What do you think of when you hear the word “pastel”? Sugary sweetness, sorbet and gelato, baby nurseries, cake frosting, maybe even kawaii cuteness? Well, think again because pastels have grown up and these days, pastel bedrooms can be seriously sophisticated. Read on for our pastel bedroom ideas!
The modern pastel aesthetic hinges on unexpected pairings and experimentation with unusual colours and materials. The aim is to find more contemporary ways to add these soothing and soft shades to your living spaces.
You can find a pastel version of any colour that you like – there’s an infinite number of pastels, for every colour of the spectrum. Pastels, also known as tints, are colours that are created when white is added to a base colour. This creates a lighter more muted and powdery, paler and softer version of that base. And they come in infinite tones, too, depending on how much white you add.
Thinking of giving your bedroom a complete makeover or just refreshing your textiles? It’s easy to add these irresistible shades to your bedroom. Scroll through our pick of 32 pastel bedroom ideas and turn your bedroom into a pastel paradise.
1. Lilac, navy, burnt umber
If you want to rock a modern pastel aesthetic, try to choose a unique palette. Venture beyond the traditional baby blues, icy mints and sweet pinks to find more unusual, unique tones that are fresh and surprising. Marry your pastels with organic materials for texture, warmth and Boho bedroom vibes!
2. Peach, purple and pink
An array of beautiful, barely-there, dusty tones will lift your space out of the ordinary as well as add a calming, dreamy vibe—ideal for your bedroom. One of the loveliest colour combos I’ve seen is a pretty peach contrasted with heathered lolly pink, mustard and violet. Sapphire blue makes a great accent in this scheme.
3. Pale sand and teal
For a pastel bedroom that’s anything but saccharine sweet, choose a pared-down neutral palette. For example, you might feature subtle tints in muted sand and blush tones. Just enough to add depth and warmth. Then add deep teal green cushion and plenty of potplants (olive foliage looks amazing with these tones).
4. Warm pastel greys
For a clean, streamlined look, grey always gives off sophisticated contemporary vibes. And mixing grey with other pastels is a good combo since they share a common base of white, grey also being a tint. You could also try going for half wall of grey, balanced by something like balanced by powder pink and with bright white accents.
5. Apricot and grey
If you have a neutral colour scheme in your bedroom, add just a few touches of pastels as accents for a calm monochrome vibe. You could even paint the floorboards a soft pastel tone. But an easier option is to change the bedding, such as with pale apricot and muted grey linen. Add texture with rattan elements, a rug, patterned throws and a cascading plant. (Want to know what plant will survive in your room? Make sure you look at these bedroom plant ideas.)
6. Add some pastel to the walls
Painting a ‘headboard’ is a simple DIY way to bring in some tranquil tones, without needing to completely saturate the space. Or you could try a chic ombre feature wall or pretty textured pastel wallpaper. And if you love a powder blue bedroom or ballerina pink, that’s fine! Just make it look grown-up in other ways or you may stray too much into little girls’ bedroom vibes.
7. Saturate with colour
Paint the walls and switch to pastel matching pastel bedding to make a powerful monochrome statement. Sage and white make a wonderful mix. Especially paired with natural materials and rejuvenating plantlife.
8. Or just add a subtle touch
A minimalist, Scandi style bedroom benefits from subtle touches of pastel. For example you might blend an unusual dirty pastel rose with chartreuse and denim blue in an otherwise bright white space. Crisp clean lines and simple furniture will make the room feel mature and modern and counteract any cutesyness.
9. Lighter wood and pastels
Pale or white timbers work beautifully with a white and pastel bedroom aesthetic, intensifying the brightness. Try a cosy apricot and white colour scheme with pale timber furniture and white walls. Don’t forget the textural accents: a fluffy throw, woven lampshade, and lush bedroom plants. If you hang art, try to find things with pastel tones to help unify the space.
Hanging pictures above your bed? Get an expert to take care of hanging up the artwork.
10. Pastel blue with mustard
Have a blue bedhead? Offset it with blush and mustard accents. With a pastel colour scheme, soft textiles like velvet look the goods. Velvet bedheads are still on-trend and maybe they are simply a classic. What do you think? Are they a passing fad? Or do they possess both comfort and enduring style? Let me know in the comments below!
11. Pastel blue tones
For a simple, understated bedroom in a relaxed Scandi farmhouse style, opt for a mix of pale blues and whites. Add barely-there, white vintage light fittings, French linen and a wool rug for a truly cosy and chic space.
12. Blush rose and teal
Whether your ideal bedroom style is minimalist and modern or eclectic and Boho, you can find a pastel shade that works perfectly. Apart from fully painted walls and half walls, there’s also the option of the ¾ painted wall. This gives you an extra block of white at the top of pastel paintwork, which makes it all appear brighter and the ceiling look higher.
13. Pastel and plaids
Pastels and plaids or checks work really well together, creating a fresh, clean, farmhouse vibe. You’ll often see plaid bedding in blues and greens, but pastel purple tones also look lovely. Then, mix your purple-toned bedding with pale lemon sheets. Purple and yellow are opposites on the colour charts so they make the perfect complementary colour pair.
14. Apricot pastel bedroom
A monochromatic scheme gives a harmonious, calming vibe. Choose a soothing pink colour scheme mixing dusty roses, apricots and oatmeal. The result will be a calming pink sanctuary. Many of the most stunning pastel bedrooms I have seen feature floorboards plus a rug for warmth. There’s just something about pastels and timber.
