How to Create a Beautiful Parisian Style Bedroom

What is Parisian style and how do you get it? Find out key elements for creating a Parisian style bedroom with budget-friendly DIYs and decorating tips.

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An off-centered window, blinds, low ceiling, and a dark small-space does not sound like a great start for a Parisian chic bedroom. It took 8 weeks for my romantic vision to brighten and maximize our master bedroom into a peaceful and lux haven on a budget. I’ll show you how to create a Parisian style bedroom on a dime too!

Parisian Style Bedroom: One Room Challenge Reveal

It’s finally reveal day for the One Room Challenge! There are a lot of details, DIYs, and brands to highlight for my Parisian chic room. Make sure you check out the featured designers and guest participants (like myself) for this 8-week long design challenge. They are amazingly talented and you’ll find all of the inspiration you can handle and more for your next project! I promise.

Here’s what I did for the seven weeks of the One Room Challenge:

• Easy Tips for Creating a Colorful Bedroom Mood Board
• How to Install Pre-Pasted Wallpaper All by Yourself
• Finding the Right Ceiling Fan for Your Bedroom and Modern Ceiling Fan Ideas
• Make Gorgeous No-sew Curtains
• Create a No-sew Bed Skirt with Fringe
• How to Remove a Tile Backsplash without Damaging Your Drywall
• How do Create a Parisian Chic Bedroom (with ensuite)

What is Parisian style decor?

Parisian style is a more modern and minimalist approach to French country or French decor. Polished-sleek decor and furniture, muted colors, simplified styling, and less fussy accessories characterized this style.

What is Parisian chic interior design?

Parisian chic interior design includes a mix of vintage and modern pieces with lux details and flea market finds. The overall color scheme is remains toned down and consistent with Parisian style. Toned down does not be washed out. Beautiful neutrals, pastels, and muted hues feature prominently in this design.

How can I decorate like a Parisian?

Here are the key elements for a Parisian-style bedroom and how I implemented them into our makeover on a shoe-string budget.

• Start with white walls – Parisian bedrooms feature white walls to help create a quiet palette and showcase chic furnishings, art, and decor.

The first step in our bedroom makeover was to change the khaki green walls to a crisp white. This really opened our small dark bedroom. Just check out the picture above to the one below!

• Add a gilded gold mirror – I’m not sure if anything else says French more than an ornate gold mirror. It’s the first thing I think of when I think Parisian decor!

I hung our estate sale mirror between our two closet doors and added a small brass and glass table with a couple of favorite books. It’s a great spot for checking out outfits and reflects the featured mural wall from the other side of the room.

• Hang a chandelier or gorgeous ceiling fan – Over the top chandeliers are a great way to add a touch of French flair to your room! But may not always be practical especially in a small space. Modern ceiling fans offer a compromise between functionality and style and can include beautiful light fixtures.

I chose three Spitfire fans in different finishes from Fanimation for all of our bedrooms and shared my favorites in how to choose the right ceiling fan for your bedroom. In addition to the sleek design; the fan is remote-controlled and includes customizable options to add light kits, down rods, and finishes. I decided against adding the light kit to our bedroom fan because of the existing pod lights. We did use the light kits for the other bedrooms as you can see below.

• Place a beautiful patterned rug – You won’t find a Parisian boudoir without a pattern on the floor. Choosing the right rug is essential for creating a cohesive space because it unifies all of the separate design elements within the room. Pattern selection is just as important as the color choice. A repeated or geometric pattern in soft tones compliments this style.

I chose a beautiful geometric pattern from Mohawk rugs called Kimmel. The denim color is consistent with my color palette choice and is made with an eco-friendly material called Everstrand yarn.

Mohawk Home sent me one of their amazing double-sided rug pad which has one side for hard floors and one for carpet. It keeps the rug in place over any surface and also helps prevent furniture feet indentations in the rug. The rug and pad combination creates a super soft and luxurious feeling on bare feet. It is worlds better than generic rubber rug pads.

• Install an accent wall with a mural or wallpaper. We can’t all have beautiful tall ceilings with old-world character, but a statement wall with a mural or distinctive wallpaper is a great way to add a wow factor even with a muted palette.

I grabbed an Anthropologie mural last year on sale intending it to be the starting point of a new room design. The muted blue and green color palette I chose for this makeover compliments the scenery composition. A great way to infuse color in a soft-muted Parisian style is to use tone-on-tone. Keep colors to either cool or warm hues within the same color family.

• Include luxurious fabrics. Paris is known for velvet and silk soft furnishings and textiles which often carry high price tags. A less expensive option is using upholstery weight fabric, like a cotton-linen blend, to make your own custom window treatments and other upholstery even if it’s your first time.

Few of us are seamstresses or upholsterers. But there are simple DIYs to help you achieve professional results without expensive equipment or years of experience.

The hyacinth shibori fabric from Smith Honig was perfect for my Parisian style room so I repeated it a few times in the space and adjoining bathroom. I created custom curtains, a fringed bed skirt, and upholstered window valence for the bathroom using everyday household tools and without sewing. I embellished the shibori fabric with beautiful green trim and bullion fringe from Fringe Market for extra details.

