Let your imagination rule when considering decorating ideas for painting a bedroom. Adding color, trim, finishes, accents or images on bedroom walls gives them color, texture and style. Determine your theme or the mood you want to create and use your walls to express it. The best aspect of painting a bedroom is that it is simple to redo when you want another change.
New Neutrals
In the interest of keeping an open, light feeling, many people will not venture from plain white walls. However, there are several new neutrals that can achieve a similar breezy effect. For an Asian fusion or eco-design look, try a muted earth tone such as sandstone. Go designer with a subdued tone of lime green, or try a touch of French Country with buttery yellow. A big trend in bedroom walls is dove gray, often with a blue undertone, but it works best if the room has a good source of natural light. If not, gray with rose undertones adds the warmth to keep the room from feeling too sterile. For a meditative environment, consider periwinkle blue. Antique white or whites with the palest hints of green, lavender, pink or blue are appropriate for a shabby chic or cottage effect.
Accent Walls
Painting an accent wall in a bedroom is freeing, because the color can be bolder. You can cast a moody feeling with deep red or veer toward the bohemian modern trend with mottled blues and greens in the jewel tones of sapphire, emerald, turquoise or jade. Strike a retro '50s note with aqua and a cotton candy pink trim. A recent sophisticated combination that is popular combines espresso brown with lavender. For a contemporary monochromatic look, poppy seed black (a little softer than basic black) or ivory provide a stark backdrop.
Painting Effects
Painting effects can define a bedroom's decor theme. For example, if you paint over dark walls with a thin coat of whitewash, allow it to dry and then distress the surface with fine grain sandpaper, to create a shabby chic look. Try the same effect with two brighter hues such as poppy orange and fuchsia, and the resulting look is Indian or Moroccan. A bedroom is ideal for trying a faux finish. Try marbled mustard yellow for a French Country theme or sponge painting for a marbled effect that evokes Spanish haciendas and Tuscan kitchens. Use stencils to create a decorative trim or a combination of stencils for a wall mural.
