I just doubled my storage, and no, I didn’t move apartments. I got a new bed frame. 

Upgrading my classic IKEA Malm bed to the lift-up storage model gave my towels, bedding, books, winter coats, and tote bags a proper home. While I’ve always kept those items under my bed (usually crammed inside a random suitcase), to get to anything in the center, I’d have to manually lift my mattress and balance it on my back while crouching over and pulling up the wood slats. It wasn’t a pretty picture, and may or may not have led to some chronic back pain. 

The classic and storage Malm beds are almost identical, but while the classic comes in four colorways and four sizes, the storage version comes in just two colorways and two sizes. Luckily, the size and color I wanted, full and white, came in both. The prices also differ quite a bit; for the full size, the upgrade takes you from $329 up to $659. My favorite difference: Rather than open-air sides, the storage version is completely closed. That one seemingly simple difference is what ultimately inspired me to make the swap. I knew this tiny upgrade would make my entire apartment feel so much cleaner—all of my stuff would be out of sight and, more important, it wouldn’t be such a pain (literally) to access stuff. 

Malm Storage Bed, IKEA ($659)

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The Assembly

The bed was delivered the next day (yes, you read that right) for $39. Delivery didn’t include assembly, so I hired a TaskRabbit. After watching the skilled professional with a 5-star rating take a full two hours to build the bed, I knew I had made the right choice. Paying him $150 saved me what would have been an entire weekend of frustration.

Now I simply pull a strap at the foot of the bed and—voilà!—my mattress opens to a 45-degree angle. 

The Organization

I have what I like to think of as a brand-new closet (it’s just one that lays flat on the floor!). Rather than reverting to my old ways and keeping my belongings in old suitcases, I went back to IKEA and tricked it out with interior storage compartments. Because there are so many options, I asked the interior design leader for IKEA U.S., Abbey Stark, for some pointers. She recommended a combination of Skubb and Parkla, both of which are soft zippered containers, as well as Kugis, a lidded plastic box. Full closure keeps dust at bay, and handles make them easy to pull out.

Before I put my order in, I got out a ruler and graph paper and drew the bed and containers to scale so I could play around with different orientations. After landing on the below layout, there were no surprises once my order arrived.

So what goes where? I started intuitively, putting anything that was soft and flexible (table linens, bedding, pillow inserts) in the fabric containers, and any hard objects, like books and extra taper holders, in the structured Parkla boxes. Because the Skubb boxes are the largest (they’re 36.5-by-21.75-by-7.5 inches), I saved them for bigger items like towels, and relegated smaller collections like tote bags to the Parkla containers. The nice thing about the soft containers is that they’re both sheer, so I don’t need to waste brain space remembering what is where. 

Skubb, IKEA ($7)

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Parkla, IKEA ($2)

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Kuggis, IKEA ($30)

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The post I Treat the IKEA Malm Storage Bed Like the Linen Closet I Never Had appeared first on domino.

Like most of us, food stylist and recipe developer Diana Yen has a visceral reaction when she thinks about bifold closet doors. She can practically hear the squeaking of the slow-rolling track and feel the hard yank it takes to pry each side open. “Growing up, they haunted me because they always had the louvers,” she says with a laugh. “I thought they were terrible.” But when Yen bought her house in Ojai, California, and realized her bedroom closet didn’t have any doors at all (the dorm vibes were strong), she decided to give the thing she’d once hated most a second chance. “I had all this stuff on Pinterest, looking into IKEA hacks and European-style doors, trying to figure out what to do,” she recalls, “and I realized a bifold was the most cost-efficient.” The custom closet designs she had briefly looked into were in the $10,000 ballpark, but transforming a set of simple bifold doors from Home Depot took less than $500 and a weekend to complete.  

The Supplies

• Bifold doors
• Flexible molding
• Caulk
• A pencil
• Scissors
• Chalk paint 
• Hardware of your choosing 

36 in. x 80 in. White MDF Interior Closet Bi-Fold Door, The Home Depot ($428)

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Gaahing Wall Molding Trim Chair Rail Panel Moulding, Amazon ($20)

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Step 1: Map Out Your Path

Yen’s inspiration came from—where else!—Instagram. Her Italy-based friend Jayne Henderson posted a carousel of cool-looking doors and one of them with a squiggle outline caught Yen’s attention. “I was like, wow, I feel like that molding gives a poetic touch and makes it elegant but still kind of whimsical,” she says. With a pencil, Yen traced wavy oblong shapes onto each of the door panels, totaling eight undulating silhouettes. 

Step 2: Peel and Stick

“I felt like a cheater because I got it from Amazon,” Yen jokes about revealing her creative hack: peel-and-stick flexible molding. She slowly ripped away the adhesive backing and applied the bendy trim over her pencil lines, then used scissors to cut the ends when she was ready to move onto the next shape. “It was basically like one big sticker,” she says. 

Step 3: Seal the Deal

To hide any visible gaps, Yen coated the edges of the molding with caulk and then went over them with a sanding block, ridding the surface of any putty residue. Finally, she swathed them in white chalk paint (no primer necessary). “I wanted a matte, softer finish so that it would accentuate the molding,” she says. As the doors were drying, she propped them up near a wall and, in that very moment, another genius idea struck her: These doors would also make chic room dividers. But that’s a project for another day.

