Colorful bedroom ideas – 9 ways to create a charismatic scheme

There are myriad colorful bedroom ideas out there, perfect for sprucing up your interiors and injecting some personality into your bedroom. The bedroom is a deeply personal room where your character really spills into the space. 

It’s safe from the peering eye of guests and is often filled with personal mementos and trinkets. Bedroom color ideas are another way of expressing yourself, and a lick of paint can be a fun way to switch up the feeling of your room. 

‘People are looking at color more as a way to express a feeling or mood, instead of just for aesthetic impact,’ says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams. 

From bright primary pops to clever color blocking ideas, these are our favorite colorful bedroom ideas.

Colorful bedroom ideas for a bright and lively space

1. Go vibrant with a bright yellow room

Keep your interiors vibrant and uplifting and don’t shy away from going bold with a bright kick of yellow like in this contemporary one-tone bedroom. 

For another example, look to Kit Kemp’s Haymarket Hotel, zesty pops of color keep the space lively and positive, while mixing instinctively with colors that go with yellow. ‘Sunshine isn’t always a guarantee in London so we like to add a touch of yellow to brighten up our schemes,’ says Kemp. ‘Zesty pops of color on the furniture, walls and upholstery make the room feel summery and bright.’

‘At Haymarket Hotel, for example, we have paired a sunshine yellow with our ‘Patchwork’ tufted wool rug. The warmth of the yellow creates a striking contrast bringing mixed tones of green, yellow and blue in the rug. It exudes the joys of springtime in London.’

2. Pick a daring wallpaper

To bring an extra element and lift to your bedroom, go for a bold wallpaper. Think carefully and really consider the pattern. It should be a scheme that you love so you don't tire of seeing it, and really think about placement. ‘Preferably, use the wallpaper on the wall behind the bed so it is not distracting while you are lying down, rather it will ground the room and feel nurturing,’ says Studholme from Farrow & Ball. 

This Temple Newsam Chinoiserie is a hand painted scene of an idyllic country garden. Seen here within the London bedroom of de Gournay director, Rachel Cecil Gurney, the Moss Green Williamsburg ground is a wonderfully textured base to the verdant flora and foliage. The fresh, colourful pattern combats the grey, built up nature of London, and the use of trees and flowers adds a tranquillity to the interior and gives the scheme a luxury bedroom feel.

3. Try a colorful headboard 

A colorful headboard idea is a great way to bring a pop of color to your room, and the right headboard can work like a piece of art. Ed O'Donnell, co-founder of Angel O'Donnell, advises drawing inspiration from the things you love. In this children's bedroom at a Chelsea townhouse, the designers were influenced by the room owner's love for Japanese culture. 

'This passion led to the creation of a whimsical space filled with playful patterns and enlivening hues. We upholstered the bed in a peach, orange and sapphire blue fabric depicting Mount Fuji, cherry blossom and dainty Maiko (apprentice geishas). High-gloss teal bedside tables, pale teal wallpaper with hand-drawn mountains, clouds and temples and a pale pink cuckoo clock bring further dreamy elements to this happy room.'

4. Add interest to the ceiling

Color isn't just reserved for the walls. Encourage guests to the space to look up by going for a bold color on the ceiling. This ceiling decorating idea can break up the room, emphasize the height of the ceiling, and add a whimsical feel to the space. 

In this room, the ceiling is painted in Farrow & Ball's rich crimson paint, Incarnadine and white, with stripes brought down onto the walls, creating a playful feel for this bedroom and softening the space between the ceiling and the wall. The red stripe pattern is cleanly broken with the introduction of Breakfast Room Green walls which marry perfectly against the red.  

5. Use your curtains as a canvas

When considering where to bring personality to the space, bedroom curtains can be a great canvas for adding pops of color. 

In this vibrant example from French interior design house, Pierre Frey's, hand-embroidered linen curtains and fabric dyed in a vibrant primary pattern makes a joyous addition to the 'Vibration et Rythmes' collection. The colors of the curtains are then used for inspiration for the rest of the room. The throw on the bed and bed-side table help to carry the theme throughout the room.

6. Look to your bookshelf to add color

Instead of upheaving your interiors fully to add color to your bedroom, why not use what you already have at hand?

In this example from interior design and decoration specialist, Salvesen Graham, the designer has flipped books around to show the binding, and ordered the books accordingly. The effect has transformed an otherwise plain wall into a bright and positive rainbow scheme in a mere matter of moments with this shelving idea. 

7. Don't be afraid of layering clashing patterns

Pattern can feel intimidatingly busy when used heavily in the bedroom, but if cleverly layered, you can embrace the clash in a fun and cohesive way. To introduce this slowly to your space, use a soft all-over pattern to give your bedding and other soft furnishings the spotlight. In this pretty bedroom example, Dado's simple floral pattern makes it easy to scheme with a host of other colors and patterns. 

'The Floral Ogee by Dadydress for Dado is an easy-to-use print reminiscent of hand-embroidered suzani textiles,' says Kate French, creative director at Dado. 'It's small scale and use of multiple colors means it provides the perfect backdrop to artwork or shelving displays and layers of color and patterns.'

8. Use a rug to color the flooring

A colorful rug is a nice addition to a bedroom and a great way to add a bit of personality. 'The floor is often described as the fifth wall of a room, and it can either be a strong focal point, with a very designed artist rug, or it can provide a base of colour to highlight other aspects of a room without being too distracting,' says Sarah Henry, managing director of rug manufacture company based in France, La Manufacture Cogolin. 

'If there are a lot of bold patterns on the floor, it's better to have less on the furniture, or vice versa. Keep one or two main colour themes for the largest pieces. A rug can cover a lot of space, so it’s a way to introduce colour in a more subtle way than on a vertical surface. Any rug will immediately warm up a room and make it more cosy and inviting. A statement rug, like a nice bag and a good pair of shoes, can really add personality to a space and set the overall tone.'

9. Unexpected color clashing

Pick unexpected colors that aren't usually thrown together if you're feeling like embracing color. Orange and pink are one-such pairing, shown in this example from Little Greene, that are close together on the color wheel, but can make for a dramatic statement and really liven up your bedroom. 

'When creating a contrasting palette, we recommend thinking about splitting the room into ratios,' says Helen Shaw, director at Benjamin Moore. 'The main color can be around 60 per cent of the scheme, 30 per cent the secondary color and 10 per cent an accent.'    

Which colors work best in a bedroom?

When settling on a scheme, consider the colors that reflect your individuality and the intention of the room, recommends Joa Studholme from Farrow & Ball. ‘If you are a morning person who likes to jump out of bed and attack the day, then you are probably more suited to having a light and uplifting colour on the walls. Evening people will more likely embrace the darker shades.

'For a bedroom used purely for sleeping, serene colours such as Light Blue and Setting Plaster will induce a good night’s rest and a sense of calm.’ Whatever your intention for the space, a flourish of color can go a long way.