9 Trendy and Clever Ways to Brighten Your Bedroom

Your bedroom is your sanctuary and its design should reflect your unique personality, including the light fixtures framing your Cal king. Check out these bright ideas for how to illuminate the most important room in your home through sconces, chandeliers, and more.

1. Need Options? Opt for Adjustable

An adjustable bedside sconce can offer functionality and unique semi-industrial style. Choose colors—such as white with brass hardware—that won’t overwhelm your room but can offer contrast to existing furniture and tones. A swinging arm and adjustable shade will allow you to tuck the light away in the corner when not in use, or pull it closer when you need better illumination for an early Sunday breakfast in bed. 

2. Embrace Your Dark Side

A black shade can draw out accent colors in statement wallpaper, or simply serve as a contrast to an otherwise uniform color palette, maintaining a monochromatic scheme without being too boring (read: all white).

3. Drop It Low

Two matching pendant lights framing a bed can draw one’s eye upward, making the room look larger than it is. Choose colors that highlight the wood color of your bed or art pieces on the wall for a vibe that is calm, cool, and collected.

4. Go Bold With a Chandelier

As with pendant lights, a luxurious chandelier can make a room look larger, as it will become the statement piece in the bedroom. Select a chandelier that is striking but not so over the top that the rest of the room clashes or feels like an afterthought.

5. Stay Grounded with Organic Elements

Designer Candace Mary Griffin plays up the wood shelving (and elegant bench) in this cozy, minimalist bedroom by flanking the bed with two lamps with neutral, wood-like shades. Since the space has huge windows offering lots of natural light, the bedside illumination is more than enough.

6. Sconce Symmetry

Consider installing a pair of small gold or brass sconces on each side of a neutrally-colored bed; the metallic shine will look especially magnificent in contrast to a white or black headboard. The scones should be small enough to not draw too much attention, but add a small pop of brightness and some symmetry to the room. In addition, they provide the perfect low light for evening time. 

7. Designate a Reading Area

If you have space, lighting up a corner of the bedroom that’s been set up with a cozy chair and desk can create a perfect reading zone. A taller standing lamp can be placed behind your lounge chair, offering optimal work lighting while also ensuring that the lamp doesn’t draw too much focus away from the rest of the room.

8. Play With Shapes

If there are unique shapes on your bedding, room accent pieces, or wallpaper, highlight those in your choice of lighting. A bubbly mid-century-style chandelier might echo circular patterns on your linens, for instance.

9. Mix Lighting Sources in Larger Spaces

For those of you blessed with enormous primary bedrooms, you have the opportunity to mix various kinds of lighting sources to make sure all corners are covered. Consider a statement chandelier near a walk-in closet, sconces to frame your bed, and a standing lamp in an otherwise dark corner.