Step 4: Double Up on Your Hardware

Embellishing is nice and all, but if you really don’t want bifolds to look like bifolds, add four knobs to the fronts instead of just a single pair. Yen added two dainty brass knobs to each side, creating the illusion that they all swing open rather than slide.

Step 5: Hit the Track

When it came to mounting the doors, Yen called in her contractor. Her fear? That they wouldn’t sit flat if she were to attempt to lock them in place herself. The splurge was worth it: Her staring contest with her clothes is finally over.

The post All Your Basic Bifold Closet Doors Need Is a Little Squiggly Molding appeared first on domino.

Color theory has long suggested that if you paint your bedroom walls a shade of creamy white or sage green, you will feel calmer and thereby more likely to fall asleep with ease. But what if we told you it doesn’t actually matter what color you paint your bedroom, as long as that space is monochrome? Take it from Garance Doré, who chose a deep blue shade for her space because she is “obsessed with sleep.” “L.A. (and my house!) is all about brightness and sunlight, and sometimes you just want to truly chill down,” she writes. The French photographer, writer, and O.G. influencer combined black out shades, the color Dark Night by Sherwin Williams, and sheets dyed by Flaneur to complete her monochrome scene. She wanted to take it one step further with a matching carpet, but her designer, Sarah Sherman Samuel, told her to pause on the idea.

The lesson is: Pick a color (any color) and really go for it—on the walls, the ceiling, the bedding, the window treatments. The result is nothing short of serene, especially if you opt for a deep jewel tone or dusty pastel. Lately, we’ve been seeing what some designers have been calling “color drenching” play out in our favorite bedrooms. Accent walls were already on the outs, and now it seems the breakup is official. Here are six tips for pulling off the soothing scene. 

Keep the Paint Brush Moving

The idea of selecting one swatch for the walls, another one for the ceiling, and another for the trim can feel overwhelming. So make your life a little easier and cover every surface in the same hue and finish. With the exception of the window sashes, every flat surface in this bedroom, designed by Sally Breer, is a dark rosy pink, including the drywall bump-out the designer incorporated for leaning art. 

Add Fabric to Unusual Places

Renters can get in on the look, too, with this temporary solution. Designer Hugh Long enveloped his client’s bed in the same raspberry pink fabric from Gray Lines Linen that he used for her actual bedspread, resulting in a cocoonlike corner that she can take with her when she moves. 

Find a Perfect Match

Up the tranquility of a soft blue like this by really committing to it. While it takes more time to find bedding or, say, a lampshade that matches the tone of your paint choice perfectly, it is worth the extra effort. Feeling inspired by this space by New York design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero, Domino’s style editor, Julia Stevens, decided to paint her entire studio apartment in a similar shade. “It was one of the reasons I went all in and used blue bedding, too,” she says.

Amplify the Effect With Mirrors

Laura Yeh wanted to feel “wrapped in color” in her bedroom. Mission accomplished: Her punchy choice of Farrow & Ball’s Breakfast Room Green looks like it goes on for infinity thanks to the clever mirror placement in the corner. 

Bring Curtains Into the Fold

After a few trips to the Benjamin Moore store and many samples painted up on the wall, designer Tamarra Younis of Union of Art landed on the color Bali, “an elegant minty tone,” for this client’s small guest bedroom. She worked hand in hand with her drapery fabricator to create coordinating curtains that hang from custom valance boxes wrapped in the same color. Ceiling tracks who? “By using the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling drapery, we were able to give the room a sense of grandeur and glamour,” she says. 

Get Weird With Your Color Choice

Murky greens, blue-blacks, and earthy purples might not be universally popular, but they tick the moody box, which matches the energy of the theatrical scene you’re setting out to create. In fact, they read as romantic when you top them off with a canopy or linen roman shades.

The post The Paint Trend That’s Arguably Helping Us Sleep Better appeared first on domino.

Nothing says “cozy” quite like a set of flannel sheets. For Elizabeth and Lindsay Fair of Salem, Massachusetts–based interior design firm Dwell October, the style evokes a particular sense of feeling snug on cold nights. “Our mom put flannel sheets on our beds every winter growing up, so [they] have such a nostalgic, comforting association for us,” the sisters say. A great transitional fabric, flannel is heavier than virtually every other popular bedding material, so it is sure to keep you warm as fall and winter approach. For Boston interior designer Annsley McAleer, flannel sheets also do more than just function well in cold weather; they can play up a ski-house vibe. She pairs them with vintage quilts and hand-knit blankets. 

If you’re on the hunt for a set of the best flannel sheets to turn your bedroom into a comfy retreat, look no further. Here are our favorites, in a variety of colors and price points. Trust us—even the chilliest nights are no match for these. 

Our Favorites

• Best overall: Boll & Branch Flannel Sheet Set
• Best budget: Mellanni Flannel Sheet Set
• Best organic: Coyuchi Cloud Brushed Flannel Sheets
• Best Supima cotton: L.L.Bean Premium Supima Flannel Sheets
• Best speckled: Brooklinen Brushed Flannel Core Sheet Set
• Best stripes: Garnet Hill Cozy Ticking Flannel Bedding
• Best gingham: Serena & Lily Belvedere Flannel Sheet Set
• Best blend: Piglet in Bed Flannel Tencel Sheets

Best Overall: Boll & Branch Flannel Sheet Set

Flannel Sheet Set, Boll & Branch ($299)

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Boll & Branch has been in business for a decade, working with family-owned farms and factories to produce its bedding and bath. The brand uses GOTS-certified organic cotton, and its products are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified, and that extends to its Portgual-made flannel sheets. Supersoft in hand, these sheets expertly balance coziness and breathability, a rarity among the flannel set. The brushing process, as well as a step of triple shearing, reduces visible pilling, and the weight is light enough to please even warm sleepers. Pillowcases come with a stylish envelope closure; topstitched fitted sheets are designed with deep pockets; and there are three neutrals and a number of patterns to choose from to suit your style.

