Primary Bedroom Ideas: Decor Tips And Tricks

Your bedroom is your personal space and it should feel like it! If you're not satisfied with the aesthetic, we'll help you out with a comprehensive list of main bedroom ideas, from furniture to the wall art to ceiling ideas.

How Can I Make My Primary Bedroom Beautiful?

First of all, before we launch into bedroom decor ideas, what is a primary bedroom? The primary bedroom is the main bedroom in the house, usually for the head of the household.

It usually features a bed, private bathroom, additional closet space, storage dresser, area rug, vanity, bedside tables or nightstands, accent chairs, bedroom lighting and more.

Primary Bedroom Decorating Ideas Everyone Should Know

Need some ideas to make your bedroom feel like you? Get inspired by these decorating trends!

Many of which are DIY home decor ideas.

Find Your Aesthetics

What is your decorating style? Do you lean toward a specific design like contemporary or coastal?

Modern primary bedroom ideas aren't limited to just one type of style. Play around with different types of decor. If your room is already boho, try pulling in a few pieces with a more rustic feel. Various aesthetics can add dimension to your room and set your bedroom design apart.

Be Intentional With Colors

Think quickly. Which are your favorite colors? You might just land on your bedroom color. The right color scheme can add contrast to neutrals and keep your room bright and bold.

Different paint colors can create different effects in rooms. Blue is the most relaxing color, but yellows and greens are linked to a great night's sleep. Bring in color not just through the bedroom walls but through the bedding and luxe throw pillows, furniture, area rugs and more.

Lighter colors will make your primary bedroom feel larger. You may want to stick with a neutral color palette as opposed to lots of color. Neutrals can give you more of a sense of calmness and provide visual relief by balancing color. However, pillows aren’t just great for adding texture – they’re an inexpensive way to add pops of color to your main bedroom. For example, you can balance brightly colored pillows with white walls. One trick is to add a bunch of pillows of the same color, but in all different shades. Plop a couple of uniquely shaped pillows on your bed and a throw blanket and you could have yourself a totally new room.

Try An Accent Wall

Is your room a bit bland or lacking color? Spice things up by adding an accent wall, or a wall painted a different color, to create a focal point. Accent walls can add flair, color and the chance to play with shape repetition. Accent walls typically feature bright colors that stand out from the ones around them. You may want to test out a wallpaper design you love but don’t necessarily want to use to cover your entire bedroom. Having a wall that stands out can help an entire room stand out.

Add A Sitting Area

Besides the bed, do you have another place to relax in your bedroom? If you have extra space, turn that corner into a seating area. Envision how you'll use that area, whether to read or relax and drink your coffee in the morning. Visitors in your room will no longer have to stand or awkwardly squat at the edge of the bed – they can relax in your seating area.

Lighting Is Key

If your primary bedroom doesn't have the best natural lighting, incorporate different lighting trends to brighten up the room. Fun bedside table lamps or beautiful chandeliers can enhance the mood by making a room appear bigger and more inviting.

Statement lighting like recessed fixtures, pendants, table lamps and sconces are popular lighting trends. You may also want to add LED reading lights to draw the eye and give yourself a great way to support your nightly reading habit.

Form And Function: Use Multipurpose Furniture

You can never have too much storage. Multipurpose furniture can add function and style. Look into various form and function pieces to help get rid of clutter such as a platform bed to utilize more storage space, a bench with storage, floating shelves and more.

Using a storage piece in place of your headboard can also optimize the space in your bedroom. It can save you time and room and maximize the usability if you have a small main bedroom. Built-in shelving in your closet can also double as seating. (By the way, if you are lucky enough to have a walk-in closet in your primary bedroom, take advantage of the space!)

Change Up The Nightstands

You might want to consider some creative side table options such as floating shelves to save space in a small bedroom. You can also use a bar cart, repurpose a pouf, add faux marble blocks, a chair, baskets, built-ins or even extend a headboard from side to side to use as a nightstand. Lean into your creative nature to choose the right nightstand for your bedroom.

Mix And Match: Play With Patterns And Texture

If your current room is a bit bland, consider adding design elements with distinct textures and patterns that can add dimension to your primary bedroom. Consider maximalism patterns and different textures. Patterns don't always have to match – you can mix them on an accent wall, in pillows and in your furniture.

Consider adding textures like velvets, silks and textures. Adding a silk throw pillow or a velvet chair to your primary bedroom can completely change the look of a room.

Quick tip: Start with about three different patterns and use colors that are similar in intensity.

Customize Your Headboard

You don't need to stick to a wood headboard or even a headboard of one color or a traditional shape. Consider building or upholstering your headboard. It can add a pop of color to bedding, break up an empty wall or interest to the room. Another option is to upholster your headboard, which leads to a cozier feel and helps make the bed the focal point of the room. 

The Perfect Area Rug

A whole room can feel more put together with a well-chosen area rug. Choose the right style for you, whether it's a contemporary, Victorian or traditional area rug. A bold pattern or color, an interesting material or construction (from shag to jute) or an interesting shape can complement tan or gray hues in your bedroom.

Decorate With Wall Art

Wall art has been used to spice up barren walls for decades. You can pull in patterns through a gallery wall or through pieces that complement the color scheme you’ve chosen for your bedroom. Gallery walls are a perfect way to incorporate memories and mementos that are significant to you. You can place family photos on your gallery wall or even items that are important to you that aren’t in picture frames. Gallery walls are a unique way to make your art stand out and incorporate what you love into your primary bedroom design.

You may also want to use one large focal piece or mirrors as wall art in your main bedroom.

Distract With Mirrors

Adding a large mirror can make a room feel more spacious and open. For example, you could lean a tall mirror against the corner of your bedroom to easily check your outfit for the day. You may want to consider smaller, dresser-top mirrors that can allow you to look at your upper half or check your hair or makeup.

The more mirrors you have in your primary bedroom, the bigger the room will feel. You can also add mirrored furniture pieces such as mirrored dressers and nightstands for their eye-catching qualities or even opt for a mirrored headboard. They’ll reflect the colors around them, enhancing the color scheme you’ve chosen.

Decorate The Ceiling

Don't forget about the ceiling! Painting or applying wallpaper to the ceiling can bring in visual interest where you least expect it. White walls and a patterned or painted ceiling can create an illusion of higher ceilings, add dimension and represent your accent wall.

For example, you can opt for a more natural look and fake the look of a reclaimed natural wood ceiling. You could add shiplap to the ceiling to add dimension or choose to make your ceiling your “accent wall” using wallpaper with a pop of color or a bright design. You could also play around with hints of metallic in the pattern of the wallpaper on your ceiling.

Decide Curtains Or No Curtains

You can add dimension and drama to walls with curtains or go with the opposite choice – removing curtains altogether. You might want to ditch the curtains if the view is excellent, the window trim or shape is interesting or when you have little natural light.

If you choose curtains, you can add interest with wild patterns or visual interest. You can also choose sheer or lighter curtains to allow for more natural light into the room.

Add Greenery

Not only can decorating with flowers and indoor houseplants beautify your primary bedroom, they can also offer health benefits. They can boost your mood, reduce stress and increase productivity. On a more tangible level, greenery can even balance indoor humidity levels, create oxygen and filter pollutants.

You can place houseplants on tables, on windowsills, hang them or place them on the floor. You can purchase low maintenance plants (such as snake plants) if you're don't have a green thumb.

Rethink Your Layout

You may also want to consider changing up the layout of the bedroom. For example, you may want to swap your dresser and bed location and explore feng shui. Feng shui concerns itself with how you interact with your environment and how it maximizes natural energy flow, also called chi. "Feng" means wind and "shui" means water.

Feng shui placement components are wood, metal, earth, water and fire. Wood, represented through plants and wooden furniture, symbolizes growth and vitality. Metal, which symbolizes logic and intelligence, is represented through the use of metal frames and sculptures. Earth represents balance and can be represented by landscape imagery or artwork. Water represents serenity through reflective surfaces like mirrors or marble. Fire, or passion, can be reflected in candles.

The bagua map, an energy map, can help analyze energy in your primary bedroom.

The Bottom Line: Decorate The Primary Bedroom With Your Personality

Do any of these primary bedroom decorating ideas resonate with you? The most beautiful bedroom designs should make you feel right at home. Your own personal sense of style should influence all the areas mentioned: aesthetics, colors, accent walls, sitting areas, lighting, multipurpose furniture, nightstands, patterns and texture, headboards, area rugs, wall art, mirrors and even the ceilings.

How will you make your bedroom a place that fits you? Read through our homeowner tips for more home decor inspiration.