Bedroom colour ideas: 10 schemes to inspire your next makeover

Whatever colours you decide on for your bedroom are the perfect ones. But to give you a helping hand, we’ve shared some of our personal favourite colour combos that we think will look great in any style of property. 

We hope that some of our bedroom colour ideas, such as the aforementioned red or energising lime green, will provoke some out of the box (or should that be out of the paint can?) thinking. Enjoy. 

This room oozes colour confidence. The designer has cleverly used two shades of grey on the panelled walls – starting with a slightly darker shade at the bottom – and finishes with a calming shade of yellow on the ceiling. 

The result of adding simple, yet effective panelling is a room that looks premium, especially with the gradient painted effect.  

Yellow combined with grey has been a top bedroom colour idea for years, and with good reason. Sunny yellow warms up grey’s cool edge, while grey tones down yellow’s bold vivaciousness, making it more liveable. 

Interested in finding out what colours were used to create this yellow and grey bedroom? Benjamin Moore was the designer’s paint brand of choice. The lower panels feature Metropolitan, the upper panels feature Barren Plain and the ceiling is lavished in Concord Ivory. 

Putting panelling up in your own bedroom is surprisingly easy – read how you can tackle this easy DIY project. 

As bedroom colour ideas go, all-white takes some beating. The look is crisp, cool, collected and it never dates. As with fashion, white textiles don’t so much whisper luxury as scream it – after all, it is no easy feat keeping white pristine around the clock. 

For those of us who maintain immaculate bedrooms and excel at selecting furniture and accents with care, the all-white bedroom rewards are well worth it. 

Contemporary bedroom styling, in parrticular, can look impressive in white. Take, for example, Studio EVH’s choice of a minimalist four-poster bed, with iron framework. There is something oh-so-Chanel chic about this look – modern, but timeless – and this feeling extends to lamps and bedside tables too.  

When decorating a white bedroom, using various textures is crucial as it helps to create contrast and depth. By incorporating textured elements such as a plush rug, woven throw blankets, and linen curtains, you can add visual interest and make the space feel cosy and inviting. 

Pink is in a period of cultural flux. After years of being pigeonholed as a childish hue, the colour is making its way into the most beautiful bedrooms in the world – and one of them could be yours. 

But what is pink’s appeal? For one thing, it has been shown to be one of the most restful bedroom colours around. According to colour psychologists, pink has a long cultural association with love, kindness, and femininity. No wonder we feel at perfect peace in bedrooms featuring pink. It feels like a warm embrace. 

As pink is really just red with white added, there is a definite hint of the sensuality that goes hand in hand with red hues. In pink’s case, though, the effect is more subtle, particularly if you choose a blush or pastel shade. 

This bedroom styled by Zulufish shows how to do bedroom pink just right. It’s elegant, serene and sophisticated. 

Caroline Milns of Zulufish says: “Often, when it comes to adding colour or pattern within a room, these elements are limited to the walls – via paint or wallpaper – or the soft furnishings. Why not consider extending a decorative detail to your cupboards by washing colour over the doors and thereby elevating them to becoming something rather special?  

She adds: “Choosing a soft pink, such as the colour within this bedroom, and extending it across the doors creates a soft calming ambience; it’s much gentler than the contrast of a classic white finish, which can feel quite stark. The overall feel is a relaxing and softened space with light that is suffused and warmed by the surrounding colour.” 

Once seen as quirky and offbeat, green is a restful choice for any bedroom due to the colour’s close association with nature. It’s all about choosing a hue that really resonates with you.  

Paint entrepreneur Annie Sloan says when in doubt, start small. “Greens are both difficult and easy because there are so many colour options within one family. From lime green to spearmint via forest green, there are lively greens, sombre greens, respectable greens, slime greens and everything in between.” 

As this bedroom designed by Oka using Edward Bulmer Natural Paint in Olympian Green shows, lime green can be an elegant, if unexpected, bedroom choice. 

Grounding the colour is key. As in nature, lime finds its rightful place in rooted in humble soil and hung on branches. So, it makes sense that the designers of this bedroom reached for taupe to balance the bold effect of this colour. 

We like the sumptuous dark taupe and lime velvet pillows that accent the bed and the faux fur throw really underlines the cosy luxuriousness of this impressive green bedroom. 

Are you as enamoured as we are with the sculptural table lamps? They’re the Minerva lamp by Oka.  

Featured product

Minerva Metal Table Lamp, Oka

RRP: £275

Check price

Check price

‘Plummy, regal and bohemian’ is how we’d sums up the purple bedroom style as seen in the Marvellous rooms of The Portobello Hotel in London. 

