Your room is neutral, you could go several ways with color. Do you have favorite colors? Look in your closet. are there colors that repeat ? That often indicates a preference for a color. Whats outside your window? Whats in the rest of the house? do you have any accesories that you havent show that you could pull colors from? I immediately thought earthly, muted colors like warm rusty red or a great greyish sage or olive green.

thanks for the reply! garnet (one of my university’s colors) is definitely a repeating color, as well as blue! The rest of my house is warm colors, mainly beige with some pops of Navy here and there.

No additional accessories or anything else, that’s where I need the help! :)

Outside my window are some trees, nothing too special, but being on the second floor makes it feel a little like a treehouse!

Thank you! My budget is pretty flexible, I've been looking at some of the "trendy" brands like brooklinen and whatnot, don't mind spending $100+ on a duvet cover but also wondering if my money would stretch a little further elsewhere? I really like the feel of percale, cool and crisp like a hotel bed... love it!

I recently purchased the picture and really love it, reminds me of my trip to Europe a few years ago! One thing that might be tough to see in the photos is that the bike in the picture is a bright red. Was thinking of maybe pulling that out and going with red for curtains or in the bedspread (or both). Think I just have a hard time putting it all together!

You're on the right track with these ideas. I think it makes sense to spend on bedding because you use it every day. I'd start with the bedding. That will be the jumping off point for the rest of the decor. Stylish accessories and wall decor can be had at all price points. Did you take any good photos during your European trip? They'd make great wall art, I'm sure. You can even play around with filters to get different effects. I saw some in this forum that used a "painterly" filter? The picture doesn't have be perfect to be inspiring. Ikea and Target have inexpensive frames.

Curtains might not make sense if you're keeping your dresser on the window wall. (And I understand wanting it there for the TV. If you remove the TV from your bedroom, you might have a bit more furniture layout flexibility.) Blackout shades can be an option if you don't get curtains and need more light control.

Forgot to say: duvets and duvet covers often vary in sizes and it can get annoying when the cover is much bigger than the duvet (insert). There are clips on the market to prevent the duvet from shifting in its cover or you can get the cover altered to better fit. Ikea probably has the most affordable duvets and offers them in various warmth levels.

Have you tried looking on Pinterest for ideas. You mentioned you like garnet and blue. I seen these.

Some of your color preferences in more masculine bedrooms.

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Have you see this movie?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048980/

My best advice is to go shopping to agood bedding store and choose something you like then come back and we help with the color scheme We could post pics all day of bedrooms but you still need to find bedding. Even grandsons got that advice since the bedding really drives the color scheme

I ended up choosing this duvet cover - brooklinen "smoke stripe"

Figured that I'd add pops of color through a pillow or two, maybe curtains, and I love the idea of a gallery/collage wall with pictures of my travels.

Would love some ideas of what will pair well :)

Can't imagine anything clashing with your classic choice. The colour is subdued and neutral enough that anything goes. What type of curtains do you need?

Something floor length to frame the window that my dresser is up against. Any color ideas or maybe just sheer white?

Are you moving your dresser? I don't see the point of floor length curtains when a large piece of furniture is hiding half of them. I did this in my family room with my couch and regret it. What type of shades are on the window now? What type of light control/privacy do you need?

I wasn’t planning on moving it, but looking at the layout, I could move the dresser to where the opposite wall and move the bed closer to the window?

What do you think of that layout?

The only other option would be putting the bed in front of the window...

Those two layouts could make sense. Depends on how you use the bedroom. The dresser higher than the window sill is not optimal. My advice is to get some graph paper and draw out the room to scale with doors, baseboard heaters, closets and window clearly marked. Cut out the furniture to scale and try different layouts on paper before moving the furniture. If you're keeping the TV in the room, take its placement into account. For example, if you move the dresser to the other wall and keep the TV at the end of the dresser, will that be comfortable viewing? If you move the bed against the window wall (that's actually one instance where I don't mind a large piece of furniture in front of floor length curtains), is the TV too far? If you watch TV in the daytime, consider possible glare from the window. Here's an Apartment Therapy article on beds against a window. Some people do a wall of curtains behind the bed and it can look absolutely fabulous. The drawback is large window treatments can quickly get expensive. (Also, not readily recommended if you have dust mite allergies.)

