Most people find that putting a soft color on the walls will help create a calm and restful mood for the bedroom.

Take your color palette and work with one of the neutrals, or possibly a soft shade of green or rose, and use that for the walls. Ceilings are best left white in most bedrooms.

You might want to use a slightly darker shade of the selected wall color and paint one wall that shade as an accent. If you do this, it should make sense in the room's decor and with the shape of the space.

For example, you might paint the wall where the bed is that accent color, or there might be a bay window in the room that would benefit from a slightly darker shade. One of my clients did this with their bay window and the result was beautiful.

If you are purchasing furniture, no matter what your bedroom decorating style is, make sure the furniture is the proper scale for the room. If you've always wanted a king size bed and your bedroom can comfortably handle that size of bed, great - go for it!

Use masking tape on the floor of your bedroom if you are not sure about the size, and plan for at least three feet on either side of the bed if possible.

Here is another bedroom decorating idea for the furniture. It does not have to be a matched set! To some extent this depends on your decorating style. If you are a true Traditional decor style person, you probably want a four posted mahogany bed with matching pieces. And for your style, that is a great decision.

Most decorating styles can look great with pieces that have common elements but don't come from a matched set. For example, you may find an iron bed that you love, use a painted oval end table as a nightstand, and bring in an armoire that has iron accents similar to the bed.

All of these pieces are distinct and have their own personality, but they look great in the room together.

Most of us find a relatively clutter-free room to be relaxing, so use the drawers in the bedroom for their intended purpose. If you love books, that's great; find a unique basket to hold them instead of leaving them on the floor.

Take advantage of the 'under the bed' storage boxes - most of them are not expensive and can keep many things out of sight.

Another bedroom decorating idea, if your room size can handle it, is to put a chest of some kind at the foot of the bed, or a storage bench along the wall. If your closet is a good size, install extra shelving along the walls above your clothes, and store items there that you don't need access to every day.

This works well in any room of your home and can give a fresh look without spending a lot of money, so if your budget is limited it's a great decorating option. For example, if your color scheme is light shades of blue, green, rose and yellow, bring in touches of navy blue.

Use pictures and accessories that you love to have around you, whatever that may be. Your bedroom is a very personal expression of yourself and your lifestyle, so it's not something that you'll find on a list somewhere in a home decorating book. The only caution would be that you remain consistent to your style of decor as you are decorating the bedroom.

Looking for more help and ideas?

Here is some helpful advice if you are Decorating a Master Bedroom

And, more great Bedroom Design Ideas!