Whenever it was bedtime as a child, I'd hear the fateful words from my Dad that it was time to climb the wooden hills to Bedfordshire – a place which sounded lovely but which was actually code for my bleak little box bedroom, which had the habit of being freezing cold in winter and blisteringly hot in summer. I remember, as a child, when we moved to our second home, that I specifically requested the front bedroom as I was under the misguided belief that the front bedroom was always the biggest. I based this on the knowledge that it was the case in our previous home and my grandparents' house. What can I say – I was three years old. When my mum announced that I was of course getting the front bedroom, I was delighted. Then we moved in, and I was a teeny bit disappointed when faced with a space which didn't quite have enough space to fit a bed and a dresser. I stayed in this room until I moved out and left for University at 18.
Consequently, I have a little bit of an obsession with bedrooms in general. I spent a lot of time in my room growing up (playing Sylvanian Families when I was 8, listening to music and generally moping about when I was a teenager) and the room became an extension of me. I painted it bright yellow when I was 13 as I was fed up of the baby pink my parents had thrust upon me and I was convinced it would make to room seem bigger. It didn't.
Now, all grown up, I'm still a firm believer that a bedroom is an extension of yourself; your private self – the bit that maybe not everybody knows about. You only invite a few people into your bedroom after all. If you watch any design programmes, they talk about achieving a boutique hotel look in your bedroom, and as I used to design these I can see the appeal to try and replicate that feeling of a luxury hotel in your home. You're relaxed in a hotel right? And somebody else cleans up after you… and you only have a suitcase full of clothes. But in reality, Hotel Bedrooms are not really practical for day to day living. Storage usually consists of a small wardrobe and a couple of bedsides. It does not account for your huge shoe collection, your 15 coats and your drawer full of underwear, and it certainly doesn't account for 2 people having all of the aforementioned. So the trick is to take what works, but adjust it to suit your individual needs.
So, what makes a hotel bedroom so appealing?
A 3* Hotel is plain and functional: everything is simple in design and the walls are plain, with a single coloured feature wall. The colour scheme will be simple too: white or cream, with a single colour represented on the cushions or upholstery.
A good 4* Hotel will have what appears to be coordinated furniture: a wardrobe (fitted or freestanding) which matches the desk and bedsides, and even the headboard. The bed will be located in the centre of a "feature" wall of (usually) some designer wallpaper or oversized graphic. The bedding will be white, with lots of pillows and scatter cushions of matching, luxuriant fabric, and a bedspread to add colour or pattern. There will be a desk with a desk chair, and at least one lounge-style armchair, both in a fabric which in either tone or texture, links to the bedspread, cushions, wallpaper… or even all three.
A good 5* Hotel will go one step further. The furniture will coordinate, but maybe not quite match; it will look individually sourced. Generally, the rooms seem more eclectic: the chairs may be different; the furniture is generally freestanding and does not come from a "range". They may even have a vintage, or an antique appearance.
A good 5* Hotel will go one step further. The furniture will coordinate, but maybe not quite match; it will look individually sourced. Generally, the rooms seem more eclectic: the chairs may be different; the furniture is generally freestanding and does not come from a "range". They may even have a vintage, or an antique appearance.
Make it your own
So you loved the bedroom of the so-and-so hotel in that place you went for that long weekend, but was it really you? Could you stand to wake every day to that wallpaper? Could you really put up with the hassle of taking off all those scatter cushions every day, only to set the stage again in the morning? Do you need an armchair and side table if all they're going to do is play clotheshorse to your dirty shirts? Nope – Hotels work because they are selling an ideal. You walk into the room and go "wow" because you didn't spend 10 minutes making the bed and dressing it with an array of cushions that morning.
So you loved the bedroom of the so-and-so hotel in that place you went for that long weekend, but was it really you? Could you stand to wake every day to that wallpaper? Could you really put up with the hassle of taking off all those scatter cushions every day, only to set the stage again in the morning? Do you need an armchair and side table if all they're going to do is play clotheshorse to your dirty shirts? Nope – Hotels work because they are selling an ideal. You walk into the room and go "wow" because you didn't spend 10 minutes making the bed and dressing it with an array of cushions that morning.
So… still keen on reproducing the hotel look?
If so, I'm going to take a look around some of the most loved designer hotels, and see if I can source the furniture, fabrics or wallpaper in a series of Hotel bedroom Blog posts. So, if you love a particular hotel, let me know and I'll see if I can help you to recreate your dream bedroom.
