Autumn Bedroom Ideas: Colors and Textures Inspired by Nature

Explore autumn bedroom ideas inspired by the Scandi aesthetic, from earthy color palettes and natural materials to simple styling choices that bring warmth and tranquility to your space.

Autumn Colors, But Make it Scandi

The autumn color palette is obvious, but it’s also surprisingly easy to get wrong. Wall colors can influence your psychological state: red is associated with higher stimulation and alertness, whereas green and blue promote calm. In the bedroom, this is particularly important; while there aren’t specific studies on wall color and sleep, angry red walls are probably not the first thing you want to wake up to! Therefore, we recommend opting for muted warm colors: think blush, peach, and oatmeal. Alternatively, go for green, and add warm accents according to color theory: red (complimentary) or yellow and orange (analogous). On the whole, Scandinavian design favors relatively desaturated colors you would find in nature, saving brighter pops for a single statement pillow or chair. Our Scandinavian-style duvet covers are a prime example: even our deepest solid-color sets are nature-inspired rather than saturated, and our printed sets celebrate Nordic flora and fauna.

Build Warmth Through Texture

Create warmth and hygge with tactile, touchable natural textures: think sheepskin, deerskin, cowhide, wool, flax linen, and jute.

With curtains, your material selection, believe it or not, can also help you to sleep better. Thick bast fabrics such as linen and jute create an expensive-looking drape and texture without costing the earth. If needed, opt for blackout lining, which can make a significant difference to your sleep, particularly in places like northern Scandinavia and Alaska where summer daylight hours can be particularly long. The current trend in Scandinavia is for high curtains that just skim the floor rather than puddling on it, which can look too ostentatious (not to mention being dust magnets!).

Rugs are another easy way to add warmth; your choice depends on the size of your room, your bed, your taste, and your willingness to clean. Jute rugs are cheap and low maintenance but can be scratchy. Sheepskin and deerskin rugs, on the other hand, are dense and lovely to sink your feet into, but can be difficult to clean properly. Cowhide rugs are a good middle ground: they’re smooth and tactile, and the shorter hairs are less attractive to dust.

Our European linen bedding is a wonderful way to get more texture into your space. It’s made from certified Masters of Flax Fibre flax grown in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Each strand is thick and strong, and when woven together creates beautifully tactile linen fabric. It’s cozy both to touch and to look at; choose from our printed sets, which celebrate flora and fauna found in Scandinavian forests and woodlands, or choose a solid-color set that lets linen’s natural texture shine through.

Layer Up—or Don’t

There are two approaches to bed dressing in Scandinavian design. One is a more hygge, maximalist (by Scandinavian standards) approach: layering up with throws, pillows, and even animal hides. Choose warm or neutral colors and natural materials such as wool. This is not the time to cut corners with cheap synthetics: they’ll affect breathability, leaving you uncomfortably hot at night. Patterns, if used, should be restrained and ideally part of the texture: think herringbone, pinstripe, or embroidery.

The other, more minimalist approach is not to add anything to the bed and to treat the bedding itself as decoration. As we’ve mentioned above, this requires detailed, textured bedding (such as our European duvet covers!). And make sure to leave it relaxed rather than tightly tucked; this is your bedroom, not a corporate hotel! For couples, the changing seasons can reveal differences in heat and cold tolerance, so consider adopting the Scandinavian custom of separate duvets. We stock both twin and smaller Euro-single duvet covers in our shop, if you wish to try it.

Soften the Changing Light

Lighting will always be one of the most important aspects of Scandinavian design, but it’s especially important in the darker months. When the sun sinks low in the sky, it creates harsh, tall, and foreboding shadows.

As mentioned in our guide to Scandinavian lighting, there are three types of interior lighting: direct, indirect (e.g. bouncing light off a wall), and diffused. While all three are needed to complete a room, pay particular attention to your diffuse lighting in the autumn months. Diffuse lighting may be a floor lamp but is most often the room’s main ceiling light. A diffuse ceiling lampshade is always a worthwhile investment: the Poul Henningsen Artichoke Lamp is a true Danish icon, but costs thousands of dollars. Simon Karkov’s Norm 69 lamp is a beautiful and much cheaper alternative—as long as you have the patience to assemble its 69 parts!

Add Finishing Touches from Nature

Scandinavian design is all about bringing the outside in, but this doesn’t have to mean buying overpriced pampas grass or eucalyptus branches that sit around all year collecting dust. Instead, think of autumn nature decor as more local and transient, picking things up on walks and arranging them so that they look curated rather than cluttered. Perhaps a fallen branch with turning leaves in a simple vase, or a trio of pinecones in a bowl. Budget-friendly cut flowers, such as heather, can also work.

Warmth Without Clutter

Remember, though, this is all optional: Scandinavians value timelessness and sustainability, so you shouldn’t feel compelled to do an entire bedroom redesign just because the seasons have changed. If you’re otherwise happy with how things are, just switch out small things to create a big seasonal impact, such as throws, ornaments, and candles. If you do redecorate for fall, keep one rule in mind: for each item you add, take one thing away. This will prevent visual clutter and honor the spirit of Scandinavian design.

What are your favorite things about autumn? Do you usually redecorate for fall? Let us know on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter!