Basement bedroom design tips
The first home I bought was a basement flat in Brighton with my bedroom situated at the front in the darkest part. The other rooms in the flat looked onto my west-facing garden, flooding them with light and my bedroom was so dark in comparison. I learnt these brilliant bedroom design tips to bring light into dingy basement spaces:
My concept for my bedroom design was ’60’s Victoriana boudoir’ (think Anita Pallenburg in ‘Performance’/Kate Moss’ ‘Beautiful & the Damned’ 30th birthday bash’ – this was over 20 years ago!!). I only wish I could find my original moodboard!
Firstly, I got rid of the dingy carpet and laid light oak wood flooring. I painted all the walls a light whitish neutral and added a wallpaper feature wall of Barbara Hulaniki’s iconic Hula Swirl wallpaper from Graham & Brown (see image – I still adore it!).
Furniture for my basement bedroom
I wanted to create space so air could freely circulate and didn’t want solid furniture flat to the floor. Therefore I swapped my divan bed base for a metal bed frame which gave the impression of more floorspace (it also looked ace in my bohemian boudoir!).
Furthermore, instead of a bedside cabinet, I had a small occasional table which allowed air to circulate, giving the feeling of space.
My entrance door had glass panels which I changed to frosted glass, which allowed more light in but still provided privacy.
Lastly, I added fitted wardrobes with mirrored sliding doors, placed opposite the window which bounced the little light I got all around the room.
Since then I have refined my process (plus I spent 2 years at college studying interior design 😂), but the general principals of bringing light into a basement room remain the same.
Do you have any bedroom design tips for bringing 💡 into dark gloomy spaces?
If you need help with a single room design click here for my online interior design service.
