Vote for the Best Bedroom in the Remodelista Considered Design Awards: Amateur Category

What Are the Remodelista Considered Design Awards, and Why Does the Amateur Bedroom Category Hit Different?

The Considered Design Awards are Remodelista’s way of spotlighting spaces that feel thoughtful, livable, and a little bit brave.
Not “look at my marble quarry” bravemore like “I made this cozy retreat with what I had, what I found, and what I refused to overthink.”
Bedrooms are especially revealing because they’re the most personal room in the house:
your habits, your comfort preferences, and your tolerance for clutter all show up in the final styling.

Amateur vs. Professional: It’s About Who Designed It, Not Who Held the Hammer

Remodelista’s distinction is refreshingly practical: if you’re a design professional (or were paid for the work), you enter Professional.
If you’re not a home/garden design pro and you designed the space yourself, you enter Amateureven if you hired a contractor to help build it.
Translation: you can outsource drywall and still keep your “amateur” badge. Respect.

How Voting Works (and Why It’s Addicting)

In voting rounds, Remodelista typically allows readers to vote once per category per day.
In the 2014 cycle tied to this “Best Bedroom / Amateur” post, readers were encouraged to vote daily through early August,
with winners announced right after the voting window closed.

1. Look closely: Don’t just vote for the prettiest photovote for the best idea.
2. Ask “Would I sleep better here?” Bedrooms aren’t museums; they’re recovery zones.
3. Reward resourcefulness: Smart DIY and salvaged materials are basically the love language of “considered design.”
4. Vote like a judge: Comfort, function, and personality should all show upwithout chaos.

Meet the Five Best Bedroom / Amateur Finalists (and the Design Lessons They’re Quietly Teaching)

Here’s the fun part: five finalists, five very different bedrooms, and about a dozen ideas you can steal without getting arrested
(design theft is morally encouraged, legally fine, and emotionally healing).

Finalist #1: Michelle Pattee “Sebastopol House” (Sebastopol, CA)

This finalist story is a master class in turning limitations into style. The space began as an unfinished upper-floor room in an older farmhouse,
and the final design leans into openness, simplicity, and dramatic contrast. Think: bold dark flooring against lighter walls, beams that frame the architecture,
and a palette that stays calm even when the structure has a lot to say.

• Design takeaway: A restrained palette can make architectural quirks feel intentional instead of “oops.”
• Why it works: High contrast creates drama; minimal clutter keeps it restful.
• Steal this idea: If your room has strong bones (beams, angles, texture), let the finishes stay simple.

Finalist #2: Tori Willis “Rustic Nomad” (Los Angeles, CA)

“Rustic Nomad” is exactly what it sounds like: a light-filled bedroom designed to feel like a soft landing after living a full, interesting life.
The room blends reclaimed-wood warmth with travel objects and memory pieceswithout turning into a souvenir shop.
It’s calm, but it’s not sterile. Personal, but not cluttered. That balance is harder than it looks.

• Design takeaway: Personal objects belong in bedroomsbut only if they don’t shout while you’re trying to sleep.
• Why it works: A simple foundation (bed, light, airflow) supports the story told by a few meaningful pieces.
• Steal this idea: Curate “memory decor” like a playlist: a few favorites, not every song you’ve ever liked.

Finalist #3: Finn & Flora “Adventures in Legoland” (Brooklyn, NY)

Proof that kids’ rooms can be imaginative without looking like a cartoon exploded.
This bedroom was designed for a young child who loves Legos and adventureand the standout move is an upcycled DIY element:
a playful teepee-like hideout made from a repurposed duvet cover. Deep wall color gives it a night-sky vibe, and the accessories keep the story going.

• Design takeaway: The best children’s bedrooms create a “world,” not just a color scheme.
• Why it works: One big playful gesture (the teepee) anchors the room; everything else supports it.
• Steal this idea: Choose one signature DIY that sparks imagination, then keep the rest simple.

