How to Create a Romantic Bedroom
There is ONE room in your house that you should be able to close the door at the end of the day, or even the middle of the day, and be able to cut out the noise of the day, whether it be work, kids or both. This room of course, is your bedroom. It should be your sanctuary. It should be the one room in your house that you can close your door and your partner and you can relax, unwind and have fun! If you don’t find your bedroom relaxing, here are 10 tips to make it your romantic sanctuary.
10 Tips to Make your Bedroom Romantic
Declutter your bedroom
Its challenging to relax and feel romantic in a room that is full of clutter. Perhaps there’s a laundry basket in the corner that needs to be folded, a stack of bills to be paid sitting on the dresser, and gasp, your briefcase or computer bag are stored in the corner of the room beside your bed. Perhaps you added an office to your bedroom during the pandemic and have been meaning to move it out of the bedroom. Now’s the time to move it.
It’s difficult to feel at peace in a room that has constant reminders of unfinished chores or work that needs to be done. Take an hour or two to really purge your room of any items that don’t belong in your bedroom. Find a permanent spot for them so they don’t creep back inside when you’re in a hurry.
Removing the office and replacing it with a trendy chair for a reading nook gives a totally different vibe to your bedroom. What do you need to remove from your bedroom to create romance?
The focus should be on the bed
When you’re designing a space, the first rule of thumb is to focus on the focal point of the room. This will set the pace for the rest of your room design. For some rooms, it can be an amazing view, a piece of architecture of the room like a fireplace or archway for example, it can be an amazing rug you picked up from one of your world travels or a stunning piece of artwork. However, for your bedroom, the bed needs to be the focal point of the room. It needs to be the star! It doesn’t mean you can’t have an amazing view or artwork, as another focal point, but the bed should also be a stunning focal point which conveys relaxing and retiring.
There are differing opinions in the design world about whether white bedrooms can be romantic or not. Designer Jillian Harris has created this gorgeous & romantic & frilly white bedroom, above. Her design includes an oversized soft pink headboard, pretty velvet bedding, pillows, candles, and ambience lighting. Personally, I feel she created a soft romantic bedroom where you can shut out the day and relax here at night.
Kate from Southern Home & Hospitality made their primary bedroom a stunning retreat that checks all the boxes for a romantic bedroom. Check out all her photos here to get inspired by Southern Home & Hospitality.
This velvet headboard above, along with the exotic woods and accent pieces, creates a fun and exotic vibe to this romantic bedroom.
Your bed should the focal point of the room. It needs to be the center of attention, and in most cases, the center of the room. Choose a headboard that makes the bedroom soft and inviting. If you have space, canopy beds make quite the statement.
Whatever your design style is, boho, contemporary, southern, traditional, coastal, midcentury modern, Scandinavian, zen, transitional, the design principle that your bed should be the focal point of your room, still holds regardless of your style and taste.
Related Read: 5 Important Tips to Consider when Decorating a Room
Add a Romantic Fireplace to Your Bedroom
Nothing spells romance in a room more than a roaring fire. Perhaps you can’t put a roaring fire in your bedroom, but perhaps you can install a gas fireplace or an electric one with a soft warm glow would work instead.
Something to consider if you have the space.
The Importance of Curtains for a Romantic Look
Curtains on your window or around your bed as a canopy, creates a soft romantic feel in the room. Curtains for your windows, softens the harsh look of windows.
Canopy beds are romantic, and creates your own getaway escape away from the to do’s of the day. Can’t fit a canopy bed in your bedroom? Create your own with this quick & easy DIY canopy bed using Ikea products.
Read: How to Create a Canopy Bed
Bedding
Bedding can make or break the look of a room. The wrong type of bedding can make a room feel like a hotel room or student housing. Some of the prepackaged bedding can also give off the wrong ambience.
Bedding needs to look and feel romantic for the homeowners. Some people like the look and feel of satin and think its very romantic, while others like cotton. There is no right or wrong, but your bedding should be a fresh look, one in which you both feel comfortable, and fit into the overall design of your room.
