Southern Decor for Your Master Bedroom

Image Via: Martha Stewart
When we think about Southern living, we usually picture ourselves living a quiet life in a large white estate in the country. Sipping a tall, cool glass of sweet tea while enjoying the song of the cicadas and watching the sunset from our comfortable, mahogany porch furniture. The South has always been known for it’s warm style, vibrant colors and old-fashioned and comfortable decor.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend of Southern-style decor among urban and metropolitan areas, veering away from modernism and back to traditional home fashion.
Redecoration normally begins in the master bedroom, where Southern style can really be showcased. If you’re looking for ideas on how to Southern-ize your room, here are a few design tips to spruce up your space and transform it into your very own Georgian paradise!

Find Your Style

Each state in the South has its own definition of style, especially when it comes to differences in bedroom color schemes and style. For example, Georgian style is known for its colorful, coastal look that exudes earth tones and ocean-blue hues with touches of light colored woods and soft lit lamps.

For a more continental style, Alabama showcases dark earth tones, elegant and old-fashioned fabrics and furniture and open spaces lit with sunlight pouring from french-style window.
Before you begin revamping your bedroom, its best to research which style appeals to you most in order to give you a sense of foundational decor.

Shades of Color

The first thing to consider when reinventing your bedroom is how to embody the South’s decor. First, try balancing shades of color with fabrics. Usually, pastels and white-hued colors are dominant in this style, however, neo-classical interior decorators like to add splashes of dark colors to contrast colors. An example of light and dark contrasts in fabrics would be pillows with prints that have light base (background) colors and darker patterns.

Implement stencils and bold colors

Don’t be afraid to be bold! One of the most popular Southern style in the past few years has been the use of stencils to accent wall colors. Wall stenciling allows for the contrasts of color in your bedroom that can brighten up your space.

Plain and Simple: Cottage White

If you’re a little hesitant to apply strong colors to your bedroom scheme, why not go for “cottage white”? This means keeping a calm color scheme throughout your room and introducing antique furniture and home accessories that’ll make your room look just like the style implies, a comfy, Southern cottage.

Balance Light and Dark

What separates the modern living with Southern living the most? That would be light control. Normally, modern living decor has uncontrolled sunlight (lack of blinds or curtains) or even harsh, LED light bulbs.

In Southern decor, we see a lot more control in light, having soft, textured blinds and curtains to keep light in or out and softly lit light lamps that channel light throughout the room. The downside to this is that sometimes, blinds can cost you a pretty penny. Fortunately, there are a variety of low-cost Bed n Bath curtains that can save you money on your window furnishings.

Southern living is not too hard to implement into your home life. You don't even have to live in the South. Try this style out and see if you like it! If you do, you may end up redecorating your entire home in the Southern fashion!

Jessica Renee