used it in several of our projects. It’s a favorite among our team, and if this color doesn’t work for you, all of the colors in this collection are great!
The comforter washes incredibly well, and is made of the prettiest linen. I can’t recommend it enough. The sheets are truly wrinkle-free, and the white is extremely crisp.
The bench at the end of the bed is an antique, so we don’t have a source for that, sorry!
Finally, both the side chair and the floor lamp are from our friends at Foundation Goods. For availability and pricing, please contact them directly.
Shop my Primary Bedroom
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