Modern Furniture

Sometimes it’s not sun but the curiosity of neighbors that you wish to thwart. To create privacy without vanquishing the sunlight, you can try to install simple white shades that pull up from the bottom. (Any window-treatment specialist can install shades this way.) When halfway up, they grant privacy while giving you a glimpse of the sky.

Begin by assessing your existing bedroom. What needs are being met, and what is lacking? What do you like or dislike? Do you want more morning light? More storage space? Have your space needs changed? Have the kids moved out so you have extra space? Or have you added to your family, creating new space needs?

If you’re starting from scratch your options are wide open; you have the luxury of choosing the size and location, even the layout of your bedroom. On the other hand, if you’re dealing with a bedroom that already exists, there is a good chance you will be limited by space and layout restrictions. Although your options may seem limited, there are more alternatives to choose from than one might think.

Because bedrooms are such personal rooms, not usually seen by many outsiders, they often evolve into one of the most eclectic rooms in the house. A bedroom is often the place where you’ll find collections of personal art and memorabilia, photographs, even a favorite piece of furniture, all tied together into one harmonious look-sometimes depicting a specific style, sometimes just an overall feel or theme. Decorative elements such as style, color, pattern and texture will also play a part in the final look you create.

Often we are limited by budget constraints when remodeling. There are a number of simple improvements that can be made in a bedroom that don’t cost a lot, and will achieve very effective results. Altering the floor plan and redefining the space can make what you already have more usable and efficient. If structural changes aren’t possible at this time, easy updates like replacing old wallpaper, adding recessed lights or installing plush new carpet can breathe new life into an old bedroom. This type of remodel won’t solve any space constriction problems, but the changes are easy and can do almost as much for the look of a bedroom as rearranging the walls-at half the cost.

A structural change is the most effective way to make a dramatic difference in an existing bedroom. A new bay window or a walk-in closet can change the entire feel of the room.

Darkness on Sunday mornings. Bright sun on Monday. Privacy from the neighbors, but also a view— we do ask a lot of our bedroom curtains. And it helps, of course, if they have a romantic or peaceful quality that makes the bedroom more of a sanctuary. Not every trade secret in this chapter can meet all these requirements. Depending on your needs, you may have to (a) prioritize or (b) combine treatments—using, for example, an opaque shade behind a sheer drapery.

Now for the easy part: You can dress a bedroom window with less effort than a window in a living or dining room. Consider a blowsy length of gauze tossed over a rod: in the living room, it can look insubstantial, but in the bedroom, it suggests a veil. Delicacy works in the privacy of a bedroom, and delicate fabrics (think linen, lace, and sheers) are often reasonably priced.

Simplicity works, too. A surprising number of houses and apartments by top designers have bedroom windows dressed only in pristine white schoolhouse shades, the kind you may recall from your third-grade classroom, If the shades are custom-made for a tailored fit, you’ll find that the understatement works.

Try not to overcoordinate. If you make curtains to match your patterned sheets, the room will look predictable—and after a while you’ll tune out that gorgeous pattern. Let window treatments stand on their own. If you still crave coordination, do something overscaled and unexpected: cut an 18-inch-high band from the patterned sheets and sew it across the base of starched white curtains. You’ll have broken out of a formula, and the details of your decorating will stand out the better for it.

If noise from traffic or neighbors disturbs your peace in the bedroom, muffle it: cover the walls with fabric.

Your choices:

• Hire a fabric workroom or wall upholsterer. An expert will apply padded and fabric-wrapped panels to your walls or frame out the wall with wood strips to which the fabric is staple-gunned. It need not be all over the room, you can upholster just the wall that’s between you and the noise, or the wall behind your bed.
• Curtain the wall instead; it’s easier and soft-looking. The traditional method is to affix a brass rod under the crown molding, another above the baseboard; the fabric, tightly gathered, is held taut between the two. For extra soundproofing, staple batting up first.