There is something about antique interiors that make them very warm and welcoming. Perhaps it’s the accents and how colors and textures are used together, or maybe it’s the use of certain design lines and shapes that make an antique interior so beautiful. One thing for sure: designing a room in this style can be difficult.
Designing an antique-style bedroom may be a challenge, but it is a challenge that you can solve with a few basic recipes. If you are thinking about doing an antique makeover on your bedroom, here are some basic tips and tricks that you need to follow.
Add Color to the Floor
A darker floor is one of the keys to success in designing an antique-style bedroom. If you search for design inspiration online, you will find that over 70% of antique bedrooms have darker floors. There are multiple ways to introduce a darker hue to the floor of your bedroom too.
You can use parquet flooring – or vinyl as a budget-friendly and more durable option – to add that dark brown or natural wood touch to the floor. Other alternatives are available too, plus you can experiment with the color and texture of the floor depending on the look you want to pull off.
Combine that darkened floor with a rug that matches the rest of the room. Rugs with lines, colors, or shapes can be used when you want more of a contrast. You can use the same trick with a darker-colored rug to make your light floor appear darker and more rustic.
The Perfect Antique Bed
The centerpiece of an antique-style bedroom is the bed you add to the space, and an antique bed is a must if that’s the design theme you are going for. There is no shortage of options when it comes to antique beds, but there are a few things to consider before taking your pick.
First of all, you want to choose an era and stick with it. Combining a Victorian bed with Edwardian drawers or items from the 1920s isn’t going to get you closer to the antique-style bedroom of your dream. Consistency is really the key here.
I personally love four-poster beds. Items like the George III style four post canopy bed from English Georgian America will work beautifully in larger bedrooms. Other products from English Georgian America are just as interesting.
Go Warmer
The two things you want to add to the antique-style bedroom when it comes to lighting are natural light during the day and warm artificial light to light the room at night. To further accentuate the antique look of the space, you can keep the room dimly lit.
Some window treatments – like a more traditional curtain rather than blinds – are made for the antique look. You can still use modern window frames for better energy efficiency, but you want to stick with matching colors and textures.
As for artificial light, the choice is up to you. As long as you don’t start adding daylight LED bulbs to the space, you will end up with a bedroom that feels warm and incredibly cozy. Besides, you now have candle-style bulbs and other options to play with when adding mood lighting to the space.
Let There Be Art
Antique frames make great accessories in an antique bedroom. Art is a fantastic way to amplify the rustic feel of the space further. Just make sure you add art from the right era so you can maintain that consistency we talked about earlier.
Of course, antique frames aren’t just great for paintings and pictures. You can use a delicate antique frame for framing mirrors. A large mirror, framed beautifully, helps create the illusion of space when positioned correctly.
There is another trick you can use to amplify the rustic feel of your antique bedroom, and that is adding small mirrors – framed mirrors – right behind the bedside lamps. It is an old design peculiarity from multiple eras that still works today.
Pick Up a Chest
If you have the space, consider adding a large chest as a storage option. Traditionally, a large chest is positioned at the end of the bed. Today, there are antique chests that offer plenty of concealed storage while looking immensely beautiful on the outside.
Adding a long seat to the end of the bed works too, as long as the piece matches the rest of the bedroom perfectly. Ideally, you want a bedroom bench that stands in contrast with the rug you use but try experimenting with different shapes and colors before deciding which one to go with.
The purpose of adding furniture to the end of a bed is to add character, so whatever piece you place on this spot needs to have that. With a chest, for instance, you want a piece that has accents and a strong set of design lines rather than any ordinary antique chest.
Watch the Space
Last but certainly not least, make sure everything in the bedroom is scaled properly. When using a four-pole bed, you want to be extra certain that the poles are high enough to almost reach the ceiling, but not too high that the gap looks more like an accident rather than intentional.
The same goes for other furniture you add to the space. You want each item to be the right size relative to the bed – which usually dictates the scale in the bedroom – so you don’t end up with a bed that looks too small or a room that appears cluttered.
Scale should not be an issue now that you have a lot of antique pieces to choose from. There are more patterns and colors to work with too, giving you more than enough options to play around with the kind of antique look you want to have in the bedroom.
As mentioned in the beginning, this look can be tricky to pull off. That said, you know you will love the end result when you use the tips and tricks we discussed in this article to your advantage.
