Interiors / Society

Forget beige and ban the ‘Big Light’: The Scandinavian guide to a better bedroom

By Linnéa Pesonen
This is a cozy, whimsical bedroom packed with bold colors, vintage textures, and a playful, artistic personality. The overall atmosphere feels warm, creative, and deeply personal—like a room belonging to an artist or performer

Photo: Oliver Knauer

What actually makes a bedroom conducive to sleep in? We ask four of Scandinavia's leading interior minds to divulge their rules where we spend roughly a third of our lives – from the colours to embrace and lighting to avoid to the pieces genuinely worth investing in

For a room in which we spend so much of our lives, the bedroom can be strangely overlooked. Yet creating one that makes you want to retreat into it each evening involves far more than just finding the right mattress. Colour, lighting, texture, and even what sits on your bedside table can shape how a space feels, and ultimately, how well you unwind in it.

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So, who better to ask than Scandiavia's interior experts? We tapped Tekla Evelina Severin, Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, Kjerstin Ofstad and Hanne Gathe for their formulas for the perfect bedroom. Their approaches may differ – from restrained minimalism to unapologetic flashes of colour – but on one point they all agree: the best bedroom is deeply personal.

Tekla Severin

Acclaimed Swedish colourist and interior architect, Tekla Evelina Severin has collaborated with the likes of Louis Poulsen, Layered, IKEA and Montana Furniture. Harbouring a sharp eye for colour, she’s best known for expressive and eye-catching spaces.

The person in the image is the Swedish designer and colorist Tekla Evelina Severin wearing a Stine Goya Long Sleeve Asymmetric Top in chocolate combo on a bright blue background

Photo: Oliver Knauer & Björn Ceder

What makes a great bedroom?
A great bedroom is a room that feels personal. It doesn’t have to be neutral, minimal and almost anonymous in order for us to relax and feel comfortable. What it needs, though, is softness and tactility. Textiles, rugs, curtains, bedding – things that absorb both sound and light and help us feel at home in our surroundings.

How do you get bedroom lighting just right?
I think in layers of light. Yes, you obviously need functional light, especially for reading, but the general atmosphere should come from softer, indirect sources at different heights. Better yet, a bedroom should allow the light level to gradually come down with you. Dimmers are wonderful, and I prefer several smaller pools of warm light to one strong, cold ceiling lamp.