• Use upholstered pieces – A feature of Parisian style is an upholstered bed or headboard and other accent pieces. You can use anything from grandiose tufted or channel style show-stoppers to minimalistic mid-century modern designs. Regardless of your personal style preference, the key thing to remember is to select upholstered pieces consistent with your chosen color scheme.

I don’t have access to a workshop or expensive tools. So any wood projects I take on have to be simple and doable with common tools. I replaced our gold canopy bed with an easy DIY upholstered headboard using leftover velvet fabric, plywood, foam, and batting. Installing it directly to the wall eliminates the need to manufacture a way to connect it to the bed frame. I did this by attaching two “D” picture hooks on the back of the headboard.

The low-profile style has a boutique hotel look, is comfortable to lean on for reading, and doesn’t distract from the mural or odd-placed window.

• Dress your bed with beautiful but neutral bedding- Parisian bedding is more polished, unlike French-style bedding which is known for wrinkly linen textiles. But don’t confuse polish with complex. Keep it simple with tone on tone sheets, duvet, and throw pillows.

We updated our bedding with a new duvet set from Hygge and West called white wildflower. The blues were a perfect match and the white background and minimalist pattern couldn’t be prettier in the space. The fabric is super soft and it feels so good to crawl into at night.

Two beautiful navy velvet pillows from Smith Honig are a perfect match and keep bed-making simple in the mornings. The DIY fringe bed skirt and upholstered headboard pull it all together for a bespoke look that’s functional and easy to maintain.

• Incorporate art into your space – Paris is known for its abundant flea markets with multiple styles and periods of art for sale. Yet the Pandemic makes traveling to local options impractical and even impossible. Thank goodness for Facebook marketplace, outside garage sales, and online art shops for low/no-contact purchases. There’s no excuse for not including art!

Choosing art isn’t solely based on its function. It’s about finding pieces that provide personal meaning beyond its aesthetic beauty. So pick pieces that speak to you and your personal style!

I’ve longed to use a vintage Audobon bird print and found one perfect for the room at FY! art pictured above. While on their online shop I also found pieces that resonated personally like an image of the famous shrine in Kyoto, a flock of pink flamingos (that remind me of the Fort Worth zoo flamingos), and a cute print of a Japanese bowl full of ramen.

Some more examples of personal art on the gallery wall are framed train tickets from our trip to Chaing Mai from Bangkok, pictures of Okinawa island, an ink illustration I did while in Japan, and two black and white postcards from a fishing village in Hong Kong. They make a beautiful and interesting gallery wall around our floating tv that brings back beautiful memories.

I updated the frame around my Aunt’s painting when I addressed the art in our ensuite bathroom. You can see the bold jewel tones from almost any spot in the bedroom so the bright floral art really needed to pop against the dark green wall.

• Mix new and old furniture – Modern pieces juxtapose beautifully with antiques and vintage in Parisian style.

My French provincial-style dresser passed down from my grandmother was a perfect fit. Its creamy finish counterbalances the traditional dark tall chest on the opposite wall and the pink lotus tassel from Smith Honig is an oh-so-perfect detail. Two modern bedside tables finish the eclectic mix.

• Include books, chinoiserie accents, crystal or lucite pieces, and metallic finishes – Mix the old with the new and inexpensive purchases with splurges, to create a curated Parisian look. This is a design tool that makes your space look like it’s been decorated thoughtfully over time.

Out tabletop styling is more minimal than I’m naturally inclined to do. I’ve been working hard on limiting what I display! It’s challenging with grandparents and friends who weekly peruse estate sales and antique malls, my own love of vintage finds, and all of the unique accessories we picked up living and traveling overseas. If you have too many choices, try transitioning pieces every season to bring in a fresh look.

Wow if you are still reading, THANK YOU, that was a lot of details. Check out my Instagram for DIY tricks and even more information about this makeover.

It’s fun to see how far we’ve come since we moved in. Here are some before and afters.

And a huge thank you to these amazing sponsors for making this project happen!

BATHROOM AND BEDROOM PLANS

Bathroom to-do list:

1. Update light fixture? I’m still waiting on a brand…
2. Build a floating wood frame for art.
3. Remove old backsplash, repair, and paint.
4. Put in ceiling tin as the backsplash.
5. Replace faucet with modern black faucet.
6. Paint the toilet handle black. Should I?
7. Build and install an upholstered window valance.

Another big project was removing the old shower door and using a custom shower curtain but we found out that we may be moving next summer and I think the shower door, for now, would show better than a curtain at an open house.

Bedroom to-do list:

1. Swap dressers and remove bookcase for a bigger space.
2. Replace ceiling fan (and two additional bedroom fans).
3. Repair and paint the walls and molding white.
4. Takedown bed and use the frame with attached DIY legs for a new bed.
5. Build and install a new upholstered headboard with green velvet fabric.
6. Sew and hang curtain panels.
7. Build and install a window cornice box for both windows.
8. Replace botanical prints and matting with gray and blue options.
9. Sew a bed skirt.
10. Add new bedding.
11. Install gallery wall around tv.
12. Hang statement piece above the tall chest and replace pulls.
13. Style the room.

We actually completed everything!! Wahoo!

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