Best Budget: Mellanni Flannel Sheet Set

Mellanni Cotton Flannel Bed Sheets, Queen, Amazon ($52 was $70)

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More than 10,000 people have reviewed this well-priced set, with 65% of buyers rating it a 5-star purchase. The sheets are available in eight colors—ranging from pale pink to inky navy blue—and two patterns, including a classic plaid and a holiday-ready snowflake print. We also love that they come in the rarer Twin XL size, making them a great option for anyone outfitting a dorm room. They’re made from 100% cotton, and more than one reviewer crowned these the best sheets ever.

Best Organic: Coyuchi Cloud Brushed Flannel Sheets

Cloud Brushed Organic Flannel Sheet Set, Queen, Coyuchi ($268)

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These sheets, which come in four neutral shades, deliver on every front. In addition to weighing in at 6 ounces, so they’ll keep you extra-toasty, they’re Made Safe certified. What does that mean for you? You’ll drift off to sleep knowing the sheets you’re tucked into are free of carcinogens, heavy metals, and toxic solvents. It also means the cotton they’re made from—grown in Turkey and woven in Portugal—is free of dangerous pesticides. The brushed finish helps keep pilling to a minimum, which will make you reach for them year after year. 

Best Supima Cotton: L.L.Bean Premium Supima Flannel Sheets

Premium Supima Flannel Sheets, Queen, L.L. Bean ($219)

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L.L.Bean is headquartered in Maine, a state that takes winter seriously. Is it any wonder, then, that the company would be a go-to option for high-quality flannel sheets? These are made from Supima cotton, which is both stronger and softer than regular cotton and less likely to pill. Shoppers can’t get enough of these sheets, with 94% of buyers saying they’d recommend them. The six hues take their inspiration from wintry beach scenes, with shades like Sandbar (a goes-with-everything neutral) and Bluegrass (the perfect muted aqua). 

Best Speckled: Brooklinen Brushed Flannel Core Sheet Set

Brushed Flannel Core Sheet Set, Queen, Brooklinen ($209)

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These speckled sweeties from Brooklinen—available in moss, midnight, and black and white—look straight out of a cool Berkshires hotel (perhaps one blanketed in snow). The extremely soft material is brushed to make it extra snuggly without being too weighty, and the 100% cotton flannel is made in Portgual. The delicate pattern would work well with solids or other prints, and review after review say they hold up to cold weather without things getting too steamy.

Best Stripes: Garnet Hill Cozy Ticking Flannel Bedding

Garnet Hill Cozy Ticking Flannel Bedding, Queen Flat Sheet, Garnet Hill ($79)

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In 1973, the founders of Garnet Hill traveled to Europe and fell in love with a set of English flannel sheets. Unable to find flannels of comparable quality at home in the U.S., they set out to make their own, and decades later Garnet Hill is a go-to for flannel sheets. Manufactured in a family-operated German mill, these sheets come in all kinds of colors, including chic pastels and earth tones. But we’re partial to the ticking stripe pattern, which comes in colors like sage and amber. “I think colors such as moss green, ochre, brown, and even gray-blue make for an unusual but unmistakably wintry palette,” says McAleer. Made in Portugal, they’re brushed multiple times for guaranteed softness, and with a lighter weight of 5.8 ounces, they would work in fall and spring just as well as winter. They’re 100% cotton, and we also love that you can get a matching duvet for a cohesive look. 

Best Gingham: Serena & Lily Belvedere Flannel Sheet Set

Belvedere Flannel Sheet Set, Queen, Serena & Lily ($262 was $328)

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Leave it to Serena & Lily to take a timeless pattern like gingham and make chic flannel bedding with it. Made from the same material as editor-favorite pajamas, Serena & Lily’s Belvedere set is as prim as the material can get. Made with 100% brushed cotton, these sheets, like a lot of the best flannels, are made in Portugal and are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified, one of the most widely recognized certifications to make sure linens are free of substances that can be irritating to skin and harmful to health. If you like a more classic French blue, there’s a gingham in that, too, or you can go for straight white.

Best Blend: Piglet in Bed Flannel Tencel Sheets

Flannel Tencel Sheets Bundle in Thistle, Twin, Piglet in Bed ($296)

Tencel—a brand of sustainable fabric made from wood pulp—is combined with cotton flannel in Piglet in Bed’s sheets. The soft yet breathable bundle it offers includes a fitted sheet, flat sheet, and pillowcases, plus a duvet cover. We love that the cover features corozo button fastenings and very handy inside corner ties to keep your duvet from slipping around. In addition to great features and colors, these sets are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified. 

Our Shopping Checklist

Material

In 16th-century Wales, where it’s believed to have originated, flannel was made from wool. Now you can find flannel made from cotton and synthetic fibers as well. Most flannel today gets its texture from a process called brushing, in which a metal brush rubs the fabric to raise fibers from the surface. 

Weave

Unlike cotton sheets, where quality is often associated with a high-thread count, flannel sheets are measured according to weight per ounce. Look for a set with a per-weight heft of about 5 ounces for maximum warmth and durability. 

