5 Tips for a Cozy(er) Bedroom | A Rental Series

Whether you’re renting or own your place, having a cozy space to call home is important to all of us. I used to get to my own room last when decorating or focusing on rooms in our home, but these past couple of years, while moving and renting and renting and moving, I’ve found that the quicker I make my room a cozy sanctuary when moving into a new place, the happier and more relaxed I feel… and much more quickly our new place feels like home. It was especially this way in the early months after our Skylar was home because I spent SO MUCH TIME in our shared room, where we really had to make the most of our space.

{Just so you know, there’s a BIG giveaway happening here too, so keep reading!}

Not that this space was particularly bad in the first place, I mean, look at all that light… and white! Even so, we still went through the room with a fresh coat of paint to clean it up, and below are our steps in making this room completely cozy and one of my favorite places in the house!

1 | Layer, Layer, Layer

Bringing in layers of color and using many textiles makes a room feel a little more luxurious. You can see below that I don’t actually have a real comforter for our room, and for awhile I was trying to fit into the mold that I had to have one, spent time looking for one and I just couldn’t find something that Chris and I agreed upon. Instead, I kept adding layers of lightweight blankets to our bed in different textures, and ended up falling in love with the look. Plus, living in Florida, it works for us year-round.

I’ve also been a huge fan of rug layering, like this soft and seriously plush rug with an animal hide rug layered over top of the edge, as it brings a whole new level of soft comfort to the room by almost covering the floor. Since changing out the carpet in this rental isn’t really an option, covering as much of it as possible was our goal, and with gorgeous rugs and soft textures, it just adds to the cozy feel of the room. I can’t believe the difference a rug, or two, can make to a room as it’s the last thing that went into our bedroom, and woah… it’s really has become a room I want to work in/relax in/sleep in/constantly be in.

2 | Lighting is Key

Another thing that usually can’t be changed in a rental space is the lighting. Even if you’re not renting, having plenty of supplemental light fixtures can create ambiance for a soft and cozy room.  Our fan light fixture isn’t so bad, although in most decor cases a ceiling fan is a big no-no. Living in Florida? I’m a rule breaker, because for a few months during summer that fan is glorious. Plus, it’s not something we’re willing to change in a rental, so adding plenty of lamps and candles is where it’s at for me. I don’t think I ever use the ceiling light fixtures in our room, since there is plenty of natural light during the day and in the evenings we use the lamps as needed. 

3 | Add Texture

This is very similar to number one, which was layering. The difference here is the key… texture. In all of that layering, make sure to choose different colors and patterns that compliment each other as well as differing textures so that it lends to the luxurious feel. If you have kids, you may have played a texture game with them before, as in, “How does this feel? Is it soft? What about this one, smooth? This one here is bumpy…” and on and on as you teach them what constitutes touch and feel. Do the same with the elements in your room! Add in velvet (my curtains and large gray pillows), knit (blanket, pillow, a few stuffed animals and mobile from the nursery side), sequin (pillow), metallics (accents on a couple of pillows, lamps, bowls), and whatever else you find to add in… I have plenty of cotton in different weaves, patterns and textures. And of course, the rugs (the rug shown in these photos is seriously SO soft, my favorite rug ever) and furniture as well.

4 | Double-Duty is Your Friend 

I don’t know about you, but making a space feel comfortable and cozy also means that everything needs to have it’s place. I feel more relaxed when the space around me is put together. For us, we needed to combine a nursery and master bedroom, meaning that we needed to work to make the most of our space. Clearly in this case, making items in the room play double-duty was a top priority, and this works out well whether you’re sharing a room or not! For example, I loved coming up with our sleek and simple nightstands, and with the addition of a bench, I can use mine for a desk when needed. Also, because we were adding a nursery into the room, the dresser doubles as a changing table and we designed a simple display shelf that also doubles as a wardrobe display!

5 | Don’t Be Afraid To Make It Your Own

Do you feel like painting? Paint! Have art for your walls? Hang it! 

For the longest time, we didn’t want to touch the walls, because we felt like we would have so much work before we moved again, and yes, if you put a ton of holes in a wall, there will be some work in the end. But in our last rental house, we STILL had a lot of retouching work before we moved out and that was without hanging much. For the first half of our time there, I didn’t feel quite settled-in because I didn’t want to mess stuff up. Now, the first thing I want to do is start fresh with a clean slate of paint and get our art on the walls.

Much of what we have hanging in our bedroom is either DIY art, photos of our family, or the two large pieces hanging over our bed that Chris and I picked up from a small shop in Chicago when we first got married. I know it looks like our kids could have painted them, and I’m okay with that, because they’re special to me. And also? They were painted by elephants! We actually have the polaroids taped to the back of the frame that show the elephants painting these canvases. So when you have pieces that mean something to you, get them up on the wall. We’ve made the room our own just by surrounding ourselves with wall hangings that we’ve created or have special meaning to us.

Get the look:

Furniture: Rocking Chair |  |  | Nightstands

Accessories: Mobile | || Print | Lamps | DIY Kiss Print

Textiles: White Ruffle Blanket | Black and White Cross Blanket | Black and White Stripe Throw | Velvet Pillow Cover | Rug

What about you? Any other tips you’ve found for cozy-ing up your space? We’d love to hear in the comments! 

Now it’s about time for that giveaway! Thanks to Plush Rugs, one of you will receive a $250 shop credit for their online store! 

To enter, just head to their site and leave a comment for them on any rug you like and fill out the form below!

xo

 

 

Post sponsored by Plush Rugs, all opinions, ideas and tips shared in this post are my own. Photos by: Briony Skerjance and Tabitha Blue for Fresh Mommy Blog