How to combine bedroom and home office – without compromising on style
Make the most of your space
Snellingen has extensive experience of furnishing all kinds of rooms – both public and private – from large office landscapes to dreamy, luxury bedrooms, and she has some clear advice for those of you who are about to start the demanding exercise of moving the office into the bedroom:
"Make a list of priorities of what is important to you, make a plan and follow your plan.
Create different zones for different activities
Snellingen has a clear priority list when it comes to creating a combined bedroom and home office, where you can both sleep and work efficiently. And the first point on the list is to start with how much space you have, so you can adapt your plan to the space you have at your disposal.
It’s important to think about placement in the room, says the interior stylist: The first decision you have to make is where to put the bed. Here there are several things to think about – such as sun and light conditions, heating and ventilation, but the most important thing is that the bed and mattress are comfortable and allow you to sleep well.
Stylish and comfortable chair for the home office
As well as a desk and storage space for your work items, a good chair is essential. A good tip is to choose a dining chair from Stressless, which, as well as having incredible seating comfort and following your sitting position, looks really stylish. And since it is fully upholstered, I think it fits particularly well in the bedroom.
"A good trick is to choose the same cover for the chair, bed and headboard – as you can with a chair from Stressless and a bed from Svane – and your bedroom and home office will have a consistent look!
Give a thought to textiles
Textiles are important for adding different materials and making the bedroom feel warmer. As well as choosing the same upholstery on several pieces of furniture, take it further and use similar textiles elsewhere in the room to tie it all together.
"Textiles help you reduce reverberation in the room, and in the bedroom it also helps regulate natural light. To avoid the light getting too heavy and dark when you combine bedroom and home office, I would recommend a roller blind or opaque pleated blind that blocks out the light at night but doesn't prevent the inflow of light during the day, so you get enough natural light and can keep your energy up while you work.
"Choose textiles carefully for the headboard, for example, and repeat either colors or patterns from the curtains or a rug under the desk. Rugs also help to split the room into zones, providing a natural demarcation by “framing in” the workspace.
Choose colors and materials that work well together
The interior stylist’s recommendation is either to stick to one or two materials and choose a wider color spectrum – or to stick to one color and use it in different shades, so you are freer to combine several types of materials.
There are also many choices to be made when it comes to the details, which should fit into a larger context. One of Snellingen’s top tips here is to think holistically:
We tend to choose bed legs, desks and chair legs in the same material, and we put the choice of material in connection with the floor in the room. If it’s possible to do this in the same way, it works well, but if you don't hit the color and shade completely, it’s important to choose a material or color that clearly stands out from the floor. Instead, look for other colors and details in the room that you can tie it together – such as lamps and pictures.
Interior stylist’s top tips for the bedroom home office
- Come up with a plan and think about how to make the best use of space in the room.
- Create different zones – one for sleep, one for work – and create a natural separation with items such as blankets.
- Create cohesion in the room by repeating textiles, e,g, by upholstering the headboard, bed and chair in the same fabric and color.
- Choose materials with care. It’s always nicer spending time in rooms where the materials have a common thread and go well together, whether matching or contrasting.