Decorating Guides
How to Save a Boring Box of a Room
Whip a ho-hum format and low ceilings into high-design shape with these ideas that offer a big new vision
It would be wonderful if we all lived in architecturally innovative rooms with lovely angles and huge windows and amazing ceilings. But in reality most of have a least one boring, boxy room to contend with. You know the kind: low ceilings, blah windows, zero molding, standard closet.
But starting out with a boring, boxy room doesn't mean you are doomed. There are ways to turn such spaces into amazing, artful, comfy spaces with tons of style. But you are going to have to take a few chances.
A few rules for turning uninspiring rooms into amazing rooms:
But starting out with a boring, boxy room doesn't mean you are doomed. There are ways to turn such spaces into amazing, artful, comfy spaces with tons of style. But you are going to have to take a few chances.
A few rules for turning uninspiring rooms into amazing rooms:
- Think drama. Drama can run the gamut from sparse and all white to plush, textured and stuffed. But a boring box of a room will benefit greatly from a big vision.
- Love your walls. Paint them, wallpaper them or add fake moldings; just don't leave them beige and flat.
- Go crazy with curtains. Extra-long curtains can do a squat, boring window a world of good and add some much-needed drama. Switching out a boring closet door for a lovely curtain adds texture and color. A curtain behind a bed acts as a headboard and adds texture, color, pattern and drama (even if it's beige).
- Let there be light. Whatever you do, do not be content with a boring flush-mounted ceiling light. Go big, go bold, go bright. Lighting — both the fixture and the quality of light it casts — can completely transform a room.
Create a sense of age and architecture with salvaged pieces hung on the walls. This old door adds a lot of interest to the little box.
This vintage mantel and fireplace surround add architectural detail even if there is no real fireplace.
You can create moldings like this with cheap cut-to-order pieces of trim from the hardware store, tack nails and some paint. I love the gold accents.
Replace boring old sliding closet doors with a lovely curtain. Not only will it be pretty, but it will enable you to see inside your entire closet at once.
A plain, pleated curtain hung behind the headboard gives this low-ceilinged room a feeling of opulence and plushness.
For a small studio, a curtain wall is a brilliant idea. Not only does it provide a sense of privacy, but it also adds texture, softness and some interesting lines.
Tip: Crisp pleats make a curtain look finished and formal and avoid that college-dorm look.
Tip: Crisp pleats make a curtain look finished and formal and avoid that college-dorm look.
Be brave with color and texture. Bright walls are one thing, but they are so much more interesting when layered with patterns and textures and colors. The important thing for a look like this it to go all the way. If you want lush and layered, go for it with gusto.
This is another version of lush and layered. The architecture of this room is nothing special, but the decorator has created a one-of-a-kind, high-drama look by picking a style (English countryside–meets–Shabby Chic) and going for it in a big way.
Tip: Art and mirrors hung floor to ceiling make the walls seem taller.
Tip: Art and mirrors hung floor to ceiling make the walls seem taller.
This room employs all the tricks: extra-long curtains, a dramatic light fixture, a wallpapered wall for color and pattern.
Tip: In small spaces symmetry can really make the room look finished. The nightstands, lamps and pillows give this small space a crisp, put-together look.
Tip: In small spaces symmetry can really make the room look finished. The nightstands, lamps and pillows give this small space a crisp, put-together look.
Another great use of texture and symmetry.
This looks like a standard boxy apartment bedroom, complete with horizontal window. But look at how much life it has thanks to the curtains, wallpaper, repeated color scheme and dramatic bed.
Can't put up wallpaper? Use double-sided tape to hang wallpaper accents on closet doors, headboards, bookshelves and tabletops.
This high-drama lamp is the focus in this otherwise pretty, plain room. Imagine the room without it. Meh.