In renovating a traditional house in Nashville, Ray Booth, a principal at McAlpine, paid special attention to contemporizing the primary bedroom. “We wanted to bring a youthful and light-filled palette to what we inherited, which was a dark and heavy space,” he says.
A particular boost to the vibe is provided by Valeria Nascimento’s Blossom Burst plaster wall sculpture, along with a six-armed chandelier with white shades and a Dmitriy & Co. bed upholstered in a Christopher Hyland sage fabric.
The pair of German Biedermeier chests, 1820–40, hark back to the home’s traditional roots, while the Visual Comfort table lamps inhabit a middle ground, their trad silhouettes offset by a mod white porcelain finish.
“We always want to find some sense of peacefulness and tranquility in a bedroom,” Booth says. “The feel should be ethereal and otherworldly.”
In a modern home overlooking Northern California’s Ross Valley, Catherine Kwong took advantage of the leafy vista through the windows of the upstairs bedroom.
“We tried to create a space that felt like it was nestled up in the treetops,” the designer explains. “We complemented the foliage with a sage-green limewash paint and layered in additional textures: a soft rug, a leather-wrapped Croft House headboard and Craftsman-inspired Lawson-Fenning nightstands.”
Near the glass door to the terrace, Frits Henningsen’s FH429 Signature chair, coupled with a patinated-bronze Tee side table by Christophe Delcourt for Kooku, provides a “perfect perch for reflection,” Kwong says, noting that the space overall conveys a “sense of easy calm.”
Alessandra Branca wanted a calming and invigorating atmosphere in the main bedroom suite of an eclectic Chicago home she revamped.
“The woven Madagascar raffia on the walls gives the space a relaxed, hushed feel, while the brass provides the fun kick that updates the room,” she says.
Each piece here packs enough expressive punch to balance the others, leading to an unexpected harmony. An acrylic-and-brass Bernhardt bed rhymes nicely with a Stephen Antonson plaster chandelier, and two abstract collages from Gerald Bland seem to take 3D form in a pair of tabletop cast-resin Totems by Ashley Hicks.
“The colors are a mix of summer and winter,” Branca adds, “so the room is always fresh no matter the season.”
“This project was for a young Francophile family that loves indoor-outdoor living and entertaining,” Tara Shaw says of a house in Metairie, Louisiana. “The goal was to bring the outdoors into the interior design.” That extended to the primary bedroom, which was flooded with sunlight and which Shaw swathed in soft neutrals grounded by black accents.
Although she maintained a certain minimalism, moments of historical opulence appear in the form of an Empire chair and ottoman and a delicate brass chandelier. The 19th-century Swedish sofa at the foot of the bed lends the space an organic feel that ties back to the outdoor vibe.
“I used contemporary photography from Italy in juxtaposition with the antiques in the room,” Shaw says. “A bedroom should be a retreat from the world and the rest of the house. It should give you a sense of a safe haven and luxurious comfort.”
Kerry Joyce was commissioned to align the inside and outside of a Beverly Hills house whose architecture evokes the French Riviera.
“The exterior was Mediterranean, but its interior was sorely missing authentic detailing that was appropriate to its facade,” he says. “I completely redesigned the interior architecture so that it felt original to the home but still timeless.”
In the second-floor primary bedroom, overlooking a mature garden behind the house, Joyce created a custom four-poster bed topped with a striking canopy and outfitted in Kerry Joyce Textiles. He accompanied it with a Rose Tarlow bench and an antique rug from Mansour suited to the era of the home.
Says Joyce, “I want the bedrooms I design to be places of tranquility and well-being.”
The owners of a contemporary house in Texas Hill Country wanted to transform the entire vibe of their open-plan abode. “Their ask was to ‘un-design’ the home,”says Melanie Raines, “to bring down the scale and increase the level of intimacy.”
To give the bedroom a lived-in feel, Raines made the couple’s 1970s Guido Faleschini for Mariani bed, which the designer had reupholstered in custom leather, the centerpiece and placed it on an expansive vintage rug. The disk-shaped sconces are by Allied Maker, and the ceiling pendant is from Apparatus.
“It was important to layer found and collected idiosyncratic pieces that each told the story of the couple. In this way, the design is a memory keeper,” Raines says. “For instance, the bed was reminiscent of his old motorcycle jacket from when the two met and began dating.”
“I hoped to create a serene oasis in the busy city,” Brian Murphy says of his concept for this townhouse bedroom in the bustling Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea. To achieve the desired effect, he came up with a calming symmetrical layout.
“I started with a silk Nepalese Greek-key rug,” he says, “and found the Art Deco–style bed, which I dressed in Pratesi linens, at Dennis Miller. The bed is flanked by a pair of Paul Frankl chests and Murano lamps from 1stDibs.”
Other 1stDibs finds include a pair of Jean-Michel Frank console tables and two Venini mirrors in blue frames, on either side of the marble Sir John Soane fireplace mantel, from Chesneys.
Echoing the style of the bed are Deco-inspired armchairs in chocolate-brown fabric. The artworks on the walls were the fruits of a visit to Art Basel Miami Beach, where Murphy acquired several intriguing pieces by up-and-coming artists.
Interior designer Sarah Shetter collaborated with architect John Bertram to revive an iconic mid-century-modern house by Robert Skinner in Beverly Hills.
