Style

Elements Of Style: The Bedroom

The ultimate retreat, a bedroom, speaks to our unique style sensibility, while offering a singular respite from the world on the other side of the door. Here, we asked four celebrated interior designers (and fans of Ralph Lauren Home) to tell us how they transformed a blank space into a standout hideaway

Carrier + Company principals Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller on creating Jessica Chastain’s elegant retreat

Begin with an anchor piece 
The design process began when we found a beautiful and unusual plum-colored antique Heriz carpet at auction and then developed an aesthetic scheme around it. The rug sets the tone and creates the foundation of the color palette. The wallcovering, a Ralph Lauren Home Herringbone Grasscloth, came next, followed by the Ralph Lauren Home floral bed hanging fabric.

Create an atmosphere 
This room was inspired by the client’s stay at the Dean Street Townhouse in London, which features lots of Georgian-era design details. We wanted to evoke a historied, feminine, and luxurious retreat. 

Complement textures with patterns—and patterns with texture
The direction was “soft, luxurious, glamorous, Old Hollywood,” which was easy to conjure using a berry-hued rug layered with additional colors and florals for a vibrant-yet-vintage feel. The goal was to create atmosphere and patina with no clear-cut scene stealers—each color and pattern came together harmoniously, so that every element had a chance to shine. 

Strike a balance
We chose a simple yet luxurious Ralph Lauren Home bedding with a plum border to complement the bed hanging fabric and overall space. The bedding’s tailored detailing was a crucial (and clever) foil to the overall feminine room. 

Incorporate the unexpected
Combining furnishings and finishes from different periods delivers a dose of the unexpected. Using these elements in unlikely ways can result in spaces that are comforting, layered, and inviting. We like to think of rooms as feeling “perfectly imperfect.” 

Nathan Turner breaks down his one-of-a-kind bedroom for Turner House at California’s Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort

Find inspiration in the environment
This primary suite at the Turner House cottage features a palette that’s inspired by the 10,000-acre destination’s scrub-filled landscape. My family has a cattle ranch in Northern California, so I know that the greens aren’t so verdant in the summertime and the yellows aren’t so bright; everything softens. Dusty green seemed to be a good color for the bedroom because it feels calm and relaxed.

Start an evening ritual
There’s something really satisfying about closing heavy curtains at the end of the day, much as you would at a real working ranch. The entire effect makes the room super cozy, so you feel tucked in. The performative gesture also blends ritual and sensuality—the clatter of the iron curtain rings, the swoosh of the Crow Warrior Blanket fabric from Ralph Lauren Home, and the acknowledgement that day has become night.

Dress your bed in layers
The blankets I chose are heavy and durable, which is why they’re perfect for a ranch environment. As for bedding, I love a linen or cotton sheet. That’s the Californian in me, because they’re light and you can breathe.

Consider form and function
I placed a rugged Monterey-style handmade bench by Art in Fine Forms at the foot of each bed at the Turner House. The benches are as beautiful as they are practical. I use these pieces for everything from putting on shoes to providing a comfortable perch for a beloved pet.

Create a restful space
Like this room, the perfect bedroom should be decorated for sleeping, rather than activity. I don’t have a television in my bedroom; never have. It stays on too long and you watch it too late into the evening. It’s in the living room, instead. I like that separation—so when you turn it off, it’s over.

David Netto reveals how he blended historic American influences with a modern Ralph Lauren sensibility in his own downtown Manhattan apartment

Let the setting inspire the design
The design process began with the windows that looked out onto Washington Square. Washington Square is the most 19th-century place in New York City because of its rich history and architecture. I wanted to bring the views into the room, so I used Zuber wallpaper. It’s the same as the one in the White House Treaty Room called “Views of North America.”

 

Think big in a small space
When you design in a compact space, you need to not concede to the smallness of the space. My approach was to throw a bomb into the middle of a small space, so you don’t think about the size; you think about how cool it is. This is how you decorate with guts and aplomb. Design bravely; never show fear.

 

Don’t underestimate the power of a statement piece
My favorite piece is the Ralph Lauren bed. The minute I saw it, I knew that I wanted it and I’ve had that bed for more than 20 years. It’s proof that one piece can change the whole point of view of a room. I wanted the room to feel old, but also to express that I was still young. All it took was one well-designed piece from Ralph Lauren to do that.

Create a luxurious environment
Bedding is so important. If you have decadent, good linens and bedding, it doesn’t matter if you stop right there. That’s going to be a great room and a sensual environment. Ralph Lauren’s bedding is as good as anything else Ralph Lauren does because it’s bold. It has big borders and makes a statement, as though it were furniture.

 

Contrast classic and modern elements
There’s a great Basquiat drawing propped against the wallpaper. It cost almost as much as the bed. I included it for the same reason that I set the chrome bed against the wallpaper: because beauty is the best by contrast, and I wanted this White House–style bedroom to still feel young.