How to Create a Chic Preppy Bedroom in 5 Easy Steps

Like that time you walked into someone else bedroom and thought, omg they have their act together? And this is precisely what a preppy bedroom would do, shout out conducting a sophisticated approach, and doing so without having to much effort. I have always had an infatuation with the preppy look and although admittedly this can be a difficult style to master as shown in fancy interior design mags, this is not the case.

Preppy style draws its inspiration on the elite boarding schools and country clubs, but the good news is that it is not necessary that you have trust funds to pull it off. By choosing the right color scheme, few traditional patterns, and carefully planning into it some styling tricks you can make your space something that would leave even the most fussy Connecticut socialite imagining jealously 🙂

Get ready to stylishly spruce up your bedroom into a chic preppy oasis? Let’s take it down a notch and chopped it up into five easy, affordable and sanity-filled steps.

Step 1: Master the Classic Preppy Color Palette

The key to any great preppy bedroom is the colors you get right. It’s not as though you can just toss some navy blue out there and say it is a preppy thing, there is a science to the madness.

Master the Classic Preppy Color Palette

The Essential Color Combinations

The classic prep color codes usually include these classic pairings:

  • Navy blue and crisp white
  • Forest green with cream
  • Burgundy paired with soft gray
  • Classic pink and white
  • Camel and ivory

I unsuccessfully tried this out with failed first attempt with the bedroom in my first apartment, where I painted it bubblegum turquoise as “preppy coastal.” It was more of a beach motel as opposed to a highbrow getaway.

How to Apply These Colors

Neutral walls are best to start with, white cream or some soft grey colors. These give you a clear background which does not clash with your furniture and accent items. Add on preppy colors of your choice in bedding, curtains, and items used for decor.

Have you got a secret? This situation can work if the 60-30-10 notion of rule creeps in. Decorate 60 percent with your neutral as the dominant after 30 percent to be your main preppy color, and10 percent as a bold accent color.

Color RolePercentageExample
Dominant60%Cream walls and ceiling
Secondary30%Navy bedding and curtains
Accent10%Burgundy throw pillows

Step 2: Choose Timeless Patterns That Actually Work

This is the part where most people err- they assume that preppy just means everything is plaid and striped. Cross-ball combinations?rias obtaining? gravity high? mingling forms rightly? That is art, and I am about to rescue you the reader of some great decorating disasters.

Choose Timeless Patterns That Actually Work

The Big Three Preppy Patterns

Stripes are your new best friend and two of your biggest allies are navy and navy and white, or green and white stripes. These include a visual interest without dominating the space I also have striped curtains in my bedroom and this also has garnered compliments when the guests visit.

Plaids and tartans add this classic boarding school feel but make sure you wear it in a strategic way. A throw blanket or accent pillow in plaid fits perfectly – the whole comforter in plaid will make you feel as though you are in a lumberjack cabin.

Florals may sound strange, but subtle floral prints that have muted nature yell subtle class. Make it small roses on a cream tone, not large exotic patterns.

The Pattern Mixing Formula

It has ever puzzled you why some rooms appear as professionally designed and and some appear as a pattern explosion? It is a matter of scale and coordination of color.

One large-scale pattern, one medium-scale pattern and one small-scale pattern, with at least one color in common between any of the patterns. Such as: huge navy and stripes on curtains, medium-sized plaid on a throw pillow and small floral on a lampshade of navy blue.

Step 3: Invest in Quality Furniture with Classic Lines

FYI this is an area where you can be a bit more expensive, but just listen to me, classic preppy furniture retain its value and never fail to be in fashion. You are basically purchasing items that will be awesome ten years later on.

Invest in Quality Furniture with Classic Lines

Essential Furniture Pieces

A sleigh bed or a four-poster bed, immediately gives your place a lift. I got my own at an estate sale at a rock-bottom price directly out of someone elses closet.

Nightstands, made of wood in a rich color such as cherry, mahogany or painted white, complete that upscale look. Forgo the particle board that will actually fall apart within a couple of years.

