Traditional Master Bedroom With Masculine and Feminine Style

After a one-week redesign, this master bedroom received a major overhaul with minimal mess and disruption. To lighten and brighten the room, the dingy carpet and padding were both removed in four-foot strips before a whitewashed wood laminate floating floor was installed over the subfloor. The walls were painted a bold shade of teal along with a multi-tone tray ceiling. When originally asked what they wanted their updated bedroom to look like, the homeowners stated, "We want bright and cheery. Even though it's a bedroom, we still want it bright. And graphic."

In its original state, the mint-toned master bedroom was sparsely furnished with feminine elements including a toile-covered chair and a mirrored side table. To reinvent it as a fresh designer space with masculine and feminine appeal, the wall-to-wall carpet was replaced with white laminate flooring; a layering of languid blues introduced a bright gender-neutral palette; and a mix of masculine patterns added a graphic, tailored touch.

To create a designer space on a reasonable budget, a mix of high and low was used throughout the redesign. A seven-foot-tall headboard was custom made from 6 yards of a woven fabric picked up at a discount fabric store for $12 per yard. Overall, the bed ensemble is masculine, including a navy blue sateen duvet, pinstripe pillow shams and throw pillows featuring a tone-on-tone geometric print, as well as a traditional zigzag pattern. To balance the height of the headboard, a pair of black French demilune tables (picked up at the outlet of a high-end European furnishings retailer) was used rather than standard nightstands. For proper illumination with vintage flair, the tables were topped with ceramic midcentury modern lamps updated with a sprayed-on coat of semigloss latex paint.

A mix of patterns brings designer flair to the bed ensemble. While layering different prints may seem intimidating, interior designers say the key to getting it right is to achieve the proper mix of scale. To keep the layered look from becoming too busy, use a mix of small-, medium- and large-scale patterns and stick with a cohesive color scheme. By keeping the colors similar yet slightly off from one another, the result is sure to be successful.