Despite the home’s origins, they didn’t employ typical mid-century colors. “Instead, we used deep greens and blues and oranges,” Shetter told Introspective, “which makes the house feel elegant.”
In the main bedroom, the rich color scheme is most evident in the vintage Swedish rug, while the custom bed, pair of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings nightstands and dual wall lamps from Rewire nod to the surrounding architecture.
Coziness is in play here as well. Even though the 1962 structure is a modern masterpiece, “it’s also modest, which we like,” Shetter said. “It’s a real family house.”
This light-filled, Scandinavian-inspired New York home by Pembrooke & Ives is rich in creamy shades of white, natural woods and soft textures.
The delicate chandelier, floor lamps and mid-century Italian chairs are all from John Salibello. A Robert Lazzarini painting provides a contemporary element in the streamlined space.
Lee Ledbetter transformed the former servants’ quarters of a 19th-century New Orleans home into this serene, antiques-filled guest bedroom, with the Snowflake chandelier from Kerson Gallery and gold accents adding a touch of glamour.
Notable pieces, such as a French giltwood mirror, 1960s marble lamps and Louis XVI–style chair from Bardin Palomo, are placed throughout the suite.
This Lake Michigan home by Tom Stringer radiates calm, courtesy of the soft textures and pale palette.
In the master bedroom, a Baker Furniture Company sofa in front of the window draws the eye to the beautiful view of the lake.
Jeff Andrews designed this master bedroom in a Brentwood, California, home for a client seeking glamour with an eclectic edge.
“I went for a subtle beach-inspired palette of blues, greens and cream loaded with texture. A generous mix of contemporary, vintage and custom elements gives it a well-collected, luxurious feeling,” says Andrews.
The patterned rug from The Rug Company and the B&B Italia armchairs help to tie the space together.
Brian J. McCarthy fulfilled the wish of a couple of Atlanta empty nesters to reside in a home like Versailles or the Petit Trianon.
Barrie Benson combined lush fabrics and an eclectic mix of patterns (including de Gournay wallpaper) in this Charlotte, North Carolina, bedroom. A tufted Finn Juhl settee rests at the end of the bed.
Artwork by Jasper Johns hangs above the fireplace in this vast Dallas bedroom by Kirsten Kelli.
The space features mocha lacquered walls, a powder-blue vaulted ceiling and a gilded canopy bed.
This bedroom in a New York City penthouse by Neal Beckstedt Studio is done in a neutral palette with rich natural materials, including a leather-upholstered bed, a cowhide rug and a sheepskin on the Hans Wegner chair.
This London boudoir by Roger Jones, of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, contains a curtained four-poster bed topped with incredibly fluffy bedding.
Light flows in through a pair of French doors that lead to a patio.
Brockschmidt & Coleman designed this antiques-filled guest room in an opulent apartment on New York’s Park Avenue, outfitting it with Claremont wallcoverings and a pair of Empire armoires on either side of the carved wooden bed.
In updating this 1928 Andalusian-style home in Beverly Hills, Annie Kelly says, she “kept the house spare of extra ornament, painting everything white, as a backdrop for the owners’ growing collection of strong pieces of furniture and to give the house a light, contemporary feel.”
Shimmering gold wallcoverings with a bird motif set an elegant tone in this Lichten Craig–designed Manhattan bedroom.
A pair of Hollywood Regency–style mirrored side tables flank the tufted bed.
The black walls and ceiling set a moody vibe in this San Francisco apartment by Eric Cohler. The four-posted bed is topped with an Hermès pillow and fur throw.
A sculptural wire chandelier hangs from the vaulted ceiling in this English country-style Houston home by Abode | Fern Santini Design.
Drake/Anderson designed this lavish bedroom for the 2016 Kips Bay Decorator Show House, and the space features a black sculpture by Saint Clair Cemin, from Paul Kasmin Gallery; an oval mirror by Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti, from H.M. Luther; and a ribbon table by David Wiseman, from R & Company.
In this Toronto bedroom by Julie Charbonneau, the custom floating headboard was crafted from wenge wood, it features integrated nightstands which nestle against a luxurious backdrop of chocolate-brown pony skin.
A Bell table by Sebastian Herkner sits next to a custom armchair by Charbonneau.
The master bedroom of this Sonoma, California, lake house by Ken Fulk features a hand-painted mural and a carved wood four-poster bed.
In designing this Sag Harbor, New York, beach house, Cullman & Kravis limited the palette to whites, creams, steel blues and grays in order to highlight the contemporary art collection that exists within the interior space and the commanding view outside.
This London bedroom by Martin Brudnizki features deep cornices and unexpected pops of color, like the sculptural burnt-orange settee and a pair of emerald green table lamps flanking the bed.
Streamlined furnishings and contemporary lighting contrast with the ornate architectural details of this East Village, New York, brownstone bedroom by Drew McGukin.
Timothy Whealon chose a bold pattern for the curtains and bench in this Park Avenue apartment, which pops against the ice-blue walls and neutral bedding.
In choosing the palette for this Parisian apartment, Thomas Pheasant was inspired by shades of the limestone, slate and iron prevalent in the city’s exteriors.
For the master bedroom of this Laguna Beach, California, vacation home, Philip Nimmo designed a platform bed with lighting underneath to give the impression that it is floating, and he set it against a wall of backlit onyx.