Care

Flannel sheets can often pill, which is why it’s important to follow the laundering instructions carefully—most manufacturers recommend washing in lukewarm water and then line drying. If you’re placing them in a dryer, set it on very low heat. 

Ask Domino

What’s the best way to prevent pilling?

The first time you wash flannel, add a little bit of white vinegar—a half cup to be precise. This will help the fibers from pilling and keep the colors vibrant. If your flannel sheets are only in use a few months of the year, make sure to shake them out and refold during the spring and summer, which will help loosen any clingy dust or fibers contributing to pilling. 

How long should quality sheets last?

A perk of good flannel sheets is that they’ll get softer (and warmer!) the more they’re washed, though you might see more vibrant colors start to fade. Most experts suggest replacing them after around three years, though that depends on how often you’re using them—a quality set of flannel sheets cared for properly can last four or five years. 

The post The Best Flannel Sheets Are the Bedding Equivalent of Your Favorite Sweater appeared first on domino.

In her 2023 Instagram recap, Blake Lively focused on one particular moment: that time Michael Kors dressed her in a gold sequined jumpsuit to attend his Brooklyn fashion show in September. In addition to photos captured at the event, the Gossip Girl star revealed what she looked like just before she left the house. To no one’s surprise, she’s the epitome of put-together. Her bed, though, is not. 

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A post shared by Blake Lively (@blakelively)

Aside from her glistening jumpsuit, there’s a lot to take in in the picture. For starters, Lively is offering us a major glimpse of the New York City bedroom she shares with her husband, Ryan Reynolds. The wide plank floors, massive ceiling beams, and textured taupe walls would have you thinking she’s in Telluride not Tribeca, but similar snapshots of the apartment’s interior confirm the rustic setting is in fact the Manhattan loft the couple bought in 2017. Driving home the relaxed vibe she appears to be going for in the space is an upholstered bed dressed in dreamy linen.

Looking beyond the fact that Lively and Reynolds clearly did not get around to making their bed that day, we zoomed in on her duvet and sheets. Luckily, she tagged a number of brands in the picture so we could easily track down her olive green linen duvet cover from The Citizenry and what looks to be Morrow’s matte sateen sheets in dune or its classic linen offering in bone.

Morrow Soft Goods Sheet Sets

Organic Matte Sateen Sheet Set, Morrow Soft Goods (from $185)

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Heirloom Linen Sheet Set, Queen, Morrow Soft Goods ($349)

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The Citizenry Stonewashed Linen Duvet Cover

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Stonewashed Linen Duvet Cover, The Citizenry ($289)

From a practical standpoint, the pairing makes for an über-comfortable sleeping experience. Linen keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and it gets softer with each use; sateen, a type of cotton weave, offers a sleek look but is easy to clean. Both materials are soft and breathable all year round, and Morrow’s sateen happens to be organic and shine-free, unlike similar products from other brands. From an aesthetic standpoint, these fabrics look best when loosely layered and slightly fluffed. In other words, they’re ideal for people who don’t always feel like making a perfect bed—celebrities included. 

The post Blake Lively’s Laid-Back Bedding Is a Lesson in Cozy Yet Cooling Sleep appeared first on domino.

Black-painted bedrooms are no longer just for vampires and emo music lovers. The daunting shade is actually the most searched hue on Google according to 12 months of data analyzed by Living Cozy. Coming in at 396,000 searches, black bedrooms have 100,000 more hits than white. Not only that, but blue barely cracks the top five with only 217,900 inquiries. 

We know, it’s intimidating—but don’t knock it just yet. While you may assume that a color like Sherwin-Williams’s Iron Ore or Farrow & Ball’s Railings might make your room feel dark and depressing, the effect is just the opposite: The right swatch creates a cocoonlike atmosphere that encourages sweet shut-eye. Ahead, we highlight five ways to make the most of your sacred space without sacrificing aesthetics (or light). 

Embrace It in a Small Space

RHONY star Brynn Whitfield’s bedroom is so small that her bed frame spans wall to wall, but that didn’t stop her from packing in the drama with Benjamin Moore’s Raccoon Fur. The result is utterly cocooning. 

Bring Quirky Details Into the Fold

For Angelee and Eddie Fortuna, painting their new wainscoting black brought dimension to their room, but continuing the color around the windows had the biggest impact: It made the funky placement over the bed look more purposeful. 

Use Plaster, Not Paint

Take a note from hotelier Margot Stern and her boutique property in Todos Santos, Mexico. The texture of the plaster softens the bold hue to a deep gray, while the accent wall still packs a punch. 

Keep It Grounded

By balancing the rich walls with a white ceiling and warm bed linens, Madelynn Furlong’s former Los Angeles bedroom is just the right amount of cozy and not cavelike.

Opt for Just a Stripe

In Little Willow Cabin’s bedroom (renovated and designed by Lauren Espeseth and Steven Jos Phan), a racing stripe of black is painted just above the woodwork. The room is still light and airy, while the color draws your eye toward the gorgeous millwork.

Try These Swatches

Raccoon Fur, Benjamin Moore

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Off-Black, Farrow & Ball

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Cracked Pepper, Behr

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Blackish, Clare ($70 per gallon)

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McQueen, Backdrop ($49 per gallon)

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Black 02 Matt, Lick ($70 per gallon)

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The post The Most Searched Bedroom Paint Color Might Surprise You—But Here’s Why It Shouldn’t appeared first on domino.

