Inspiring Master Bedrooms

Mary McDonald

So I found out today that the new house should be completed by late July -- about a month earlier than Dave and I had expected. Yikes! Suddenly, there's a renewed urgency in not only selling the current house, but in figuring out what I want to do with the new place. I find the best way to get in decorating mode is to look at beautiful spaces. Fortunately for me, more and more designers are putting their portfolios online so I have ready access to all their lovely work, much of which never (alas) makes it to a shelter magazine.

Now that my ultimate vision for the new dining room is under control, I'm on to the master bedroom. After combing through my virtual inspiration files (I save everything on Picasa Web), I thought I'd post a some pictures of a few bedrooms from my favorite interior designers that I found particularly inspiring today. Putting these altogether, I definitely see a few trends starting to form: bold colors offset by plenty of white, fun patterns and upholstered headboards.

From Massucco Warner Miller on the West Coast:

In both of these bedrooms, I love the tightly edited use of color, the bold upholstered headboards, and fun patterned bed skirts. The orange and turquoise color scheme in the first room is also very "now". In both, I also like how white bedding is punched up with bright shams. This would be a great way to save some money: invest in some top-of-the-line white linens, and change things up seasonally (or whenever the mood strikes) with some inexpensive and colorful shams.

From the always-fabulous Amanda Nisbet:

In each of these, I love the bold chocolate brown walls set off against pops of bold color and the crisp white linens and woodwork. That disco ball-style chandelier in the first picture is pretty stunning as well, though I'm so used to sleeping with a fan, I doubt I'll be able to forgo one in favor of a chandelier. It may be hard to believe, but sometimes I do go for function over form.

From New York-based Katie Ridder, a former editor at House Beautiful and House & Garden:

Katie is known for her great use of color and pattern (both of which come into play in her beautiful line of wallpaper) and I think both of these bedrooms are great examples of that. While brown and orange is not the direction I'm heading in terms of color schemes, I still love the simplicity and coziness of this first space, as well as the fabulous pattern on the bed frame. In the second, I love the cool silver tones and the amazing bed, which looks like a combination between an iron canopy bed and an upholstered headboard. The unusual shape of the headboard is also wonderful. I'm particularly impressed with how calm this room feels despite all the different patterns at work here in the bedding and in the wallpaper. It just goes to show you that when you keep the scales of the patterns different and the color palette quiet, mixing it up with patterns can a great way to add visual interest without using a lot of color or coming off as busy.

From Atlanta-based Courtney Giles:

Porcelain blue and chocolate brown is definitely done with too much frequency for my taste, but I love the fabric in that first picture as well as the lovely brown headboard with the contrasting white button-tufting. I actually did an entire post on this second bedroom a while back (see HERE) and I still love it. Those black walls are stunning, but I think I'd tweak this slightly and go for a navy and orange color scheme (which is what I did in my earlier post). Not only do I think navy is more flattering than black, substituting it in also avoids the dreaded Halloween undertone. Besides, navy would go better with the rest of my house, which I anticipate will have a lot of blue running through it.

So what about you? Who are some of your favorite interior designers? Do they have online portfolios? If so, please share the link love as I'm always on the look out for new inspiration.