Purple Bedroom Ideas
A purple bedroom feels restful when you choose a soft, greyed purple such as lavender or mauve and balance it with cream and natural textures. Deeper plum works too, as long as the rest of the room stays light. Add one warm accent, such as mustard or brass, and keep the art in the same family of muted tones.
Below: colours that go with purple, how to tell warm and cool purples apart, bedding and headboard ideas, and how to choose art for purple walls.
Prints for this look
The colour palette
Colours that go with purple in a bedroom
- Cream and warm white are the easiest partners. They soften lavender and stop plum from feeling heavy.
- Sage and olive green are the natural complementary colours. Muted greens make purple look richer without shouting.
- Mustard and ochre sit opposite violet on the colour wheel, so a small amount brings the whole room to life.
- Grey and charcoal suit cooler lilacs and give a calm, grown-up look.
- Blush and dusty pink make a gentle tonal scheme with lavender.
Keep the balance simple with the 60-30-10 rule: about 60% of the room in your main purple or a neutral, 30% in a supporting colour, and 10% in an accent such as mustard.
Lavender, lilac or plum: warm and cool purples
Purples lean one of two ways. Cool purples such as lilac and lavender have more blue in them. They feel airy and suit north-facing rooms only if you warm them up with cream and wood, otherwise they can look grey. Warm purples such as plum, aubergine and mauve have more red. They feel cosy and work well in the evening light of a bedroom.
Check your paint against something pure white. If it looks blue, treat it as cool and pair it with silver, white oak and grey. If it looks pink or red, treat it as warm and pair it with brass, walnut and ochre.
Bedding, headboards and purple bedroom decor
- Bedding: white or oatmeal linen keeps a lavender room light. On plum walls, try a sage or mustard throw at the foot of the bed.
- Headboard: an upholstered headboard in a deeper shade of the wall colour looks considered. A pale oak or cane headboard suits lavender.
- Accent wall: if a full purple room feels like too much, paint only the wall behind the bed and keep the others cream.
- Metals and lamps: brass bedside lamps flatter warm purples; brushed chrome suits cool lilacs.
Choosing wall art for purple walls
The best art for a purple wall repeats a little of the purple and adds one contrast. Soft florals, desert scenes at dusk and gentle abstracts with lavender and peach all sit well on lilac. On plum or aubergine walls, prints with cream backgrounds stand out clearly, and touches of gold or mustard pick up the warmth.
Above the bed, aim for art about two thirds the width of the headboard: one A1 above a double, or a pair of A2 prints above a king size. Leave 15 to 25 cm between the headboard and the bottom of the frame.
Browse our purple wall art, or look at sage green prints for a complementary contrast.
Sizes at a glance
| Size | Centimetres | Inches | Works for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 21 x 29.7 | 8.3 x 11.7 | Shelves, desks, small gaps, sets of 3 |
| A3 | 29.7 x 42 | 11.7 x 16.5 | Hallways, side walls, pairs |
| A2 | 42 x 59.4 | 16.5 x 23.4 | Above a sideboard or small sofa, the anchor of a gallery wall |
| A1 | 59.4 x 84.1 | 23.4 x 33.1 | Above a standard sofa or bed |
| A0 | 84.1 x 118.9 | 33.1 x 46.8 | Large walls, open-plan rooms, statement pieces |
All our A sizes fit standard off-the-shelf frames, and every print is made to order on museum-grade matte paper.