Kids’ room ideas are as individual as your little one. Some kiddos prefer nature-inspired details and calming neutrals to create a little zen retreat, while others gravitate toward bright colors and pattern-on-pattern to fuel their creativity (and match their energy). 

Our goal as parents is to spark a love of design and show how it can be used to completely transform a room that feels uniquely theirs—whether that means reimagining a magical circus tent, rigging up a fairy tale–inspired forest canopy, or launching into outer space. Scroll down for 13 kids’ room ideas that are sure to spark the imagination no matter what your age. 

Make Your DIY a Family Affair

Building this playful loft space was a team effort: New York City–based jewelry designer Tana Chung enlisted her father to bring the DIY project to life for 6-year-old Lyle. Ten days and several trips to Home Depot later, the trio had a cozy second-story nook complete with a fire pole—and functional storage along the top of the closets (a major bonus in Manhattan).

Foster an Expansive Worldview 

Bedtime at North Carolina interior stylist and schoolteacher Stacey-Ann Blake’s house includes poring over a world map that covers an entire wall in her sons’ bedroom. “We can study the countries, cities, and states—and it’s way better than just having a plain wall,” say brothers Zion and Ian. Another bonus: “We point to where Dada was in the world and tell him good night,” explains Blake of her husband, now a retired United States Army Special Forces Green Beret. Who doesn’t love a colorful kids’ room idea that doubles as educational?

Save Room for a Little Whimsy

“The top floor, with its angles and secret closets, had such a fun and magical quality,” says Syeda Lewis, who enlisted New York designer Blaire Moore to transform her attic’s quirks into a functioning bedroom for her 3-year-old son. Custom canopy twin beds and a desk established the layout. But the one-of-kind design doesn’t stop there: A 10-foot-long cubby running behind the wall serves as a tunnel for an electric train, which charmingly emerges through various openings around the room.  

Dial Up the Palette 

According to Atlanta designer Kate Hayes, parents don’t need to “wait it out until the kids are older to design a home they love. We’re a family that really values fun, and I wanted that to shine through.” In her boys’ room, a zesty yellow hue covers the ceiling and built-in bookshelf, giving the otherwise white space added character, while a checked rug and Pendleton bedding keeps playtime cozy. Hint: An impactful (and renter-friendly) lick of paint tops the list of easy kids’ room ideas. 

Spotlight (Rather Than Hide) Awkward Corners

To make her daughter’s attic room feel like an “enclosed nest” rather than a cramped corner, London designer Harriette Cayzer made use of every inch of the sloped alcove space: She added a nightstand niche, a bookcase, and drawers beneath the built-in bed. Then she lined the back and ceiling with Pierre Frey fabric and added a padded headboard and footboard. Tucked under the eaves, the bedroom is now the coziest spot in the home. 

Go Bespoke and Balance Out the Rest

New York–based entrepreneur and serial renovator Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day just couldn’t find the right wallpaper while designing her young daughter Simone’s bedroom. The problem? Seeing repeats in the pattern irked her. And so, naturally, she asked her husband, artist Paul Ferney, to help her create one. The result is a whimsical landscape of life-size lemon trees against a pink backdrop (Simone’s favorite color). To balance out the bespoke wall covering, Jordan brought in budget-minded IKEA shelving and an Urban Outfitters table that’s perfect for arts and crafts and hosting teatime. 

Make Their Passion a Focal Point

Celebrating your child’s love of sports (or any special interest, really) takes a little creativity to figure out how to display special items while not getting lost in all the stuff. Des Moines gallery owner Liz Lidgett tackled the challenge by bringing in vintage pieces with a backstory to her 3-year-old’s bedroom. Cue: stadium seating from the original Busch Stadium in Saint Louis that she scored at an auction; framed varsity-chic pennants and portraits of baseball players; and a former schoolhouse globe on a pulley.  

Channel Ultimate Sleepover Vibes

Cowboy-motif wallpaper, tartan carpet, and playfully pleated curtains: This children’s room in Washington, D.C., has “best sleepover ever” written all over it. Designed to host a bevy of the homeowner’s godchildren, the space also offers under-bed storage and built-in shelves for each bunk, proving fun and functional can happily coexist.

Paint a Dreamy Backdrop

Maria Dueñas Jacobs, founder of kids’ jewelry line Super Smalls, had a practical maxim while renovating her New York City apartment (and approaching kids’ room ideas): “Make it beautiful but not precious.” In her daughters’ shared space that meant floating a lofted sleeping nook above twin beds. (Psst: The stairs double as storage drawers, and the upper zone can transition into a quiet reading spot later on.) The best part? Giving the walls a dreamy painted cloud backdrop. 

Reimagine Classic Children Decor

At Sarah Sherman Samuel’s Michigan family home, the design of her 4-year-old’s room was loosely inspired by a circus—but you’d have to look twice to see the reference. Rather than bring in a bright red tent and menagerie of animals, she went with soothing green (one of her son’s favorite hues), clean stripes on the ceiling (painted freehand), and an arched bunk bed (DIYed over a weekend using plywood), complete with golden velvet curtains and tiger rug for a little showtime flair.  