15. Pastels and darks
It doesn’t all have to be light and sunshiny though. Maybe you favour a dark and dramatic bedroom? Incorporating some pretty pastels will provide contrast as well as brighten it up and prevent it feeling gloomy. A lovely combo is a pastel pink bed in striking contrast to a charcoal wall.
16. Peachy beachy Boho
Create a tangerine dream full of soft, faded oranges in similar tones. Dreamy tones like whisper-pink paint bring instant Boho vibes. Amp it up by adding a cane peacock bedhead or a Moroccan style rug.
17. Warm-up greys
Love a neutral colour scheme? Add a hint of tint to your greyscales to warm them up, such as smoky grey painted walls that have with subtle lilac undertones.
18. Mauve and grey
To add interest to a contemporary bedroom, use two shades of muted pastels. For example, a dusty rose for the walls and a cloud grey for the bedhead. Dark grey and black accents add maturity and contrast. And you can add texture through a gorgeous lampshade and patterned throw.
19. Pastel pink half wall
A soft pale pink makes a pretty backdrop for thriving bedroom plants. If you don’t want to fully paint the walls, a half wall is a great option. You can introduce colour while maintaining plenty of white through the space. This keeps everythings fresh and bright.
20. Pastel decor
Add a hint of pastel prettiness to your all-white bedroom with just some pastel accents in your soft furnishings or light fittings. Dabbling in a new colour scheme is so much more affordable and low commitment if you just switch up a few light fittings and add new pastel bedding.
21. Pastels and natural materials
Texture is a key element when styling a bedroom with a lot of pastel in it. Add lots of organic, woven décor (rattan, wicker, cane, jute) and textiles made of wool and cotton. Plants are always a nice textural touch, too.
22. Pastel blue, white and black accents
To modernise a pale pastel scheme, add some black accents in the décor. Black pendant lighting works perfectly, adding a little sophistication and chic.
23. Go for a retro vibe
A mix of pastel pink and orange can have strong retro vibes, especially if you add a patterned wallpaper to the mix. Removable wallpaper gives you that added flexibility. So it’s worth considering as a way to quickly and affordably bring candy colours to your space. Get more bedroom wallpaper ideas or find an expert in wallpaper installation.
24. Have a variety of intensities of tint
Achieve a harmonious monochromatic pastel look by varying the intensity of the tones of your chosen colour. So you might have some very pale pastels punctuated with a range of darker tones of the same colour, giving you a saturated, layered effect.
25. Pastel lilac and grey
Crumpled linen in two tones of pastel purple looks amazing offset by crisp white walls and white timber furniture. It’s a chic contemporary look that’s light and airy. And of course, your linen can just be changed if you tire of the look.
26. Mature pastel lemon
Yellow can be a tricky colour to pull off in interiors because it’s so vivid. It’s normally better to use as an accent colour than all over your walls. But dial it down from intense bright yellow to a more sophisticated, muted lemon yellow. And it can work to add a dose of happy-positivity to your bedroom space. A saturated pastel yellow is wonderfully balanced by soft natural neutrals.
27. Earthy pastels
Pastels don’t always need to be whitewashed rainbow brights. Case in point: a pastel bedroom decked out in warm, faded ochres. Nature tones give a cosy and warm feeling. Especially with added organic touches like wicker lampshades and baskets and wood finishes.
28. Art Deco pastel bedroom
A mix of baby pink, angel blue and fog grey will give you vintage flavours and strongly evoke Art Deco vibes. Even if you have a powder-soft colour scheme, your bedroom can have plenty of maturity and dynamism if you add an array of sculptural forms. For instance, spherical cushions, a Cubist flavoured bedside and or an abstract artwork.
29. Mix pastels and brights
Accent your pastels with vivid, saturated hues like aqua, sunny yellow and hot pink. A few bright colours liven up a pastel palette, adding interest and pops of contrast.
30. Ombre orange
When choosing a paint colour for your bedroom wall, consider the way the light might change the way the colour appears. Wherever your paint is near bright sunlight, it will shimmer pale—so you may end up with a pastel shade whether you wanted one or not! If you don’t want this to happen, pick blackout curtains. Otherwise, embrace the natural ombre effect!
31. Pastel bedroom wall art
Bring kaleidoscopic pastel tones in with your bedroom wall art. Geometric prints work especially well, adding a graphic edge to the soft colour scheme. Pick prints that have unusual details to complement the childish simplicity of pastels. Keep bedroom furniture unobtrusive, sleek and stylish. See more feature wall ideas.
32. Pastel and pops of white
Crisp white touches are a classic accompaniment to pastels, beautifully freshening them up. For example you may decide to go for a vivid pink, orange and purple pastel colour palette. Then punctuate it with white bedside lamps and white bedding to invigorate the colour scheme.
What do you think of the pastel decorating trend—do you love the idea of adding pastels to your bedroom? If you are uncertain about the best colour scheme to choose, you might consider consulting with a qualified home decorator. Or get stuck straight into your pastel bedroom reno with an experienced painter, an expert in floorboards, or someone to handle assembling all your bedroom furniture (whether it’s your bed, dresser, built-ins or wardrobes).
