Let’s look at the difference between contemporary bedroom design and over-the-top remodels from the 1990s, then comment on many photo examples of how a contemporary remodel should and should not be done.
Contemporary Bedroom
You have probably noticed that some bedroom designs look very contemporary even though they use ordinary materials, standard furniture, and calm colors. Other bedrooms have a bunch of modern high-tech gadgets, complex finishes, and expensive furniture, but they look like a caricature of over-the-top remodels from the 1990s.
Let’s briefly go over the theory of contemporary design styles so your bedroom belongs to the first kind.
What Colors to Use
It is easy to ruin the entire bedroom interior with one incorrectly chosen color. There are colors that should NEVER be used in contemporary styles:
- Peach
- Jade and emerald
- Burgundy
- Bright pink
What is wrong with these colors? They were very popular in 1990s interiors. It was a time when many people had money but not taste. As a result, these four colors are firmly associated not with contemporary styles but with nouveau-riche style. The main task of contemporary design is to keep the bedroom from looking like “those” remodels. Photos of how NOT to do it:
So what colors can and should be used in contemporary bedrooms? All the others, but there are details.
Colors should be divided into base colors (backgrounds) and accents. Besides the colors of the finishes, a bedroom also has the colors of the bedding, furniture, curtains, and so on. You absolutely have to keep all this in mind when choosing colors for the bedroom walls, floor, and ceiling.
The standard rule is that finish colors are always calm and neutral. Bright colors are used in small amounts, and some contemporary styles do not need them at all:
- Ceiling – always white or unfinished (loft style, and so on).
- Walls – white, beige, gray, or any dark color.
- Accent wall – any color, usually unsaturated or muted.
- Floor in a contemporary bedroom – laminate or hardwood in 90% of cases; the other 10% is poured flooring, concrete, carpet, and so on.
The basic color formula for a contemporary-style bedroom: neutral background color + wood or a wood imitation + a soft, unsaturated, muted accent color + dark areas with lighting. The last one is a great feature, especially in a bedroom, which should have a lot of secondary light.
Any dark textured surface with lighting along it equals a gorgeous, contemporary appearance. It can be dark wood, concrete or its imitation with decorative plaster, decorative stone, wood strips, painted gypsum panels – anything. Lighting along this surface reveals the material’s depth and looks gorgeous. And since we are often in the bedroom with the lights dimmed, we can enjoy it often.
Color theory is not that complicated, but departing from it has consequences. Do not hurt your bedroom with bad colors.
Shapes in Furniture and Finishes
The simplest and most obvious point, which is extremely difficult to explain to beginners.
No flowing lines, no curved drywall niches, arches, or rounded steps on the ceilings – only regular geometry.
Do not do this. It is not cool, fashionable, or stylish. Just do not do it. Whenever someone makes this kind of bedroom remodel, a designer somewhere cries.
Anticipating the question – no, it will not look uncomfortable. It is a very simple rule: finishes with regular rectangular shapes, softened with flowing lines from textiles, curtains, and upholstered furniture, of which there is more than enough in a bedroom.
Everything above is stated very categorically, although these rules do have exceptions. But even experienced designers rarely attempt these experiments – they are too risky. Yes, there are ultracontemporary interiors based instead on flowing lines, metal, gloss, and a lot of light. A kind of futuristic interior design. But there is no point writing about it because these are experiments rather than real interiors. They cost an enormous amount of money to carry out, and there will be problems at every stage, from choosing contractors to finding the necessary accessories.
No matter which contemporary design style you choose for your bedroom, it should always have a touch of minimalism, especially in the finishes. At the end of the remodel, if the bedroom seems too simple, you can always add accessories or buy some stylish lights. But if you overload the room with finishes from the start, you will not be able to fix it.
In contemporary design styles, it is better to underdo it than overdo it.
Review of Contemporary-Style Bedroom Photos
We have already looked at enough completely tacky interiors. Now we will look at more subtle things that determine the appearance and whether it matches a contemporary style. We will start with designs that contain mistakes so we can understand how not to make them ourselves.
First, we will show one or more bedroom photos, then discuss the theory below them.
What Bedroom Design Should NOT Look Like
Let’s begin with cases where the bedroom interior is overloaded with colors and textures. As a reminder, in a standard contemporary interior we use one main color, wood or an imitation, and one additional color – or a group of different colors with the same saturation.
At first glance, this is not a bad bedroom. But you have to agree that the feeling that something does not come together in this interior never goes away. The problem is the use of too many different colors and textures. Mahogany on the floor, a white glossy console under the TV, gray wood on the nightstand by the bed, a brown bed, and a blue wall. Different colors, different textures, no support. The basic design rules are broken. To top it off, the door and crown molding came from classic styles, although the rest of the bedroom is contemporary.
This bedroom interior is the most disappointing – someone really wanted to make it stylish. Plaster imitating concrete blocks, cognac-colored wood, a rug made, unexpectedly, from a cow, and six (six!) separate light fixtures. That would have been enough for two or three stylish bedrooms, or one tasteless one. Trying to fit all this into such a small area was simply doomed to fail. This bedroom tried. Read how to do small bedroom design properly.
This bedroom ended up in a similar situation – everything seems to have been done fairly well, but you cannot call it stylish. The rule for choosing a background color is broken. In fact, there is no background color at all. We have a risky attempt to combine four accent colors in one bedroom: dark blue-green, brown wood, light yellow wood, and gray by the bed and in the bedding.
First, four colors is already a lot. Let’s apply some careless digital magic and see if we can make this bedroom a little more stylish:
A little better, but still not right. There is probably little point in trying to bring this bedroom back to life – they ignored all the advice in this article. The ceiling is not white, the background color is not neutral; interiors are not made this way. White is so popular for a reason. It is an absolutely gorgeous color that combines with everything and does not draw attention to itself. Give it a chance.
There are too many accents in this bedroom. Each one is fine by itself, but there is an obvious excess of them and they compete for attention. We already know that a contemporary-style bedroom should be simple. Let’s try to make this one a little simpler.
Or should the rug have stayed? Trying to correct someone else’s mistakes is a thankless task; it is better not to make them in the first place. To add colors or accessories to a bedroom, you need to be completely certain they are necessary.
Hmm, is this bedroom contemporary or classic? The lower part of the photo, apart from the light fixtures, clearly says contemporary. But the ceiling, including the crown molding and chandelier, clearly came from classic style. Here we remember another rule for combining styles:
Do not mix contemporary and classic styles in one interior.
The same mistake – the light fixtures, mirror frame, and tufting are completely inappropriate for the contemporary bedroom this one is clearly trying to be.
And finally, a selection of morally outdated remodels that would have been good in the 2000s but now look simply ridiculous. Remember, expensive does not mean stylish.
What Bedroom Design Should Look Like
We hope your sense of beauty did not suffer too much from viewing the previous photos. Now we will heal it.
Notice how many different colors are used in this bedroom, but it still looks stylish and contemporary. What is the secret? They did not break a single rule from this article: the background color is white, the accent colors have the same very low saturation and are used in the same proportion. And most importantly, they are in the accessories and textiles, not the finishes. As befits a contemporary style, the finishes are only a background.
And now simply a selection of correct, balanced bedroom designs.
Contemporary design styles are good because their appearance does not depend directly on the amount of money invested. A stylish bedroom remodel can be done at minimal cost, or you can bury a ton of money in complex drywall structures and get a completely tasteless interior. We hope our advice helps you at least a little. Good luck with your remodel, and may a sense of beauty be with you!