Layer Onto a Versatile Base 

Sometimes you’re not designing your kid’s forever room, but you still want to make it feel warm and welcoming. While interior designer and DIY pro Ginger Curtis slowly renovated her historic Fort Worth, Texas, home, she remade the attic into a bedroom for her 8-year-old son. Drawing on his love of Indiana Jones, the adventurer-approved retreat shows off all his favorite pieces, but the simple maple plank walls and built-in storage cubbies allow for different textures and patterns to swap in and out as her kiddo’s preferences change. 

Bring the Outdoors Inside

For her 9-year-old daughter’s room, London fashion creative Deborah Brett envisioned a fairy tale–worthy woodland scene that would feel like “sleeping in a forest.” She called in her set-designer friend to help her DIY a magical tree canopy out of plaster of paris that’s accented with silk leaves and twinkly lights. 

Lean All the Way Into a Theme

When their 7-year-old asked to have a “big kid room” inspired by outer space, Dale Saylor and Joe Williamson of New York design-build firm Hollymount embraced the concept wholeheartedly. In addition to painting an expansive cosmic mural and rocket ships that transform regular floating book shelves (a smart alternative to bulkier furniture), the couple installed a wall-to-wall bed with hidden trundle and recovered a vintage wardrobe with removable constellation-print wallpaper. The lesson? No kids’ room ideas are too far-out, as long as you fuel their imagination.   

The post From a Cosmic Mural to a Magical Forest Bed, These 13 Kids’ Room Ideas Stoke the Imagination appeared first on domino.

If you want more storage in your bedroom beyond your dresser, the nightstand is the place to make it happen. The problem is, they can be sneakily expensive. The Componibili by Kartell that Domino editors know and love, for instance, is $345, while designer-made pieces, such as McGee & Co.’s Huxton nightstand, land you in the $1,200 range. Like anything else, when our first few ideas all come in way over budget, we turn to IKEA and ask ourselves: What has hacking potential? Turns out, a lot of the brand’s simple nightstands can be transformed into something luxe-looking with a little imagination. Here are a few of our favorite IKEA nightstand hacks that are like something out of a dream. 

The Fluted IKEA Rast Nightstand Hack

Instead of investing in a traditional nightstand for her daughter’s bedroom, blogger Ryia Jose turned a small IKEA Rast dresser into the exact piece she needed for a total of $75. Ditching one of the drawers to make way for an open shelf, Jose then clad the whole thing in fluted molding. To fill in any small gaps between the pieces of reeded trim, she filled the spaces with a bit of caulk and then painted the whole thing in Mount Etna by Sherwin-Williams.

The Woven IKEA Nordiska Nightstand Hack

Lita Lee’s dream nightstand was the Anderson side table by Amber Lewis: It has a stained oak finish, carved drawer pulls, and a rope cord shelf. The issue? It costs a cool $4,500. So Lee went the DIY route, combining the Nordkisa nightstand and a generous amount of hemp string to weave her own version. 

The Retro IKEA Malm Nightstand Hack

After seeing how contact paper could transform something as major as ugly kitchen countertops, Overice founder Meijun Li thought: Why couldn’t it do the same for a basic Malm nightstand? The project only cost her around $50, but it took five hours to cut the corners of each drawer with a hacksaw and round the edges with sandpaper before carefully cutting two blue ovals for the drawers.

The IKEA Glattis Tray–Turned–Nightstand Hack

In need of a thin, low-profile nightstand to fit in the tiny nook next to his bed, designer Malcolm Simmons built a sleek one by attaching a marble lazy Susan and IKEA Glattis tray to a 30-inch-long iron pipe and balancing them with a marble utensil-holder base.

The Antique-Inspired IKEA Hemnes Nightstand Hack

While the bones of this two-drawer piece are the same as where they started, the doors gained a chic addition in the form of pine chair rail molding. Cutting the trim requires miter shears, but beyond that, twin sisters Sara and Melissa used the obvious: primer, paint, wood glue, and brass knobs.

The Scalloped IKEA Hemnes Side Table Hack

After removing the bottom shelf from the Hemnes nightstand, Jen Brake of Half Painted House primed it with Zinsser BIN (it’s the best base layer for laminated furniture), painted it pink to match the wainscoting, swapped out the drawer knob ,and tacked on pre-made scallop edging from Nook. 

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Teen room ideas should be listed amongst some of the most challenging design projects to bring to life. The client usually has a lot of opinions on how everything should look—but isn’t much concerned with the practical side of things, like where the laundry basket should go to ensure dirty socks actually make it into the washing machine. Still, parents and designers agree that collaborating with teens on their bedroom is ultimately a fun and freeing experience. Expect bold details that feel entirely of the moment (teens are nothing if not rebels with a big vision) supported by functional pieces (hello, under the bed storage and streamlined study nook) that keep it all together. 

If you’re looking for inspiration for your own teen’s bedroom, or you simply want to admire spaces that aren’t as predictable as a grownup interior, then scroll down for these 11 unique teen room ideas. Filled with exuberant color, playful pattern, and self-expression in spades, they underscore how exciting it can be to let imagination and emotion (of which there’s no shortage at this age) lead when dreaming up a space.

Give the Room a Platform

Storage and lounge space are key when searching for teen room ideas, and this clever Brooklyn design makes those goals look seamless. The secret? Well, first, to have your mom be designer Athena Calderone. And second, to create a Scandi-inspired platform bed that hides a second mattress beneath it for guests. The pine plywood actually wraps around much of the room, tucking away (then 17-year-old) Jivan’s things with stylish ease. “I knew kids would be hanging out on the edge of the platform and treating the bed more like a sofa,” says Calderone.

