Country Bedroom Design:
How to Design a Country Style Bedroom
The hallmarks of the country bedroom - natural materials, unfussy and practical furnishings, airiness, restrained but rich color schemes, and a commitment to comfort - create an environment that is perfectly conducive to rest and relaxation at any time of day.
Whether stripped, stained, varnished, or painted, wood features heavily in country schemes as floor and wall surfaces, furniture, and smaller decorative objects. Other natural raw materials such as cane, wicker, and cotton play supporting roles. Colors such as teal blue, creamy yellow, conifer green, and rich Indian red are traditional, used on their own to cover broad expanses of wall, or in small doses to give character to large expanses of white or pale neutrals. Furniture has a timeless practicality, based on a mixture of Shaker simplicity, American Colonial elegance, and a hint of toned down Victorian. Generously stuffed cushions, pillows, and quilts ensure that comfort is high on the list of priorities.
Ornamentation, from stencils to children's toys, is - in appearance if not in actuality - handcrafted. Likewise, fabrics have a slightly rough, homespun appeal, and patchworks and samplers continue the hand-crafted theme. The look is mildly eclectic rather than highly coordinated, but never chaotic - everything has its rightful place.
Creating the Look
Walls: Whether they are plastered, papered, or tongue-and-groove paneled, keep walls plain. Combining low-level, tongue-and-groove paneling with a plain painted surface above is traditional. Consider narrow, vertical tongue-and-groove paneling up to wainscoting level if funds allow, with wide, horizontal tongue-and-groove paneling above, or vice versa. The paneling can be left natural, stained, or painted in solid, matte tones.
Patterned wallpapers are unsuitable, as are chalky ice-cream pastel colors such as light pinks, blues, and mauves. Earth colors, natural dye colors, off-white, and white are ideal for the look - the latter two especially for small bedrooms. For an authentic touch, paint the woodwork - doors, architraves, baseboards, wainscoting, and picture rails - a rich color to counteract the impersonality of white or off white. Varying the density of this color from paneling to architraves, reveals, and baseboards is typical. Consider high-level stencils and friezes with simple geometric motifs or motifs based on fruit, flowers, or leaves; grapes, pomegranates, pineapples, willow and oak leaves, and tulips are all authentic.
Floors: Wide, stripped pine floorboards are ideal, but if your house doesn't already have them, modern wood-look floor covering strips make an acceptable alternative. You can use subtle paint effects, perhaps even a stencil around the edge to mimic a rug. Hooked, crocheted, knitted, or braided rugs, and embroidered needlepoint rugs, or Berlinwork with rose motifs, look perfect and make walking barefoot comfortable. Plain or striped, inexpensive cotton, hand-woven rag rugs can work equally well. Although not strictly authentic, wall-to-wall carpets in near white or neutral tones won't detract from the look, provided they aren't too sumptuous or shaggy.
Windows: As the look depends on plenty of natural light, make the most of windows. Outline small windows in the same color as baseboards and picture rails; you can paint wooden window frames, reveals, and sills, or simply apply a band of color to the wall surrounding the window. White-painted internal louvers, wooden Venetian blinds, and plain, checked or striped fabric shades are fine for the look. If privacy is a problem, or the view is far from leafy and rural, hang simple white net or muslin curtains. A little swag made from patchwork fabric adds a pretty finishing touch on its own or with another window treatment.
Lighting: For practicality, have several light sources: low-level, sited near to the bed for night reading, plus wall-hung and/or ceiling-hung for general illumination. Candles in sconces, freestanding or wall-hung, add to the mood; electric lights mimicking candles are useful as well as attractive. Table lamps with simple shades in checked, striped, or plain fabrics, and earthenware bases, such as old jugs, are ideal. Victorian-style brass table and floor lamps with translucent glass shades, or plain, small contemporary lights, also suit the look.
Style Pointers
Natural materials, practical furnishings, and restrained but rich color schemes typify country style. Note the features pinpointed here to help you recreate the look.
ACCESSORIES
Traditional touches include an old cradle housing dolls and a Shaker-style peg rail.
WINDOWS
Roman blinds in unbleached cotton and off-white painted window frames and reveals add to the sense of natural light.
FURNITURE
An antique mahogany bed with turned wood posts and acorn-shaped finials is comfortably dressed with crisp cotton bed linen, a checked blanket, and traditional quilt. A Windsor chair and simple wooden bench provide seating.
WALLS
Vertical tongue-and-groove paneling, painted teal blue with a grapevine motif frieze, makes a rich backdrop, lifted by the off-white ceiling and paintwork.
FLOOR
Varnished pine floorboards are softened with simple, plain, and striped throw rugs, echoing the wall and ceiling colors.
Furnishings
The bed: This is the focal point of the room. Interestingly, early American antique beds would today be considered too narrow and short, so oldish and reproduction beds are better in terms of both comfort and cost. Four-poster beds with or without canopies, or half-testers with two headposts and a small canopy, in dark, polished old wood such as bird's-eye maple, mahogany, or fruitwood are ideal. Curved, carved headboards and carved finials - fruit and flower motifs are typical - on slender, turned posts add to the look. Simple brass beds are equally suitable. On a budget, decorate plain pine furniture with Pennsylvania Dutch-type stenciling, perhaps repeating stenciled wall motifs.
Other furniture: Freestanding, dark, polished wood is best; keep away from built-in units or matching suites. Authentic choices include huge old armoire-type wardrobes, 'high boys' and 'lowboys', which can double as desks or dressing tables. At the foot of the bed, place a stenciled dowry chest, blanket chest, or old sea trunk. Candle stands and washstand cupboards make authentic occasional tables; on a budget, cover an inexpensive table with a floor-length patchwork or white damask cloth.
Accessories: Layers of fresh-looking bed linens, topped by a patchwork, applique, or plain quilt, a white chenille bedspread, or a woven coverlet can give an anonymous bed a country look. Crisp white piecework, crochet or lacework cushions, runners, and tablecloths add a softening influence. Display simple vases, jugs, and baskets of garden flowers and house plants. On the walls, hang framed needlework samplers, or unsophisticated paintings or prints of fruits and flowers, domestic animals, or country scenes.
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