I like the idea of moving the bed in front of the window, but it is the only window in the room, so I don't want to lose the precious natural light.

Due to the way the room is setup, the only other configuration that could work is moving the dresser to the wall next to the bed, but this would cause an issue with TV placement.

Is your headboard the same height as the dresser? If so, it wouldn't block the whole window and you can get curtains for the sides of the window for decorative purposes. Does the current blind provide enough light control for sleep? What type of budget do you have?

ETA: Target has some affordable curtain panels. These two are patterned with a brick red (might be too brown if you prefer garnet?) and a bit of tan/beige/grey, Might be interesting options for you.

Target - Benetta blackout curtains

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I prefer a muted spread and some pops of color for interest, you may like it too.

I spotted this bedroom picture with solid bright red curtains on the headboard wall while leafing through The Lonny Home. You'll notice there's bright colour and pattern on the bed as well. Some find red a bit too energizing for a bedroom but YMMV as we say. :)

Once you decide on your furniture layout and dressed your bed with your linens, take another pic to share. I'm sure people will have ideas for window treatments and decor pieces.

overstock.com with 5* rating and I like this dark rich teal for your “pop” of color.

New bedside lights? From Lumens with a 3 way switch.

I'd go with hotel-style bedding that has a color on the trim, then get a nice textured or plaid throw. Simple, elegant and masculine.

Try these:

https://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/category/collections.jsp?categoryId=cat16360016

https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/home-decor/throws/horizon-plaid-throw-in-mustard

https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/home-decor/all-bedding/marley-coverlet

Thank you everyone! I ordered the duvet cover which will be here Monday. I’ll take new pictures and update then :)

Brooklinen's Percale bedding is great!

Re: colors - the use of neutrals together (like you’ve already started with the furniture & duvet, wall color & carpet) is really nice, you don’t need to bring in color or fear the room looking ‘boring’. We are doing the same thing with a master bedroom. IMHO I would lean toward neutrals on the warm side - from the photos it looks like the walls and floor are warm tones already and work well. Think ivory & creams with the black, some soft beige and warm grays so It reads more cozy than stark. Lamps are fine, with warm white bulbs @ 3000K. I am not a decorator by profession I’m an architect & use this type of color scheme on my own projects.

another example w/ black & white photo on wall, layers of neutrals on bed, geometric & stripe pattern & textures

Here is another “warm” neutral room using black/white/creams and a warm gray accent wall with the black & white photos. For bringing in any metals, “warm” nickel or soft golds (‘champagne’) do well with warm neutrals,

very dark navy can also be used as a neutral with this type of room if you want to use a dark solid instead of black, note the warm neutrals

Here’s the room with the new bedding! I also did a gallery wall with photos from my travels. What else can I add to add some color, and what are your recommendations? Thanks everyone!

Anyone? :)

I like the photo gallery wall that you started. I think it needs more photos in the gallery to make it more of a presence. I also think your room needs texture. it still feels a little bland. how about some fur European shams on the bed with a fur throw at the end of the bed, then a cable knit accent pillow in front of the euro shams

I would also consider natural woven shades in place of your blinds and then some textural curtains, perhaps a wool or herringbone that gives the vibe of a men's suit.

Colorful throw pillows for the bed?

(I absolutely love black and white photography and can't believe i'm saying this), but I like your personal photos better. Would you consider removing black/white pic and using more of your own photos? As long as you're having prints made, perhaps enlarge them even more and really make a statement?

Colored pillows on bed, a throw across the foot of the bed, a plant on the dresser?

Great start! But I think it needs more color, layers and texture. Maybe a pop of color like blue/garnet in a throw at the end of bed or add pillows. I'm not sure the pic above the bed goes with the overall look. You could get a different pic with my more colors.

Thank you! I definitely plan to add additional photos to the galley wall, just need to keep traveling a little more!

As far as the picture over the bed, I’m really not sure what I would put there (I’m awful at picking art). But I’m all for adding some color!

I like the art above the bed.Especially for a guy. Is it at the right height? I agree you need some oomph to your bedding. Some textured pillows, a throw....Could use a bit of color somewhere. I like neutral, but I did put an orange throw on my bed, and I have dark teal walls. (still needs rug and something above bed!)

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