Your house isn’t just a big square box. Thanks to beautifully-designed architecture, your walls are curved, slanted, and cut out. This is particularly true if your bedroom is in a refurbished attic. While this may be an incredibly convenient way to add another room to an older home, it does make for a tricky decorating scenario. A penthouse or top-floor condo often has unique architecture features as well.
In order to get great sleep, you need to love the room you’re sleeping in. Decorating a room with slanted walls and an arched ceiling can be as much fun (if not more!) as planning for a home with a plain square shape. The essential difference, though, is in the way you treat the ceiling and how you use the special contours of the room to your advantage. Don’t worry; we’ll help you!
How to Decorate a Slanted Wall Bedroom
Sloped ceilings and walls have character and charm, but designing a bedroom you love with these slopes can be a challenge. Let this guide and inspire you as you design your own room! Without further ado, here is how to decorate a slanted wall bedroom:
#1 Add Skylights and Windows
If your budget allows, you may want to consider putting a skylight into the slanted wall. Though it is more expensive than the other ideas on this list, it lets natural light in to help counterbalance the closed space of the slanted walls. In addition, the natural light boosts mood and will actually help you sleep better too. Your body loves natural lighting and exposure to the sun first thing in the morning!
Tap into the many benefits of slanted ceilings by adding additional windows and skylights! They add a sense of amazement to the room even after sunset by bringing the night sky indoors. It will be like camping under the stars, without the bugs and with a comfortable bed instead of a sleeping bag. Modern skylights come in an amazing array of shapes and sizes, so you’ll be able to find one or more that compliment your vision for the room. You can combine these skylights with the right blend of ambient and focused lighting to ensure that the room appears bright and airy at all times.
#2 Incorporate Light and Airy Colors
When planning for a room of this shape, you’ll want to pay special attention to your color scheme. Painting the room with a dark color creates a cave-like effect that makes the room look and feel both smaller and closed in. Interior design experts tell us that it is best to stick to a simple and neutral color palette that is not too harsh on your eyes. Just remember that white is not your only choice here! In fact, a two-tone color scheme with a painted ceiling looks amazing in small bedrooms with slanted walls.
Painting your slanted room with a light color creates the illusion of space. As well, bright colors reflect natural light, which is excellent if the room has small windows. To complement the light-colored wall and ceiling, you can add contrasting dark-colored features such as beams or window frames. This will give the room a warm feeling, perfect for snuggling down for a night of sleep.
Slanted ceilings often create interesting angular features and slanting additions that can be highlighted using bright colors, simple stripes, or an accent wall. A tone-on-tone approach to wall color is visually pleasing, as long as you do not use too many colors in the same space. This could lead to visual fragmentation and the perception of clutter.
#3 Take Advantage of Cozy Nooks and Peripheral Storage
If you try to fill a room that has a slanted ceiling with too many cabinets and shelves, you’re going to feel like you’re living in a cramped library. Instead, compensate for the lack of wall-mounted storage by being smart with your storage. The bed you sleep on is going to be the largest piece of furniture in the room, so you’ll want to choose a new bed wisely. Beds with extra drawers underneath can be great space savers for bedrooms that don’t look good with shelves. A few of our favorites include the Vaughan Bassett Sawmill Storage Bed and the Malouf Waterford Upholstered Platform Storage Bed.
Why not take advantage of the charm in your room instead of covering it up! A clever way to add cozy to your slanted wall bedroom is by creating a window seat. It offers a perfect space for reading, meditating, working, and storage. It also creates a focal point for the room. Even better- put in a ledge where the seat lifts up to add storage!
Once you start to think this way, you’ll probably discover several really clever ways to make use of nooks and crannies in your bedroom. A hanging plant? A wall-mounted nightstand? An area rug to compliment the decor? Get creative!
#4 Find Furniture and Decor That is Proportional
If you have a small room with low, slanted ceilings, you don’t want tall, bulky furniture. This challenge can be solved with a simple approach, going low with everything from the bed to the lighting. However, some rooms with slanted walls and ceilings have the opposite challenge. For a giant loft with a slanted roof and a double-height ceiling, using decor that is a touch taller than usual is the smart choice.
Whichever applies to your bedroom, we have the furniture and accent pieces to perfectly fit the space! A thick mattress, high-off-the-ground panel bed, and tall floor lamps will make a tall room seem cozy instead of too expansive. A low-profile mattress and a thinner, metal bed will do better with a shorter ceiling. Instead of a large floor lamp, add allure to the low slanted ceiling with a table lamp.
#5 Try Touch of Textural Contrast
Exposed beams turn even the most sterile of spaces into an inviting, pleasant space. In fact, many types of textures have a similar effect and can give a room with slants and angles a relaxed, cozy ambiance.
You can easily create dimension on your walls by mounting wooden beams or installing wood struts. This is a great way to add some visual texture. If you already have exposed wooden beams, consider staining them darker to draw the eye up. This is a great way to provide contrast to your light walls and create a new focal point in the room. For those looking for more cost-friendly but still exciting options, wallpaper, textured accent wall, and even fabric canopies offer creative alternatives.
While many people perceive rooms with slanted walls as a challenge, they can be gorgeous and impressive, if styled the right way. With these tips, your slanted wall bedroom can be your new favorite room within the house! Making a slanted ceiling and walls stand out while ensuring they add to the overall appeal of the room is what truly makes such spaces appealing. Your slumber oasis awaits!