Decorating
10 Key Ingredients for an Authentic Vintage-style Bedroom
Interpret these ideas in your own way to recreate that remote, dreamy feel of yesteryear’s bedrooms
Bedrooms of old were completely cut off from the world, with no Twitter or Netflix, MP3 players, tablets, TVs, or telephones. They were lovingly created from easy-to-obtain materials, handmade accessories and family heirlooms. Crucially, they were unique.
You don’t need to include all of these suggestions, but use your favourites as a springboard to create your own vintage tribute to the past.
You don’t need to include all of these suggestions, but use your favourites as a springboard to create your own vintage tribute to the past.
Work in some wallpaper
Delicate pastel wallpaper with a gentle pattern repeat helps to add charm and warmth to a vintage room. If you’re going to paper, however, don’t miss out any walls – feature walls are too contemporary for this look. You could, however, mix and match complementary papers on different walls.
Delicate pastel wallpaper with a gentle pattern repeat helps to add charm and warmth to a vintage room. If you’re going to paper, however, don’t miss out any walls – feature walls are too contemporary for this look. You could, however, mix and match complementary papers on different walls.
Focus on a fireplace
If your bedroom is lucky enough to come with a period fireplace, you’re more than halfway to creating the vintage feel already. Make it the focal point of the room, with a large overmantel mirror, like the one shown here. If it’s not a working fire, fill the grate with candles, photos or a vase of flowers.
Take a look at 10 easy ideas for improving a period fireplace
If your bedroom is lucky enough to come with a period fireplace, you’re more than halfway to creating the vintage feel already. Make it the focal point of the room, with a large overmantel mirror, like the one shown here. If it’s not a working fire, fill the grate with candles, photos or a vase of flowers.
Take a look at 10 easy ideas for improving a period fireplace
Select a bedstead
To re-create that simple pre-war bedroom feel, select a delicate metal bedstead or pretty upholstered bed frame that you can see underneath, as opposed to a divan. This style is all the better for showing off pretty, vintage-style bed linen.
To re-create that simple pre-war bedroom feel, select a delicate metal bedstead or pretty upholstered bed frame that you can see underneath, as opposed to a divan. This style is all the better for showing off pretty, vintage-style bed linen.
Pile up your bedding
Central heating was unheard of in the ‘olden days’, so it was paramount the bed was piled high with extra blankets and throws that could quickly be reached for on chilly nights. Plump eiderdowns in soft pastel gingham sit invitingly atop the twin beds in this vintage scene.
Discover 10 interiors items ripe for a revival
Central heating was unheard of in the ‘olden days’, so it was paramount the bed was piled high with extra blankets and throws that could quickly be reached for on chilly nights. Plump eiderdowns in soft pastel gingham sit invitingly atop the twin beds in this vintage scene.
Discover 10 interiors items ripe for a revival
Overdress the windows
Back in the era you’re aiming for with your bedroom design, windows were prone to rattling and draughts. Thick curtains and blinds weren’t just for show; they needed to be sound- and heat-insulators, too.
In this cute, vintage-style nursery, blinds are layered with floor-skimming curtains in a different but complementary fabric.
See how to dress your bedroom windows for maximum effect
Back in the era you’re aiming for with your bedroom design, windows were prone to rattling and draughts. Thick curtains and blinds weren’t just for show; they needed to be sound- and heat-insulators, too.
In this cute, vintage-style nursery, blinds are layered with floor-skimming curtains in a different but complementary fabric.
See how to dress your bedroom windows for maximum effect
Let your clothes hang out
As if left by the maid ready for a bedroom’s occupant to wear the next day, every vintage-style sleep space should have a favourite garment strung over the bedpost, draped over an old tailor’s dummy or hooked over the wardrobe door, as seen here.
You could even opt to store all your clothes on a vintage clothes rail for a full-on, glamorous, 1950s dressing room look.
As if left by the maid ready for a bedroom’s occupant to wear the next day, every vintage-style sleep space should have a favourite garment strung over the bedpost, draped over an old tailor’s dummy or hooked over the wardrobe door, as seen here.
You could even opt to store all your clothes on a vintage clothes rail for a full-on, glamorous, 1950s dressing room look.
Avoid fitted carpets
Wall-to-wall carpets are a little too indulgent and contemporary for this look. Choose a large antique or traditional Indian, Moroccan or Chinese-style rug instead. And make sure it’s wide enough to fit comfortably under the bed, so your feet don’t have to step out onto the floorboards.
Wall-to-wall carpets are a little too indulgent and contemporary for this look. Choose a large antique or traditional Indian, Moroccan or Chinese-style rug instead. And make sure it’s wide enough to fit comfortably under the bed, so your feet don’t have to step out onto the floorboards.
Bring in a dressing table
Fifty-odd years ago, no master bedroom would have been complete without a dressing table. You need a traditional one with a triple mirror, an upholstered stool and several little drawers for knick-knacks, like the one shown here. If it can be artistically draped with jewellery and scattered with brushes and make-up, so much the better.
Browse 10 ways to fit in a dressing table
Fifty-odd years ago, no master bedroom would have been complete without a dressing table. You need a traditional one with a triple mirror, an upholstered stool and several little drawers for knick-knacks, like the one shown here. If it can be artistically draped with jewellery and scattered with brushes and make-up, so much the better.
Browse 10 ways to fit in a dressing table
Embrace one-off furniture
Mass-produced furniture is a fairly recent phenomenon and it doesn’t feature in a vintage-style bedroom. Trawl reclamation yards, antiques markets and auction houses for one-off vintage pieces, like the washstand and wardrobe seen here.
TELL US…
Have you created a vintage-style bedroom? Share your ideas and photos in the Comments below.
Mass-produced furniture is a fairly recent phenomenon and it doesn’t feature in a vintage-style bedroom. Trawl reclamation yards, antiques markets and auction houses for one-off vintage pieces, like the washstand and wardrobe seen here.
TELL US…
Have you created a vintage-style bedroom? Share your ideas and photos in the Comments below.
Modern LED and spot lighting will kill the mood in the vintage bedroom. Instead, you want a single overhead light dressed, as here, with a simple shade, and a couple of table lamps either side of the bed to throw gentle pools of light over the room.