Finalist #4: Thayer + Todd “Sleeping Loft” (Centerpoint, NY)

This is “found space” at its best: an attic converted into a guest sleeping loft, accessed by a sliding ladder.
It’s cozy and cleverlike a weekend getaway built inside your own house.
The finishing details lean beachy and relaxed, with natural-feeling linens and reclaimed materials that add soul without looking staged.

• Design takeaway: Small spaces become luxurious when they feel intentional, not leftover.
• Why it works: Clear purpose (guest retreat) + smart access + warm textures = instant charm.
• Steal this idea: Reclaimed wood makes a headboard that feels custom even when it’s basically “free.”

Finalist #5: Anne S. Holtermann “St. Paul de Vence” (South Dartmouth, MA)

This bedroom aims for something many people want but few execute: quiet romance.
The approach is rooted in mixing local or found materials with clean, calming choices that can be refreshed easilyswap a pillow, move a vase,
shift the mood. Light plays a major role here, and the room uses personality (mismatched bedside pieces, simple accessories) without visual noise.

• Design takeaway: Bedrooms feel “expensive” when they’re adaptable, not over-designed.
• Why it works: Airy light + calm foundation + a few imperfect elements = lived-in elegance.
• Steal this idea: Use mismatched nightstands on purpose; the trick is repeating one unifying element (color, height, or material).

How to Vote Like a Design Judge (Even If Your Credentials Are “Watched a Lot of Home Tours”)

1) Sleep-First Comfort: The Bedroom’s Real Job

A bedroom can be gorgeous and still be terrible at being a bedroom.
Comfort tends to improve when the space supports darkness at night, quiet, and a comfortable temperatureplus bedding you actually like touching.
When you vote, look for rooms that feel like they’d help someone wind down, not ramp up.

2) Layered Lighting: The Fastest Way to Upgrade Any Bedroom

Design pros love layered lighting for a reason: overhead, bedside/task lighting, and softer ambient options let you control mood and function.
A finalist bedroom that includes a reading light or thoughtfully placed lamp is quietly telling you,
“This room is used by a human, not a catalog mannequin.”

3) Function Without Furniture Bloat

Great bedrooms don’t need a parade of extra pieces. They need the right pieces: a bed that fits the room,
a nightstand solution that prevents “phone-on-the-floor life,” and storage that doesn’t turn into visual clutter.
In small spaces, wall-mounted lights and simplified nightstands can be a game changer.

4) Personality (Yes) Without Chaos (Please No)

The most lovable amateur spaces show personal quirkstravel objects, handmade details, imperfect vintage finds
but they also edit. If the room has a clear point of view, you feel it immediately.
If it has every point of view, you feel that too… mostly as stress.

Steal These “Considered Bedroom” Moves for Your Own Space

Whether you’re voting, entering someday, or just redesigning your room because you’re tired of living like a laundry hamper with ambitions,
these are the ideas that consistently show up in bedrooms that feel calm, functional, and memorable.

Start With the Foundation: Color + Quiet

Calm doesn’t have to mean “white everything.” Plenty of serene bedrooms use deeper huesnavy, muted greens, soft grays
as long as the palette is cohesive and the accents don’t fight each other.
If you’re nervous, keep walls calmer and bring personality through textiles, art, and one standout piece.

Layer Textiles Like You Mean It

“Considered” bedrooms rarely rely on a single bed-in-a-bag set. Instead, they layer:
sheets you like, a blanket with weight, a duvet with texture, and one throw that adds personality.
Rugs help tooespecially in older homes or loft-like spaces where you want softness underfoot.

• Quick win: Choose bedding in one tonal family, then add one contrasting texture (linen + wool, cotton + quilted throw).
• Budget trick: Put your splurge where you physically feel it (sheets/pillows), not where it only photographs well.

