The Colour Collections – How To Use Colour in the Bedroom

I think a lot of people play it safe in the bedroom (alright, alright, calm down you lot in the back row there!) and tend to keep their color scheme quite neutral.

For years I lived in magnolia-painted houses and thought I was going all Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen when I added red cushions and curtains in my bedroom and a rug that looked like it was the love child of Mr Blobby and Sponge Bob Square Pants.

As you probably know, these days I like to add color to every room and the bedroom is no exception. I get that a lot of people want to keep the bedroom a calm and relaxing place to retreat but I find waking up in a bedroom full of color more invigorating, mood-boosting, and inspiring.

I do tend to use a lot of white in my home, but I have to offset that with pops of color and always try to stick with 2/3 tones in each room. I find all-white rooms quite clinical and uninspiring and they actually have the opposite effect on me, they can sometimes stress me out!

Probably because I also hate housework but my kids seem to have consistently muddy hands (?!) and see the blank canvas as an opportunity to be creative. Think felt tips…

You can add pops of color in the bedroom in the form of artwork, rugs, pictures, curtains, or paint. I find the bedroom the easiest to experiment in (I said calm down in the back row! ).

A bit like how we dress and see fashion, we sometimes decorate to seek approval from others and as the bedroom is often off-limits, this is where you can really let go and try out different colors and trends.

How to use colour in the bedroom

As I said previously, find 2 or 3 tones that you love and stick to them. I’ve compiled some of my favorite colors to use in the bedroom to give you inspiration.

Dark Navy Blue

For me, dark blue can be just as calming as white. It envelopes you in coziness and is a superb shade for the walls and bedding. It is also such a versatile color, you can match it with mustard, pink, green, or just keep it simple with white.

Pink

Possibly my favorite color for the bedroom is pink! So many people think that pink in the bedroom should be just for girls but I completely disagree.

Pink is the color of nurture, of empathy, and kindness, so what better place to have this color than the bedroom? There are so many different variations of pink (as with any colour), that it is easy to pick a shade or tone that suits you and, like blue, can be paired with many different shades.

Emerald Green

There are so many different greens out there; mint, khaki, olive, and sage, but emerald green is consistently my favorite color and my blog post about using dark emerald green in the living room is my most read!

I think green is very reassuring and the fact it is such a popular shade is probably down to very primeval reasons, it makes us feel connected with nature.

Emerald Green is such a statement color, it is probably best to keep your bedroom quite neutral when using it by adding lots of earthy tones and wood furniture. If you feel the room needs another color to break up the green, you need to look no further than pairing it with pink.

Mustard

A bit like pink, mustard seems to be the color that is friends with everyone but is a little bit guilty of taking the limelight when not introduced as the main one! I’m not sure I could imagine a room completely mustard but it is fabulous for adding a bright and cheerful color to a room that already has white/grey/navy blue tones in it.

Either use it in your soft furnishings, bedding, or color block mustard on your walls. You could even paint your ceiling mustard to give your room an instant cheerful lift, read my blog post about the “fifth” wall here. 

Lilac

Now, I’ll admit it, lilac has never been one of my favorite colors, I’ve always found it a bit insipid. It brings back childhood memories of being a Girl Guide and helping out in a local nursing home, surrounded by lilac and violet soft furnishings and dear old women wearing knitted lilac cardigans whilst drenched in the smell of Tweed perfume.

But I’m beginning to come around with this version of purple. Purple itself can be a very luxurious colour and lilac is its more affordable (and subtler) cousin.

Plus, lilac can be a fabulous color if you are looking to move away from an all-white bedroom and add a bit of interest. Pair it with jewel colors like amethyst purple or ruby red and you’re on to a winner!

Rust

With autumn approaching and everyone (apart from me it seems) wishing the warm summer weather away so they can cozy up and put their omnipresent wood burners on, rust or burnt orange is the perfect color for the season.

Earthy and bohemian, it is a neutral color that packs a punch and works perfectly with green and blue.  

Grey

And finally, grey! Although I don’t really class grey as a colour as such, more an essential neutral. It feels a bit like the black sheep, caught between the two siblings, white and black.

I felt the need to include it as it is such a versatile shade and can be used in pretty much all color schemes. Grey is very good at quietly taking the back seat when you introduce a brighter, bolder hue, providing a fantastic contrast.  

Grey can also help bring out the beauty of natural materials, be the integral color for a Scandinavian scheme, or even be the main backdrop creating a blank canvas to create your colorful bedroom.

I could go on and on with colors and bore you all to death, but I think these 6 colors are always going to be popular in the bedroom even when trends come and go.

There’s something for everyone if you choose one of these shades, even for the color adverse among you. Which color would you go for?