Make your ‘non voyage’ a ‘bon voyage’.
With travel plans on hold for a few more months, we’re really missing that hotel feel. From crisp sheets, luxury mattresses, beautiful design and the perfect ambient lighting, upgrading your bedroom to a hotel is easy when you know how. So we’ve provided our step by step process to transforming your bedroom into a boutique French hotel.
Step one: Colour scheme
One of the most notable elements of hotel rooms is the colour scheme. Do a little reading on colour theory, or get some inspiration on Pinterest, and choose three or four colours to theme your room around.
Choose something neutral to create a calming, luxury feel, with fawn, taupe and creams, or go dark and comforting with jewel tones like navy blues, emeralds and deep pinks.
Step two: Coherent furniture choices
To create a cohesive, inviting room, avoid picking ‘suite’ style bedroom sets. Its just too matchy-matchy. For style and sophistication, start with the bed first, and don’t be afraid to go big. Something that draws the eye like a modern four-poster, a statement emperor bed, or silk upholstered bed head will give you that opulent home-away-from-home feel.
Then, choose more minimal, practical furniture that works in harmony and doesn’t clutter the room. For a boutique hotel feel choose a velvet or suede bed head in a deep green or grey, and for something more decadent look for French-style upholstered beds with ornate detailing. Try painting or changing up the fabric of pieces you already own to save on buying lots of new pieces.
Step three: Set the mood with lighting
Hotels put a lot of thought into their lighting, so it’s important that you do too. Think about the functionality of the bedroom; you’ll need ambient lighting to create a sultry mood, as well as brighter lights so you can pick out your outfit or put your make up on.
So to recreate a hotel feel, layer your bedroom lighting with low level table lights on the bedside tables, as well as a decadent central ceiling chandelier for practical lighting that also screams sophistication. Include decorative wall lights and large mirrors to add a cosy, inviting feel that works both day and night.
Step four: Dress the bed
Potentially one of the most important elements of a hotel, bedding choices can transform a room. Using a duvet that is a size bigger than your mattress – for example, a super king duvet on a king size bed – will create a hotel feel and instantly make the room more luxurious. Opt for white bed sheets in either silk or a high Egyptian cotton thread count like 400 for that true hotel bed sheets experience.
That well-rested feeling you get after a night in a hotel is down to the plush luxury mattress. Choose extra support from pocket springs, breathability from natural materials and quality handcraftsmanship.
Pair this with fluffy pillows and stack four upright against the bed head, followed by linen or velvet scatter cushions that complement the colour of the room. Pull the duvet up to the pillows, fold it back on itself, creating what’s called an ‘apron effect’ then tuck in to the bed frame for that true tucked bed style.
Step five: Styling
When you’ve pulled all your pieces together, styling the room is the final step to take it from homely to beautiful. Practical as well as designed, you’ll rarely see multiple ornaments or vignettes in a hotel room, as they’re hard to keep clean.
Instead, channel this sense of minimalism into your room with books instead of ornaments and large mirrors instead of sets of smaller ones. Make a feature of your windows with long drapes in a contrasting colour or even shutters to give your bedroom a French provencal feel.