Artwork aka NO family pictures
You want a stress free bedroom, one that doesn’t remind you of the pressures of the day. You need to remove ALL family photos from your bedroom. Pictures of relatives, in-laws, and even kids, yes! the kids. Keep your pictures about the two of you, or places that you’ve been to together, or your bucket list items or topics that interest both of you.
Lighting
Glaring overhead lighting is anything BUT romantic. If you have the standard builder grade boob light in the middle of your bedroom, change it out for something prettier or dramatic. It should fit into your bedroom decor theme. Jillian Harris, in her romantic bedroom, replaced the builder grade light for a decorative beaded light. We see in this moody bedroom right a dramatic light fixture that adds, can we say it, drama to the room.
Adding potlights is also another way to add different lighting to a room.
The lighting in your bedroom can significantly impact the mood that you are creating. Switch out builder grade overhead lights for romantic chandeliers. Add potlights to your room if possible. Put dimmer switches on your light switches so that you can control how much or how little of light you want in your room. Your bedside table lamps should also reflect the mood of the room you are wanting to create.
Paint the Room a Moody Color
Dark moody colors convenes romance. It gives a romantic feel to a room as opposed to a bright or all white room. This bedroom, right, has it all. It had a moody brown textured ceiling, textured wallpaper as an accent wall, a furry faux throw, and the room is tied together with a satin bedspread that has all the light and dark browns that are throughout the room. Not to mention the pretty romantic view outside.
Also, notice the lighting in this room. A few potlights in the ceiling on dimmers and a romantic hanging light to create ambience. Not to mention plants and candles.
Read: Best Accent Wall Color Trends
Adding Plants Decreases Stress & Increases Ambience
Indoor plants, undoubtedly enhance the appearance of a room, but studies also show that they reduce stress, boost our moods, increase creativity, and eliminate air pollutants. Adding a plant or two to the bedroom creates romantic ambience and reduces stress.
Did you know that there are indoor plants that are romantic?
There are several indoor plants that are considered the language of love. Roses of course is the obvious first choice as the flower of love, with lavender and orchids a close second and third choice. All of these plants, which make great gifts, can do well indoors with the proper size of plant, lighting and space.
Roses, lavender and orchids are considered the top three plants that symbolize love. All plants can be grown indoors with the right conditions of course.
Read: How to Grow Lavender Indoors – Better Homes & Gardens
Add Ambience to your room: Candles, Rose Petals & Aromas
And last, but certainly not least, add ambience to your room. Ambience can take many forms but the easiest way to add it to your room is through candles, lots of candles, rose petals on the bed, your favorite aromas and perhaps a bottle of wine.
Need help planning your next room makeover? Choosing a paint color or selecting the perfect furniture & accessories?
You have some ideas but you’re just not sure what way to go. I help busy homeowners, just like you, to style their house to make it a stunning retreat, where they can live and enjoy their home. I help homeowners, make money beyond their wildest expectations from the sale of their house by guiding them when they’re getting their house ready to sell.
Check out my online design & color consult services here
My design advise to the world is … styling your home is the BIG secret in having an Instagram worthy home as opposed to a ho hum look. — My superpower is about styling to make your home stunning all while adding value to your home at the same time!
Hi! I’m Debi Collinson. Designer. Color Consultant & Real Estate Investor. I grew up looking at blue prints, going on construction sites and helping my dad, an Engineer|General Contractor|Co-Owner of a Design|Build|Engineering firm pick out paint colors for his buildings. Since 2006, I have been styling & staging hundreds of homes to make them look like they belong in a magazine page whether the client is styling to stay or staging to sell.
In my spare time, LOL, I buy “fixer uppers” to fix up & either sell for a healthy profit or to rent. I’m currently looking for my 10th “fixer upper.” Sign up to receive my e-mails of how to make your home stunning, how to sell your house for top dollar AND how to become financially independent one fixer upper at a time! Read my full story including my design credentials here.