Deepest aubergine is the colour choice for the wood treatment – it looks amazing not only on the doors but extended to a chest of drawers. 

Purple plush velvet curtains and a decadent throw give the elevated boutique hotel bedroom style that we want to steal for our homes. 

Want to try a sophisticated purple in your own bedroom? Check out Mylands Empire-Violet No. 80. 

Is there a cheerier, more energetic colour than orange? On bedroom walls, it’s the perfect tonic for beating sleep inertia – who could feel sluggish waking up in a room with a blast of orange? 

If you struggle to get off to sleep at night, don’t feel you have to forgo the morning buzz benefits of orange. Try a lighter shade like peach to balance the high energy with restfulness. 

Wondering what colour will really make your orange walls sing? You cannot go wrong with shades of blue – this colour combination is possibly one of the most beautiful around. Why? These two colours sit directly opposite each other on the colour wheel meaning they offer the highest hue contrast you can get, creating a pleasing visual spectacle when paired. 

In this bedroom, Edward Bulmer Natural Paint in Brick is made homely with pops of blue in a variety of shades.  

As with this bedroom, if you are going for a dramatic orange wall as your top bedroom colour idea, keep bedlinen neutral to give your eyes a place to rest. 

Like a light and bright bedroom but not a fan of white’s glare? A softer silver tone will not only give you that airy feel you crave but also turns up the dial on glamour in your bedroom as well. 

If you opt for a wallpaper, one of the advantages is that you can incorporate some texture, which always works to lift neutral walls.  

Pairing green with silver is a great way to invite natural energy and warmth to what can be an otherwise cold backdrop. 

We like how this bedroom by Cave Interiors feels like the perfect sleep haven, incorporating as it does earthy colours like blues, greys and greens to balance the silver. The bedside flowers are a nice touch. 

Wondering where to start finding a silver wallpaper? For a touch of movement we like Sublime Theia Moire Stripe Silver, available through UKWallpaper.

Featured product

Sublime Theia Wallpaper in Moire Stripe Silver, UK Wallpaper

RRP: 13.99 for a 10m roll

Check price

Check price

What one word sums up a bedroom with copper toned walls? Luxurious. Less all-out-glitz than gold and quite a few notches warmer than silver, copper bedroom walls are all about metallic confidence.  

And in this bedroom by Studio Dean, the designers did not stop at copper walls to make their lavish point. Copper furniture and fixture complement the walls. Jewel-toned velvet textiles and upholstery in green and inky blue further make this bedroom a decadent retreat.  

To set the scene, the designers also combined the copper feature wall with dark blue walls with the aim that the bedroom be dark and moody instead of light and airy.  

Paint your ceiling dark too to really make the most of this sultry bedroom idea. 

Tempted to try copper on your bedroom walls? Try Graham & Brown’s Tranquil Copper Wallpaper.  

Featured product

Tranquil Copper Wallpaper, Graham & Brown

RRP: £49 per 10m roll

Check price

Check price

Red is the colour of passion. It makes sense that it would find its natural home in some bedrooms, where it stimulates the senses and creates warmth.  

It would be true to say, though, that only calmer characters should consider a red bedroom. Red has been shown to get pulses racing and tempers flared, so avoid it if you are looking for a colour to soothe you. 

And, after seeing this gorgeous bedroom designed by wallpaper experts, Rebel Walls, we have to say there is something inviting about a full-blooded red bedroom. 

Is it the devil-may-care nose thumbing of standard bedroom design conventions that say: ‘Keep calm and play it safe’? Maybe. It goes without saying that the kind of person who chooses a red bedroom is probably the same sort of person who also dances ‘til dawn like no one is watching. 

Make like Rebel Walls and add some cosy details to your wallpaper or paint, with this plank-effect covering, and you will have the perfect balance of rebellion and retreat. 

This black bedroom softened with a vintage floral motif makes us wonder how we ever managed without this level of décor romance.  

Conceived by by Studio Dean, this bedroom colour idea is all about embracing the darkness in a quest for a more profound quality of sleep. After all, if we can’t sleep deeply in a cosy room enveloped in black, then, where can we? It is the ultimate grounding colour.

Another plus point for black is that, if you have a box room to decorate, the tone can make it appear bigger. Though It might seem counterintuitive to add a dark colour to an already dark space, dark pigments actually blur the edges of the room and add depth. You therefore notice the statement walls and not the limited dimensions. 

We like that the designer has pulled some colour out of the wallpaper – yellow and teal – to unify the theme with matching upholstery. And the more said about the floral ceiling the better. Bring some real fresh cut flowers into the room for restful fragrance. 

Want to give the vintage floral wallpaper and black paint pairing a go? Try Ditsy Ava Marika by Woodchip & Magnolia.