Designers' Best Tips and Tricks for a Beautiful Primary Bedroom (2024)

Designer Isabel Ladd is a self-proclaimed maximalist and a lover of what she calls "designer camo"—layering a dizzying variety of prints over each other—so of course the primary bedroom she designed for House Beautiful's 2023 Whole Home is over-the-top. Wallpaper illustrated with exotic birds, bamboo, and an abundance of florals provides a playful backdrop for Ladd to build on: "The whole aesthetic is 'more is more; less is a bore,'" she explains.

Katie Hodges wanted the primary bedroom of her Hollywood Hills home to feel like an Italian hotel. The butterscotch-and-saffron color palette is "rich and soothing," she says.

The bed in the bedroom of this San Francisco condo practically fills up the entire space, but it's worth it. "It makes you feel like you want to fall into the bed and get engulfed in it," says designer Linda Hayslett. The curves and the performance velvet fabric of the headboard make it irresistibly cocooning.

Stepping into your bedroom should feel like a departure from real life, like a vacation. It really can be a place of total relaxation. Bring on the tropical getaway vibes as Breeze Giannasio Interiors did in this Maui home by adding a mural inspired by the relaxing natural surroundings.

If your bed frame is as fabulous as this velvet-upholstered, channel-tufted masterpiece, it would be a shame to cover it up with pillows, bolsters, and blankets. Keep your bedding simple, as Christopher Kent did here, and opt for a minimal coverlet to let the bed shine.

If your primary bedroom isn't as big as you'd like, consider installing a Murphy bed to save space. Ignore everything you thought you knew about these humble fold-up beds. They can be stylish and add color and interest to a space, the way this one designed by Michael Chen does.

Designer Emily Janak's primary goal when designing the primary bedroom in her Jackson Hole, Wyoming, cabin was to make it feel as luxurious as possible. Cue an indulgent Loro Piana bed curtains and a West Elm bed frame that she had reupholstered in mohair.

No room for wall sconces or table lamps? No problem. You have a ceiling perfect for a pair of pendant lights. The rattan Atelier Vime ones in the bedroom of this Orinda, California, home by designer Lauren Nelson provide light and texture that amplify its warmth.

An RV may not seem like the right place for a sanctuary-like primary bedroom, but you deserve good design even on the road. Here, in Karlee and Weston Marsh's renovated RV, wood panels cover the original mirrored closet doors, and a custom headboard from a local Michigan mill adds warmth to the all-white space.

Bedrooms are so much more than just a place to sleep. To make the most of your space, consider placing a bench or pair of armchairs at the end of the bed as designer Kari Arendsen did in Hillary and Chase Daniels' California home. You can use your new sitting area as a reading nook and handy drop-zone or even as a place for your little ones to hang out while you get ready for the day.

To accentuate the four-poster bed in this primary bedroom, Thomas Jayne added a subtle rectangle of light blue paint to the wall to frame it and coordinate with blue accents in the bedding.

High-gloss jewel tones adorn most of the walls in a Brooklyn Tudor designed by Katie Curtis, but she took a softer approach in the primary bedroom. A custom mural in a soothing, nature-inspired color palette gives the homeowners a break from the richer hues in the rest of the home.

Too many walls, not enough cohesion? Take inspiration from this Pennsylvania bedroom designed by Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey. Chipper yellow gingham wallpaper by Scalamandré unifies the many angles of this attic bedroom.

If you happen to be blessed with towering ceilings like ones in the primary bedroom of our 2022 Whole Home, take advantage of them by accentuating them. Mark Williams Design and architect Yong Pak set an extra-tall headboard against ceiling-height curtains to draw the eye up toward the stunning paneled ceiling.

Whether you're reading in bed or getting ready for a night out, you want bedroom lighting that can adapt to multiple settings or moods. Take a note from Society Social, who designed our 2023 Whole Home's guest suite, and use multiple sources. Sconces allow for soft, in-bed direct lighting, while dual table lamps cast a wider glow when more visibility is needed.

Purple and yellow may seem too high contrast for a calming bedroom, but when you adjust the tone and saturation, they're perfect color complements. This main bedroom, designed by Toledo Geller for our 2021 Whole Home, proves that an ochre wallcovering works beautifully with deep brownish purples and earthy pinks.

Take inspiration from the bedroom in this Long Island home by Danielle Fennoy and forgo patterns and prints in favor of solid swaths of color. The cobalt throw breaks up the all-white bedding, while the yellow throw pillow coordinates perfectly with an equally sunny task lamp.

Pattern play is best achieved when you use a common through line to tie them all together. From the geometric curtains to the tiger-stripe accent pillows, each of the patterns in the jungle-inspired bedroom of Vern Yip's vacation home references the bedspread.

In this bedroom, a mix of warm-toned browns and reds craft a cozy color palette that's ideal for a cocooning sleep space. By choosing shades that are on the same side of the color wheel, you don't have to worry about them coordinating or looking too busy.