Help! My new home has a boring bedroom.. How do I fix it?

3 years ago

Hi all!

I've just purchased my first home - a one bedroom apartment in Perth. It's relatively new (12 months old) and i'm very happy with the design and layout of the living areas, but the bedroom is a boring white box by comparison to the rest of the apartment. I have some dollars aside to remodel a bit but I need help coming up with the final design. Unfortunately I've got less experience than most when it comes to interior design - not only is this my first home purchase, it'll also be my first fixed address in over 13 years. I did actually try to reach out to an interior designer but was told the scope was too small, so here I am on Houzz. :)

This is the bedroom as is (excuse the furniture - it isn't mine);

And here's a few shots of the same bedroom without furniture (please note the carpet isn't the same because the following shots are from a different apartment);

And the floorplan with dimensions scribbled in (I added in a bed and a lounge chair to see how the fit would be);

The living areas of the apartment for context;

I've spent weeks coming up with some design ideas but I can't quite bring it all together in a way that i'm confident with. The style i'm aiming for is somewhere in the area of 'scandi-industrial' & the main features i've decided on so far (photos included);

-Concrete render/timber paneling feature wall behind the bedhead, with the concrete render continuing on the wall directly opposite the entry way. Something similar to the following;

-Pendant lights on either side of the bed - as much for space saving as aesthetic, and a hanging plant on the window side of the bed

-I intend to replace the 2.5 meter wide mirrored built-in wardrobe doors with 2/3rds smoked glass and a 1/3 mirrored door (black trim) (Nobody needs that much mirror in the bedroom). I’ll also eventually redo the wardrobe to make better use of the space, and contain a tv (I don’t want to wall mount a TV in the bedroom). Something like this...

-Ceiling fan above bed & a ceiling or wall mount light placed above the lounge chair on wall opposite the entry. I expect that if I keep an industrial style with the ceiling fixtures it can break up the 'white-ness' of the ceiling?

-Eames chair & ottoman - walnut & black leather finish - this chair is a must for me. The rest of the room/furniture will have to match. :)

WHERE I'M STUCK:

1. The carpet is a light grey colour (not quite as blue as it looks in the photos). Can this be made to suit the styling, or do I need to replace it completely? I like the idea of carpet in the bedroom, but I'm happy to consider floorboards or even a polished concrete render (with a rug obviously). Most of the photos i’ve taken inspiration from don’t have carpet, so i’m having a tough time imagining how it would look. I photoshopped up a couple of photos to give me some kind of image with carpet included but it just doesn’t look quite the same. If I do switch out carpet for timber floorboards, do I try to match the timber style in the living areas?

2. What style of timber will best work with the raw concrete finish? Should I match the walnut of the chair and continue the ‘walnut’ in any other timber features used in the room (probably only the bed frame, and maybe the wardrobe interior)?

3. What colour(s) should the remaining walls be painted (either side of the entry door - one is just a blank wall, the other holds the built-in wardrobe)? I thought perhaps a charcoal grey or black, but I honestly have no idea. Remember the ceiling is white so is the contrast too much? I considered just continuing the concrete render but I think that might be a bit too much?

4. What on earth do I do with the bedroom door? Keep it white? Paint it? Replace it (maybe with a similar black steel & smoked glass as the wardrobe)? If I paint it, what colour? Match the wall, or something different?

I’m prepared to be flexible on most design ideas, so if something i’ve suggested can be improved upon i’d love to hear it. The end goal is to have a stylish, ‘masculine’ bedroom that fits with the rest of my apartment. I’d also love to hear any other ideas regarding furnishings, artwork etc if you want to share them – i’m well out of my element here and I can use all the help I can get ;)

Apologies for the long post – I hope that too much information is better than too little. Thanks in advance, i’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s ideas!

Cheers,

Mick

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