A simple dresser with distinct clarity design and good hardware is magical. Consider brass or brushed nickel pulls on your pieces- they photograph so well and feel so hefty in the hand when you are using them.

Don’t Forget the Seating

Any good prepping bedroom should have a reading chair or bench at the foot of the beds. This is not just a gimmick because I use my pair everyday putting on shoes and every day reading. Select something that has an upholstery in a co-ordinated fabric or a classic leather one.

Step 4: Layer Textiles Like a Pro

This step is where the enthusiasts meet the specialists and truthfully where the voodoo is created. Layering fabrics give’s a depth, an additional layer of comfort, and that designer look for less.

 Layer Textiles Like a Pro

Start with Quality Bedding

White, linen sheets are a must. I am speaking luxury hotel cotton with high-quality threads count- the money you spend on it is worth every night that you will sleep on it. White linens are also photogenic, and they go with any color design you have in mind.

Top with a time honored duvet or comforter in your favorite preppie hue. Navy, forest green or burgundy are all a great pick. Then you add different pattern throw pillows.

Add Texture and Warmth

A plaid or solid wool throw blanket on the foot of the bed makes it warm and cozy in a few seconds. I fold mine to an exact fold – it sounds like I am obsessive but the clean lines actually make a huge difference.

Curtains must be heavyweight such as no thin polyester panels here Austere-looking linens or cotton in matching colors, put right (just brushing the ceiling and the floor), alter the proportions of a room immensely.

The Rug Game

A beautiful area rug places the space and frames the sleeping territory. That can be traditional design, such as Persian patterns or simple striping. The size: it should be bigger in size so that it protrudes the bed on at least three sides.

Step 5: Add Personal Touches with Classic Preppy Accessories

The last step makes your bedroom the room you see in magazines. The accessories further narrate your story without the lost of that polished preppy touch.

Add Personal Touches with Classic Preppy Accessories

Wall Decor with Purpose

Arrangements with framed art should not seem like a grab-bag. I adore intermingling of family photos in matching frames with classic prints or watercolor landscapes. Put them in odd numbers- sets of three, or five, than two.

An antique map or vintage botantical print will give that sophisticated, educated edge that radically preppy. Buy a cheap version at a flea market or the internet as it does not have to be a museum-type acquisition to look pricey.

Lighting That Sets the Mood

Fabric lampshades are used in table lamps to produce cozy cocoonings of light. Natural-looking brass or ceramic bases are very suitable in traditional forms. My nightstands both have matching lamps so that everything is in balance in the preppy design.

A piece of decorative hanging light may act like jewelry to a room Don’t be too flashy, be classic, quality materials.

Storage with Style

Wicker baskets manage to store and at the same time take the aesthetic effect. I use them to store additional blankets, magazines or other things which otherwise would be cluttered.

The foot of the bed has a vintage trunk that is used as a bench and as storage. Mine stores out-of-season clothes and has this boarding school dorm feel I was going after.

The Finishing Touches

Simple vase of fresh flowers, a few select books on the nightstand and perhaps a small dish to hold jewelry will do the trick. Such details give a feeling that the space is not staged, but lived in.

Bringing It All Together

It does not mean getting the most expensive pieces and getting everything perfect match in creating a chic preppy bedroom. It is about the quality over quantity (Slader 1993: 241), consistency in colours, and your personal touches, which speak volumes of your unique style.

Preppy design is timeless in nature, not trends that will grow dated in 2009. You have a room that is traditional yet up to date, elegant yet relaxed.

MO, the trick to getting this right is patience. Acquire furniture item by item, buy high-quality basics and make it a process not a deadline. A future time self will thank you each time that you enter your preppy refuge that you have spent considerable time preparing to your specifications

One step at a time and perfect each before taking another. In no time you will have a bedroom that is part instagrammable, part inhabitable and isn’t that what good design should be all about? 🙂

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