Y’all, this is way over due. We’ve been in our house for over three years now and I have decorated and re-decorated multiple rooms in our house but have yet to focus on our bedroom. I feel like this is common. We want to make sure our living room, dining room, kitchen and even guest bedroom are beautifully decorated so that our homes are nice and warm and cozy and welcoming for our guests when they come over. Why do we (and by we, I mean me) neglect our personal space? Our sanctuary. Our haven. A place where we end every jam-packed day and start fresh the next morning. Shouldn’t we (me) make this space that is only for us just as beautiful and warm and cozy for us?! Yes, yes we should. (Thanks for listening to my pep talk.)

So now is the time. It’s happening. But I want to get it right. And while this approach should be done for every room when you are decorating/designing, I am being very mindful and really thinking this through so I get it right for us. Before we begin, let’s take a look at some before photos. As you can see, it’s been through several renditions but never really thought through and fully, cohesively designed/decorated. Let’s jump into my process.

Brain Dump (gathering ideas for your bedroom design)
If you don’t already brain dump on a normal basis, consider this your free, 2-second counseling session. I brain dump all the time! It is so helpful for your mental state especially if you struggle with anxiety. It really is just dumping everything that is floating around in your brain onto paper (or a screen if you are super tech-y). It, a) gets everything out of your head, and b) allows you to visualize all those thoughts, ideas, to do’s, etc so you can then prioritize and start tackling those tasks and to dos. Seriously, you should try it. Ok, back to the designing and decorating process. I brain dump here too. I get out all of my ideas and thoughts on how I want the space to look and function. Don’t worry about what comes out, just write everything down as it comes to you. Just because you write an idea down doesn’t mean you have to implement it. Sometimes we have bad ideas. Or sometimes you think of a better idea. And guess what, you can just scratch it off your list. Don’t worry about what is coming out of your head and don’t think too much about it. Just write it down. (Side note: I often do this as I’m sitting in the space.)

Inspiration page where ideas are jotted down and inspiration photos are added — Inspiration page of the design board where you can jot down your thoughts/ideas and attach inspiration photos.

2. Inspo Pictures (photos of bedroom design and decor)

After I have a brain dumped and have a better understanding of what I am wanting in the space, I start gathering inspiration photos. Pinterest is my favorite place to go for this. Anything that catches my eye, I pin it. Again, don’t think too much on this - just pin what you like! After you feel like you’ve spent days scrolling Pinterest (and if you’re anything like me, going down rabbit holes reading articles and “window shopping”) go to the board you pinned them to and see if you can find some consistencies. Were you gravitating to a certain style or color? Did you happen to pin the same photo more than once? If so, there must be something about that space that kept speaking to you. You should really be able to see a clear picture of what you are wanting from the space. This is also a good time to unpin anything that might be out of place now. Maybe you really like a photo of room but after pinning some more you now realize that it doesn’t flow with your other pins.

It’s at this point that I start downloading and adding my favorite pins to my design board. (You can snag my free design board template here!)

Ideas & Inspiration Page of Design Board

3. Determine a Color Palette

By pulling my favorite pins and uploading to my design board I can easily see what colors I am gravitating towards. You may also have something already in your room that you know you want to use (a rug, a piece of art, a throw pillow), so make sure to pull colors for that too. You could also take a photo of it and add to your design board. I knew I wanted the color sage green in my space. I had just bought a quilt in this color, so while that color wasn’t evident in my inspo pictures, I made sure to add it to my color palette. If you have Canva and would like my free design board, Canva makes it very easy to pull colors from your inspo pictures. If you are using the free PDF version, you can simply color in your color palette. And if worse comes to work, simply write the colors you want to use in each circle (sage green, cream, dark gray).

4. Mood Board

Next is the fun part (at least for me). Let’s start “shopping” and setting up a mood board for your bedroom design. At this phase, you want to pretend you have no budget and money is no object. I know, I know, this seems totally backwards, but trust me. If you allow yourself to “shop” for things at any price point, you get a much clearer idea of what you want your space to look like. Limiting yourself to items at a certain price point can inhibit your creativeness and your true desires and will make you start adjusting your design based on this. Once you start “shopping” you can download images from websites and upload to my free design board, or you can print photos or cut out of magazines or catalogues and paste to the mood board.