Maximize Every Nook and Cranny

Southern Californian DIY pro Marynn Udvarhelyi came to the rescue when her daughter, Hannah, was in need of a teen retreat that had more personality than the all-gray state it was in at the time. Hannah was about to start high school remotely and needed a place that would allow her to focus, too. The duo worked together to transform the room, lining the walls with subtle but textural shiplap and a bird-patterned wallpaper on the ceiling. But here’s the real scene stealer: Udvarhelyi replaced the window seat with a custom desk, ensuring that there was a balance between work and daydreaming.

Turn Up the Chromatic Volume

There’s a fair share of color in the Danish home of art director and photographer Céline Hallas—in part as a continuation from her own palette-pushing childhood room, much to her parents’ chagrin—so it’s no wonder that she would give her son’s space a chromatic makeover. “My thought was: Samuel will hate it no matter what we do because he’s a teenage boy, so we might as well go 110 percent,” she says. Given that the walls are beige and the floors are a honey-toned wood, it’s easier to let a kaleidoscope go wild: Ombre orange curtains frame the room, an IKEA Malm bed repainted in hot pink sits across from a geometric yellow chair, and a paper lantern comes straight from the streets of Tokyo. Even though it’s zany, it works.

Use Simple Paint as a Stand-Out Moment

Creative Julia Rouzaud’s family home outside Paris has two sterling attributes: It’s more than 3,000 square feet (even though it’s near the city) and had plenty of potential for her to bring modern color into a historic setting. “The palette is always the first thing I start with,” she shares. For her daughter’s bedroom, color-blocked shades in overlapping layers on the wall create a cool focal point (that could also serve as a “frame” for posters and favorite art pieces). As far as teen room ideas go, this is a great collaborative project to tackle over a weekend, using painter’s tape and the shades of your teen’s choosing.

Make a Few Grown-Up Tweaks 

Designer Jo Sampson treats her London family home as her creative cocoon. It’s filled with things that make her smile—and she wanted to foster that same feeling in her daughter’s space. An accent wall is covered in a bright, lush jungle print, which acts as a mesmerizing showpiece. “We lie in bed counting how many monkeys we can find camouflaged among the greenery,” Sampson says. Another detail with visual impact is the graphic fabric that gives an IKEA storage unit a playful pop, as well as a streamlined spot in which her daughter can stow away her things. When designing a room for a tween who is just leaving the kid years, reimagining an existing bunk bed and adding more grown-up wallpaper can do the trick.

Play With Patterns on Patterns

Designer Cathy Nordström was dubbed “pattern girl” by her fellow design students at school. So it’s no surprise that her family’s abode in Stockholm is filled with her punchy textiles—and the bedroom of her second child, Malte, serves as a laboratory for her whimsical wallpaper. Blue trees sprout beside a window shade clad in red-and-white checks, which matches the blue gingham pillows and floral bedspread. Then, there’s the striped rug… The important thing to remember for this teen room ideas lesson? As long as the patterns all fall within the same color family it flows, giving an emerging designer plenty of options in choosing their own favorite mash-up.

Upgrade the Bed to Be Multifunctional

If you’d rather go monotone than maximalist, take a cue from Analisse Taft-Gersten’s Greenwich, Connecticut home. She fell in love with Benjamin Moore’s Silver Satin, a shade that has a cool tint of blue, and used it throughout the home she shares with her husband and their surf-and-skateboard loving 15-year-old son. In his room, a clever L-shaped headboard ensures he can lounge at any angle, while also having a desk when homework requires real focus. Another hidden benefit: The bed can be lifted to reveal storage for—what else?—a surfboard. 

Make The Room a True Creative Outlet

Teenager Lucy Lipofsky is a crafter, doodler, and art maker—and her mother, Jenna Cooper, embraces it all. Lipofsky’s room is bright and airy, taking full advantage of the Los Angeles sun to spotlight her creations. “I’d been collecting things for a gallery wall since I was 10 or 11, but I only started working on it during quarantine,” explains Lipofsky. Likewise, she began painting a green vine along a wall, much to her mom’s delight. “She was complaining about having nothing to paint, and I said, ‘Just paint on your wall,’” Cooper says. The best place to take it in? The back-to-back beds where Lipofsky can relax with friends and the family dog.

Turn the Playhouse Into a Hideout

Bay Area designer Lisa Furtado’s eldest son had long been campaigning for his own space—something away from the family, other than his room. “We always joked, ‘You can go live in the playhouse,’” says Furtado. When the opportunity to overhaul the backyard structure presented itself during the pandemic, she gave the dilapidated playhouse a modern overhaul complete with loft bed, desk, sofa, and storage. And while it only has electricity (no plumbing), it still tops the teen room ideas bucket list.

Infuse Classic Details With Personality 

When Frieda Gormley and Javvy M. Royle, founders of House of Hackney (the British interiors brand coveted for its strikingly maximalist fabrics) were tasked with decorating their son’s bedroom in their Cornwall home, they obviously went big on the prints. But their 13-year-old son wasn’t interested in anything floral. Enter: A sky blue, navy, gray, and white striped wallpaper that reads timelessly cool. “There’s nothing babyish,” Gormley says of the refreshed space, noting, “It will still work once it eventually becomes a guest room.” Rounding out the mix is wall-to-wall animal print carpet and a color-blocked pattern on the bed—a place where their son can kick back and enjoy the view.