Use Light in Layers (Because One Overhead Light Is a Crime Against Vibes)

A single ceiling fixture can make a bedroom feel like a waiting room.
Add at least one bedside light, and if you can, include a softer ambient option (a small lamp, dimmable bulb, or warm wall sconce).
The goal is control: bright when you’re folding laundry, soft when you’re powering down.

Small Bedroom Cheats That Look Smarter Than They Are

• Go lighter up top: Light walls and ceilings help bounce light and can make tight rooms feel more open.
• Mount the reading lights: Wall sconces free up nightstand space and reduce visual clutter.
• Use “double-duty” pieces: A dresser can be a nightstand; a bench can hide storage; a shelf can replace a bulky table.
• Edit the surfaces: Your nightstand should not look like a museum of receipts.

Borrow the Finalists’ Best Tricks

• From Sebastopol House: Let structure lead, then keep decor quiet.
• From Rustic Nomad: Add meaning through a few personal objects, not dozens.
• From Adventures in Legoland: One playful DIY centerpiece beats a room full of themed clutter.
• From Sleeping Loft: Reclaimed materials and “found space” create instant charm.
• From St. Paul de Vence: Make it adaptablesmall changes should refresh the whole mood.

Why Amateur Bedrooms Are So Fun to Vote For

Professional spaces can be stunning, but amateur bedrooms tend to feel more relatableand sometimes more inspiringbecause they’re built with constraints.
Limited budgets force creativity. Odd architecture forces problem-solving. Real life forces function.
The best entries don’t pretend those constraints aren’t there; they use them as the design brief.

That’s also why voting is satisfying: you’re not just picking “prettiest photo.”
You’re rewarding ingenuity, restraint, and the rare talent of making a room feel both styled and truly lived in.

of Real-World “Voting & Bedroom” Experience (What You Notice When You Actually Pay Attention)

Here’s what tends to happen when people start “just voting for fun” and accidentally develop a design philosophy:
you stop looking at bedrooms as collections of stuff and start reading them as stories.
Not dramatic storiesmore like, “This person values quiet,” or “This person has guests and wants them to feel welcome,” or
“This person lives with a small child and has accepted the chaos but negotiated with it.”

The first scroll is usually emotional. You react to mood before you react to details.
A dark floor with pale walls can feel bold and grounding. A loft tucked under beams can feel like summer weekends.
A kids’ room with a DIY hideout can feel like a whole childhood memory, even if you’ve never met the kid.
That’s when you realize: the best bedrooms don’t just look goodthey promise a feeling.

The second scroll is where you become dangerously practical.
You start spotting the decisions that make the room work at 11 p.m.:
a reading light that won’t blind you, a nightstand surface that isn’t overcrowded, bedding that looks soft enough to forgive your entire week.
You notice how often “cozy” isn’t about buying new furnitureit’s about adding layers, softening light, and editing the visual noise.
You also start seeing the tiny, high-impact moves: wall-mounted lights that free up space,
mismatched nightstands that still feel cohesive because something else ties them together,
and the kind of storage that doesn’t scream “storage.”

Then the truly relatable part kicks in: you begin mentally redecorating your own bedroom.
Not in a “tear it down to studs” way, but in a “why is my nightstand a junk drawer with legs?” way.
Voting makes you curious about your habits.
Do you need the room to feel energizing in the morning, or cocooning at night?
Do you want your bedroom to be minimal because clutter stresses you out, or layered because you love texture and warmth?
Design awards are sneaky like thatthey’re not just aesthetic entertainment; they’re a mirror.

Finally, you start appreciating the amateur advantage: permission to be imperfect.
A reclaimed headboard, a repurposed duvet turned into a teepee, “found space” turned into a guest loft
these aren’t showroom moves. They’re human moves.
And when you vote for them, you’re not only choosing a winner; you’re endorsing a style of living that says,
“Make it work beautifully, with intention, and without waiting for some imaginary future budget.”
Which is, honestly, the most restful idea of all.