The key to enlivening a neutral room is to brighten it with several shades of the same color. In a mostly pale room, a plaid blanket makes a strong statement. The chandelier, the wall-mounted bedside tables, and the cushion on the dog bed reiterate the blanket's several shades of blue.

Unabashedly feminine details, such as ruffles, ribbons, bows, upbeat hues, and cheerful prints -- including plaids and florals -- are the hallmarks of country-inspired decor.

Soothing colors are accented with punchy decorative elements, and the simplicity and clean lines of the furniture unify it with the look of an urban modern home.

A butter-and-cream yellow bed skirt works best when warmed by an orange-yellow curtain stripe, and chilled, a bit, by breathy aqua walls. The overall effect is clean and simple, with a sunny touch.

Clean white bedding contrasts a dark wooden bed frame and classic mirrors for a traditional, country-inspired feel.

Pink doesn't have to be garish or girly -- a soft, muted pink complements beiges and grays of similar intensity, and stone gray wicker furniture blends in to create a serene, low-key atmosphere.

Rich earth tones, a cotton voile canopy, and striped woven wool lend themselves to this stately, traditional style.

Serene sky hues take the bedroom far beyond beige when added to accents like a bed skirt, headboard trim, or side table.

Decorative Crafts for Fall

Craft of the Day

Fall flower arrangements

Colorful accent ideas

We all like to dream in Technicolor, yet many of us are reluctant to decorate a bedroom in anything but hushed neutrals and restful pastels. We worry about imbuing the bedroom with stimulating colors, so we create cocoons that make us yawn -- and put us to sleep. But why climb into bed with someone else's style?

A warm scheme of burnished golds, burnt oranges, and deep browns makes a bedroom feel sunny, even on a cloudy day, and warm and enveloping at night. The wooden furniture evokes tree trunks and branches; the fabrics, October leaves. This timeless color combination is grounded and enlivened by the patterned rug, which, counterintuitively, functions as a neutral. The room becomes the ideal spot for snuggling under the covers (with or without man's best friend).

Given the increasing demand for all things eco, any aspect of your dream bedroom can now come in some type of organic, natural, or otherwise socially redeeming form -- not to mention stylishly chic and super luxurious.

Our simplified approach to couching, which traditionally involves hand-stitching, doesn't require the labor of a needle and thread -- just cording, fabric glue, and a disappearing-ink pen, plus a marker and graph paper to map out a design.

Nothing completes your boudoir like a headboard -- it provides a focal point and makes the whole room more inviting. The store-bought kind can be expensive and bulky, so try this shortcut: Using the lines in a graphic wallpaper as your guide, cut out a silhouette that serves as a virtual headboard.

If you want to dress up your bed but find dust ruffles a bit fussy, consider slipping a fitted sheet over your box spring for a streamlined look.

A solid old door, refinished and hung sideways, becomes a perfect -- and perfectly inexpensive -- headboard for a bed.
Learn How to Make It

More Bedroom Inspiration

• Bedroom Sanctuaries
• Bedroom Details
• The Bedding Planner