Have you got a hankering for a bedroom refresh? These 10 oak furniture bedroom ideas have the potential to completely overhaul tired and unimaginative designs and replace them with a truly peaceful corner of your home to hunker down in for deep relaxation and undisturbed rest. But first, it’s time to discover why oak furniture is one of the best ways to style your bedroom, whatever your personal style.
Why the oak aesthetic?
There have been many times in recent years where oak furnishings have seemed to fall out of favour. With the introduction of sleek, metallic furniture and glass designs, oak furniture is sometimes attached with labels of ‘outdated’ or ‘old fashioned’. But now the tables have turned: all types of wooden furniture have rocketed back into popularity with familiar species such as oak right at the forefront. So why all the attention?
Durability
When singing the praises of oak furniture, its durability is the first merit to come to mind. High-quality oak items have been crafted using select cuts that ensure the grain remains in its hardest and most solid state, meaning you can pass on your furniture down through the generations.
Versatility
Oak furniture is also wonderfully versatile. From painted bed frames to wardrobes, chairs and dressing tables to everything in between, oak makes an excellent choice as it can endure a lot of everyday wear and still look stunning too! Not to mention that oak furniture is easy to maintain and clean.
Colour
Oak naturally comes in a wide assortment of shades and it can be stained, waxed and painted to achieve even more. We’ll get into this in more detail further on, best rest assured that oak furnishings will complement any interior scheme, however modern or old school.
Perennial style
Leading on from our previous point, oak furniture can be designed to fit in with any design trend, style or aesthetic. Endlessly versatile and modifiable, oak furniture can be the hallmark of a beautiful country-style living room or the centrepiece of a carefully curated Scandi bedroom design.
Let’s talk colour schemes: bedroom colour ideas with oak furniture
We all know oak is a timeless choice and will blend in beautifully with a wide variety of interiors, but how do we match colours with oak furniture?
Whether you’re after a dramatic, charming or understated look, it’s all about considering those undertones. As a natural product, it has a range of undertones from minute reddish hues to deeper more yellowy tones.
Generally speaking, stain colours will saturate these tones, with darker shades tending to deepen these colours even further and bring out those reds. Cooler oak varieties and more natural waxes will lean towards the yellows or oranges, lifting out the undertones. Whichever type of oak furniture, you will be working with warm undertones (unless you decide to paint it!), so beginning with a robust colour palette is the best place to start.
Cool shades
Enduringly cool in more ways than one, paler shades of oak work really well in lighter colour schemes that aim for a light and spacious feel. Particularly popular in the mid-2010s, light wood tones pair beautifully in minimalist and classic décor settings and will complement a zesty backdrop that nudges energy and life into a space.
Warm hues
When it comes to oak mid-tones, however earthy, you have two distinct options: pair it with similar colours and bring out the natural warmth of the wood, or provide contrast with a cooler backdrop that will create a crisp energy throughout the room.
Dark tones
Of all of our bedroom colour ideas with oak furniture, this might be the most controversial. So don’t hesitate to pick a side. Dark oak was once the darling of home interiors and especially during the 1970s when moodier, dark and warm colour schemes were part of the parcel for an elegant look. Dark oak can introduce a sense of nostalgia and refinement, and when pulled off correctly, it can possess a commanding influence.
Greige tints
While many designers have sounded the alarm signalling the end of the ‘greige’ trend, grey oak furniture will never die. As one of the most sophisticated and demure palettes out there, there is no lack of appetite for grey oak furniture from soft charcoal cabinets to airier light grey bedframes.
Grey oak bedroom ideas often centre sleek lines that fit in with a modern, minimalist scheme or distressed finishes that suit both the shabby chic aesthetic and industrial-core vibe.
10 oak furniture bedroom ideas: how to furnish and style like an interior designer
So we’ve supplied you with the colour theory to pull off a stunning oak furniture design, but now it’s time to delve into the design choices. Here are 10 oak bedroom ideas for you to sample and apply to your own interior planning.
1. Get the entire set
Nothing beats the feeling of completing an entire set, and when it’s a collection of oak furniture boasting a lustrous exterior beauty and robust interior strength this couldn’t be truer. At Evelyn Lily, we champion various collections from the unwavering charm of the Helmsley Oak range to the English rose appeal of the painted oak Firby collection. Decked out with these pieces your bedroom will become elevated with the cohesion worthy of any professionally curated home.
2. Aim for the painted look
Update your bedroom’s style by upcycling your oak furniture with a lick of paint. Whether you wish to revive an old piece that’s past its heyday or a complete overhaul of all your furnishings, there are many inexpensive and creative ways to breathe life back into a lacklustre scheme.
3. Build personality with your own ‘art gallery’
If things are feeling a little blank and bare, injecting some of your shining personality with a gallery wall can add immediate interest and make a room feel ‘lived in’. Try to think about the overall palette, styling and theme. If you’re leaning into the natural vibe, why not hang up some nature prints?
4. Create a clean backdrop
Conversely, you could let minimalism reign supreme. Crisp monochrome walls or soft neutral surroundings set against a variety of oak furniture can feel wonderfully refreshing, just make sure not to go overboard. Introduce candles, rugs and other simple accessories to avoid overwhelming the space with starkness and add a hint of warmth with textiles.
5. Introduce nature into the living space
Solid oak furniture is a no-brainer if you are a nature lover and have a yearning for the natural world inside you. Dispel the stresses of the modern world by opting for organic textiles and earthy colours, or perhaps a green backdrop. Then scatter in plants and other outdoor elements such as stone or seashells to top it off.
6. Panel away
If your bedroom is crying out for added character or depth, panelling the room to match your oak bedframe and bedside tables will instantly fix all of your problems. From classic square panelling to vertical stripes, there’s something for every décor style – and you can use it to showcase a gallery wall.
7. Have fun with mirrors
Mirrors are a handy tool to alter the appearance of a room and place emphasis on particular features. We’ve explored mirror placement when it comes to living rooms on this blog, but for bedrooms, it’s very much the same.
Place mirrors to enlarge the feel of your bedroom and complement your oak furnishings with the frame. In fact, you can finish off the look with an oak dressing room mirror as the piece de resistance.
8. Mix and match materials
As much as it’s appealing to aim for the full oak set, sometimes this isn’t realistic, or you might want a bit more variation if you’re planning around a maximalist scheme. Soft textiles and other natural materials teamed with oak furniture can build layers organically and create the ideal balance of biophilic style.
9. Team dark and light accents for maximum contrast
If you’ve opted for dark or light oak furniture, the possibilities to impress are endless. You can create a fresh spin on its timeless beauty by accentuating its colouring with vibrant colour schemes. Whether relaxed and cheering or deliberately striking, you can add pops of colour to create a thoughtful and avant-garde appearance.
10. Mine ideas from internet aesthetics
The phenomenon of internet aesthetics, micro-trends and digital subcultures never ceases to capture interior designers’ imaginations. Whilst nothing makes you feel old like seeing old subcultures make way for new styles and ideas, looking towards these aesthetics might prove fruitful – after all, they’re a treasure trove of influences, visuals and ideas.
From the various ‘-cores’ such as cottagecore, farmcore and regencycore to the rise of dark academia and sustainable crafting, there are so many useful design nuggets and accents you can draw from that might just take your existing oak bedroom ideas to the next level.
Inspired yet?
We hope these oak furniture bedroom ideas have lit your creative spark and the fire in your belly to achieve a magazine-worthy look. If there’s anything you should take away from these design inspo tips, it’s that you don’t need to be an interior designer to pull off magic – all it takes is a level head and a sharp eye.
