House to home: Decorating by mood dictates approach to the bedroom

Decorating a bedroom is a personal pursuit. This is a private room, where you spend important hours resting and relaxing, and the mood you create should always enhance your feeling of well-being. Ask yourself, Is this a room you want to relax in, or do you want a bit of drama? Do you want it to be cheerful or have a nostalgic feel?

These four moods will help you choose the colors and furnishings.

The most expensive piece of furniture is the bed, so choose that first. If your budget is tight, try putting in a basic frame and building your own headboard. It can be as simple as a piece of plywood or fiberboard, cut, framed and painted glossy white or black. Or upholster the board with some padding and fabric, attached with staples to the back. Nail in upholstery tacks for a tufted look. Spend your money on a comfortable mattress and the best sheets you can afford.

Another helpful tip for the bedroom is to choose appropriate lighting. Make sure you have good reading light, and also ambient light to make you look beautiful.

This bedroom was designed for a young teenage girl who loves ballet. The black-and-white textured wallpaper is bold and theatrical, a good foil for pink bedding and accessories. The side walls are toned down, with thinly striped paper that highlights the gray headboard.

Today’s lighting is very exciting; there’s lots of variation in ceiling lights that show off traditional style with a modern twist. Crystal chandeliers are not just for the dining room anymore — their sparkle is illuminating every room from the entrance hall to bath and boudoir. The modern approach is to wrap a plastic shade around the fixture, allowing some of the crystals to show below the rim. This eye-catching light balances the drama of the bold wallpaper, and adds another note of theater and fun to a room fit for a young lady to dream in.

Q: I have a 10-by-12-foot bedroom with one wall of louvered closet doors, deep baseboards, wide window casements and moulding at the ceiling. All the woodwork and the ceiling are painted off-white (matches the trim throughout the house). I am removing the blue wallpaper and wonder if the room would look bigger if the walls were painted white as well. The furniture is mostly antique darker wood. I’d use color in the bedding. — Nona

A: The dark furniture will have more of an impact on the size of the room than the wall color. Creamy white is a great backdrop for the rich, dark patina of antique furniture, and you could carry the all-white theme with heirloom bedding to create a peaceful and nostalgic mood. However, a hint of color is always lovely on a bedroom wall; something reflective and warm, such as pastel peach or creamy coffee shades, will add another dimension, and the white trim will keep it fresh and airy. I would keep the bedding light too, but this is the place to add a pattern and textures to really bring the room alive. It can be as subtle as a soft mohair blanket or as nostalgic as a bleached-out patchwork quilt.

Contact writer: House2home@debbietravis.com