Creating the contemporary well-designed bedroom

The bedroom is the living space that has undergone the most radical transformation in the past decade. The most intimate room in the house now really is a space where, as the chocolate bar advert boasted, you can “Work, Rest and Play”.

The contemporary well-designed bedroom has become so much more than a room to crash-out in, exhausted of the end of your day. It has become a place to relax and wind down, to reflect on the day, check those last emails or catch up with the latest Netflix series. It has become a space where you can enjoy some serious “Me” time and suit your mood. Whatever mood you happen to be in…

UDesign’s Jason Harris explains how the modern bedroom has changed beyond recognition. “The bedroom is like any space in the house. If you design and decorate it purposefully then it can be another room in the home where you can do a lot more than just sleep”.

Forget taking your work home – in today’s non-stop 24/7 world it seems we are taking our work to bed.

“In this day and age people take their iPads and work from bed, send emails last thing at night and check their emails first thing in the morning.”

Above: This bedroom is dominated by the super king size Capitone bed and is completed by the bar, big screen and open fire place 

The bedroom has taken over as the main relaxation space in the house

The contemporary bedroom also reflects a change in modern sleeping patterns, with people now going to bed an hour and a half earlier than they intend on sleeping, giving time to wind down and chill.

This means that the bedroom really has to have the right ambience. “We try to create a luxury, hotel suite feel, so you have dedicated sitting area, where you can lounge around on the sofa and watch TV by the open fire, and on the other side of the room you have the bed.” explains Jason “The bedroom has taken over as the main relaxation space in the house. The living room is for entertaining, the bedroom is the more intimate room.”

Above: The focal point in this bedroom is the natural mandela wallpaper which sets the tone and feel of the room with everything else complementing it, using a swatch of soft grays and burnt orange.

The more comfortable you are in your bedroom, the better you will sleep

Lighting plays an important part in the modern bedroom. While some night owls work best by half light, dealing with half a dozen candles every evening to create the right “mood” can be tiresome. There are a wide variety of Apps and home control systems that solve that problem and allow you to create a relaxed or romantic vibe, instantly. And with the ultra-modern architectural style currently so popular in Marbella, floor to ceiling windows, especially leading out onto a private terrace, flood the bedroom with Mediterranean light. Although if you have been to a Marbella party the night before this can be a mixed blessing…

Too often people put a lot of thought into the design, look and feel of other areas of the house and forget the bedroom. With so many options now on offer, the standard furnishing of a simple bed, headboard and side tables displays a singular lack of imagination. Flat Screen TVs, music systems, free standing baths and sinks, contemporary dressing tables, even flat screen fires that you can hang on the wall can be combined to make an ambience that you will want to spend more and more time in. And the more comfortable you are in your bedroom, the better you will sleep, so say the experts.

“When you think about it we spend almost half our lives in the bedroom,” says Jason, “so ideally you want a lovely, soothing and relaxing environment where you can work, plug in to your laptop, sit at a desk, put on your makeup, watch TV, listen to music, have a drink. Then it’s a really great room!”

What better excuse do you need to let your imagination run riot in the bedroom?

Hang on, let me rephrase that….

Article by Giles Brown

This article first
appeared in the
inaugural issue of
UD Magazine.

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online click here.