5 bedroom decor choices that give interior experts the ‘ick’ – avoid these and curate a super-stylish sleep space

We’ve all got our own personal preferences when it comes to the design of our bedrooms, whether we have a small bedroom to decorate or a larger space. Some of us like to use the blank canvas of a bedroom to stamp our personality onto it, filling it with colour and personal trinkets. Others opt to create as serene a sleep sanctuary as possible, with muted tones, comfy textures, and minimal personal clutter, like all the best five-star hotel bedrooms.

But despite the fact that taste is subjective, there are a few collective design choices that give interior professionals the serious ‘ick ’, with certain aesthetic options undeniably making them cringe.

We spoke to interior designers who design homes day in and day out, and style experts at some of the UK’s biggest interior brands, to ascertain the bedroom decor ‘icks’ they wish we’d all avoid, and how you can actually improve upon these ‘icks’ if you find yourself guilty of some of the below…

1. Busy feature walls

For Victoria Robinson, style & trend expert at Hillarys, the popular trend of a busy feature wall behind a bed is a huge ‘ick’, with the expert explaining that it can be much too busy for a space that’s meant to be so relaxing.

'A bold wallpaper idea can work brilliantly' she says. 'But when the pattern is very large, highly contrasting or clashes with the rest of the scheme, it can overwhelm a space that's supposed to feel calm and restful.'

To improve the overall ambience of the room, Victoria explains that you don’t need to abandon wallpaper, patterns or lots of colour entirely. 'I'd just opt for a softer approach,' she says. 'A subtle patterned wallpaper, textured wall finish or even just a beautifully dressed window can create just as much visual impact, without dominating the bedroom.'

Even a small pop of wallpaper over a bed as shown above will help add pattern and interest to a room without overwhelming the space.

2. Matching furniture

Some design ‘icks’ apply from room to room. And as experts explained that overly matching furniture is a living room design 'ick' - they also agree that the same distaste applies in the bedroom.

For interior designer Catherine Colegrave, creative director at Eighty Four Interiors, matching furniture can make your room look too showhome-like; rather than lived in. 'If the bed, bedside tables, chest of drawers and wardrobe all come from exactly the same range, it’s a bit of an ‘ick’ for me. It can make the room feel a bit like a furniture showroom, and appear a little flat and uninteresting,' she says.

Instead, she recommends finding pieces and furniture that feel similar to one another, but that aren’t exactly identical in style like in the bedroom shown above. 'This gives the room more character, and creates that sense that everything has been properly thought through and considered, rather than simply choosing a matching set,' Catherine says. 'I think a bedroom feels so much more interesting when you layer different materials, finishes and shapes that still sit beautifully together.'

3. A TV in the bedroom

Though it may not technically be a design choice, for Catherine, a TV in the bedroom can seriously ruin the otherwise beautiful design you’ve chosen for your room, particularly if it really dominates the space. 'Bedrooms should feel calm and relaxing, and a big black rectangle on the wall can really take away from that,' she explains.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a TV in your bedroom! There are some fantastic bedroom TV ideas out there to help hide it away.

'If you do want a TV in the bedroom - which is, for many people, a really nice addition - I think it’s really worth looking at ways to conceal it, maybe behind sliding doors, within some joinery, or even having it built within an ottoman at the end of the bed,' Catherine suggests.

4. An all-white bedroom

“For me, the biggest bedroom ‘ick’ is when everything is so pale and neutral that the room ends up feeling a little lifeless,” Kate Palmer, Creative Director at The Painted Furniture Company says.

She explains that the ‘ick’, for her, lies in the lack of variety and texture in a bedroom like this. 'There’s nothing wrong with a calm bedroom, but if every element in your bedroom is beige, cream or white and there’s very little contrast, it can lack the warmth that makes a bedroom feel inviting,' Kate says. 'I think bedrooms work best when they feel restful but still have a sense of personality; they don’t need to be completely colourless to be calming.'

Luckily, this particular ‘ick’ is easily solved with some clever purchases. Kate explains, 'I’d introduce colour through one or two key pieces of furniture. A painted chest of drawers or bedside tables in a deeper or more characterful shade can completely change the feel of the room.

'You can then pick up that colour in smaller details such as cushions, lamps or artwork.'

5. Items that are too small for the room

Choosing items that are out of proportion with the rest of the room is one of Catherine’s biggest design ‘icks’ in the bedroom. It's something she says makes the room look less stylish and considered.

And this applies to so many different bedroom items, Catherine tells us.

'Proportion makes such a difference,' she says. 'For example, if you’ve got a king or super king bed and use standard pillows or small cushions, everything can start to look a bit lost; for me, larger beds need large pillows, rather than standard ones.'

'I’m also not keen on a little throw that just sits across the very end of the bed. I love a lightweight throw that’s generous enough to fall down either side. It just looks so much more elegant,' Catherine continues.

Tiny bedside furniture is another of Catherine’s lines in the sand. 'Really small bedside tables are another ‘ick’! Especially when everything ends up piled on top of them. If you’ve got the space, I’d always go a little more substantial and ideally have some proper storage, so all the chargers, books and everyday bits can be tucked away. It makes the whole bedroom feel much calmer,' she explains.

The final design of a bedroom will all come down to personal taste, but if you're struggling to put your finger on something that's currently not working in you room, it might just be one the things on this list.