Mood Board for Primary Bedroom Design — Mood Board for Decorating Primary Bedroom

I already have the bed, the lamps and the artwork over the bed, so I just found those images online and downloaded them and then went “shopping” for the other items I wanted. Then I laid it all out so you can really get a visual of how all these pieces will look together.

Mood Board for Primary Bedroom Sitting Area — Mood Board for Decorating Sitting Area in Primary Bedroom

We also have a sitting area in our bedroom, so I did a separate mood board for this area.

Mood Board for Vanity Decor in Primary Bedroom — Mood Board for Decorating Vanity in Primary Bedroom

And lastly, I wanted to add a mood board for my vanity that is also in our bedroom. Just to make sure everything was flowing looking good together.

As you’re “shopping” for things for your mood board, you can also add them to your design board. This is another good way to visually see everything together making sure everything is cohesive.

Primary Bedroom Design Board — Design Board for Primary Bedroom

5. Furniture Layout

Now let’s make sure all these pieces will actually fit in the room and determine what the best arrangement/placement is. It’s much easier to first do this on paper rather than sweet talk your husband into helping you move heavy furniture all over the room. (Trust me on this one.) I like to use SketchUp (the free version) because it’s three dimensional and I can make sure I am scaling everything correctly. You can also just sketch out your design on a piece of graph paper. It’s just very important to measure everything (walls, ceilings, windows, doors, furniture, etc) and do your best to keep everything in scale.

Primary Bedroom Furniture Layout — Furniture Layout for Primary Bedroom Design

6. Budget (the least fun part of redecorating your bedroom)

Ok, your design and ideas and inspiration are all mapped out and you should have a really good idea of what you want your space to look like. Now, can you afford it? I know we pretended like money was no object and “shopped” to our heart’s content (wasn’t it fun!) but now is the time we have to get serious (and un-fun). Be realistic in your budget. You cannot furnish and redecorate a whole room for $300. At least I can’t. Determine what you can or want to spend on the space. Keep in mind if you are needing to buy furniture as those are big ticket items. Once you determine your budget, go through and start pricing out all of your products you just shopped for. I do this in Excel since it will total everything for you. More than likely, you will be over budget. So, what pieces can you find dupes for? What pieces are deal-breakers and you just have to have? You may have to do more research and more “shopping” to now get your dream room within budget. That’s ok. Because now you know exactly what you want and exactly what you may be willing to splurge on and are ok with adjusting in other furniture or decor pieces.

7. Share

If you can, it’s now a good time to share your design board with your friends or family. I always share first with my husband. I mean, he is also living here, right? But sometimes we are so deep in the weeds we can’t see the forrest for the trees. Sharing and talking about your ideas and what you want to do to the space and buy for the space can sometimes bring more clarity to your design. Maybe they think about something you have not thought about. Or maybe they give a new perspective on how they use the space. Sharing can also sometimes help with spending/budgeting. Again, we are on cloud 9 in design world. Sharing with someone else may bring new perspective on that $300 throw pillow you are in love with. Talking things through and collaborating you may remember that there is a really nice dresser in the basement that’s not being used because you turned your guest bedroom into an office. Bounce these ideas around. Sleep on it and then go in and tweak your design board and/or budget if needed.

8. Shop (the most fun part of redecorating your bedroom)

Ok, now the real fun begins. Start spending that money!! :) And that is where I currently am in the design stage. I am now ready to start shopping and ordering. Probably best to start with furniture as they are your big ticket items and also may take some time for shipment and delivery. If there are other pieces you know you want and may sell out or maybe you found them on sale, go ahead and purchase those now and you can just hold on to them until you are ready to start styling (#10). Otherwise, you may want to wait until you are further along to shop for those finishing touches. Make sure you do not purchase all of your decor from one store or your room may end up looking like Target catalogue. Visit some antique shops or maybe other local boutiques and shops in your area and look for interesting, one-of-a-kind pieces to add to your space. This will help give it a more lived-in, comfortable feeling. (Stay tuned for a future article all about how and where to shop for home decor and furnishings!)

As I mentioned, this is the stage I am now in for completing my bedroom. Stay tuned and subscribe to my newsletter so you will be notified when the bedroom is complete and more tips, tricks and photos are added. Happy planning and shopping! See you soon!