Look Back In Time For Inspiration 

Hannah Carpenter originally painted all the walls of her Arkansas home white, thinking it was a clean slate. Then she, her husband, and their four kids temporarily moved to Tuscany, and she discovered that they’re actually a family of color lovers. “I wanted our home to be like stepping into a different world within our small-town life,” Carpenter says. She worked with designer Meta Coleman to take bigger risks, and in the bedroom for one of her teen sons, who plays in a band, they covered the walls in a ’60s print that’s very rock ‘n’ roll paired with an equally edgy eggplant-colored wainscoting. The results? Totally individual, and a whole lot of fun.

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In Renovator’s Notebook, homeowners open up about the nitty-gritty of their remodels: How long it really took; how much it actually cost; what went horribly wrong; and what went wonderfully, serendipitously, it’s-all-worth-it-in-the-end right. For more tips to nail your next project, follow @reno_notebook.

Location: Portland, Oregon

Budget: $500

Year built: 1940s

Top priority: Bring some color and sweet ’40s charm to a plain white rental bedroom. 

Chelsea Harris’s reasons for moving into her one-bedroom Portland apartment last January were simple: spend less money on rent and more time surrounded by historic charm. Harris, a copywriter for Schoolhouse, found what she was looking for in a circa-1940s building that had a sweet galley kitchen with checkerboard floors, to boot. Right away, she focused all her energy on making updates to said kitchen: She painted the lower cabinets yellow, added a peg rail for hanging produce bags, and applied butcher block–inspired contact paper to the counters. Then she moved onto the bathroom, where she DIYed a beadboard wall and swathed nearly every inch of the space in pink. So what next? 

“The bedroom felt like the last place where I could really add color,” says Harris. “I thought, Okay, what can I do in a rental bedroom? I’ve never really made one over before.” Having already spent a good bit of money updating the other areas in her apartment, Harris set out to spend less than $500 on this space. And if you are wondering, she’s more of the ask-for-forgiveness-not-permission type of renter. “If I lose my security deposit, it’s worth it to me to have a space that feels good,” she says. 

The Receipts

Here’s a taste of what Harris spent on her bedroom.

• Wallpaper: $200
• Paint (2 gallons, plus brush and tray): $100 
• Wall trim: $60
• Shelf brackets: $16
• Curtains: $100
• Curtain rods: $72
• Shelves: free!

Paint Everything (Even If You’re Still Contemplating Wallpaper)

I think choosing the color was probably the hardest part. I spent a lot of time at Home Depot looking at paint swatches, but I eventually went with Nature’s Gift by Behr. I didn’t prime my walls; I just went for it. I used a roller at first and applied two coats, three in some areas (it was a very gloomy week in Portland when I painted, and later on, in the natural sunlight, I noticed some spots that weren’t fully painted that I had to go back over).  

Pick a Small-Scale Wallpaper Print If You’re Using Pattern Elsewhere

I probably lived with my bedroom just painted for two or three months, but I felt like wallpaper would totally change the space. I had a browser open on my computer and I’d look at wallpaper daily. I really wanted something subtle because I have a plaid rug. I chose the Ric Rac wallpaper from Spoonflower because, when you look at it from far away, the squiggles are so small that it almost doesn’t look like a pattern, it looks like a solid color. 

It was easy to calculate how much I needed on the website: I measured the height and width I wanted, and it totally worked out. It comes rolled up in little sheets that you peel off like a big sticker, and it’s clear where you line it up with the next panel so it looks seamless. It probably took me two and a half hours because my walls are slightly slanted. I ended up having to paint the trim around the top of the ceiling more so in certain spots to make it appear as if the wallpaper was straight across the top. 

Mark a Natural Cutoff Point With Trim

I felt like the wallpaper was looking a little short, so I bought a piece of trim from Home Depot to add along the bottom. I went with the widest one I could find, and I like that it’s more traditional and the paper is so funky. It took me probably two hours to paint the trim because there are so many crevices. I used a nail gun to mount it to the wall. 

Phone a Friend and Say, “Can I Take Anything Off Your Hands?”

A friend of mine was moving out of her place and had some extra shelves lying around that she and her partner had custom-cut, so I decided to take those and add some shelving over the reading corner. The bedroom isn’t huge, so I wanted more storage, but I also didn’t want another huge piece of furniture in the room. Painting the shelves and brackets I picked out on Amazon (I’ve used them all over my apartment!) the same color as the wall created a built-in effect. 

Go Gauzy With Your Curtains

I already had the curtain rods from Target, which ended up working out because I really wanted to go with warm brass accents in this space. The curtains are pretty gauzy—you can see through them, and I prefer that because there isn’t a ton of light in the room. I wanted something that offered privacy but also allowed in light. 

Take Your Brush to the Furniture, Too

I found the wardrobe at a local thrift store. Someone had done a bad sponge-paint job on it, so I repainted it. My partner and I both work from home, and he uses the main closet in our bedroom as his workspace, so this (along with a living room closet) is where we store the majority of our clothes. I definitely led the charge on the DIY—he moved in with me after I had done most of the work, so it worked out for him! 

Get the Look

Nature’s Gift, Behr

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Dauntless Curtain Rod, Target ($36)

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OVOV 2 Pack Wall Mount Wood Shelf Bracket, Amazon ($16)

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Ric Rac Wallaper, Spoonflower ($14 per 2×1′ swatch)

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