Ideas for a zen room Posted by Another Boo Boo by Bachie , Friday, July 24, 2009 at Friday, July 24, 2009, in Labels: decor, DIY, home renovation

Life has been quite crazy lately ever since Dad was diagnosed with cancer. Other than work and a lot of house-hunting, I have been running to and fro the hospital. Dad has already been discharged. He is being treated with continuous chemotherapy at home followed by a weekly bout of chemo. In addition to the weekly Friday visits to the hospital, we need to go there on random days for scans, consultation by doctors etc etc. Thanks to my employer, they have been quite understanding towards my situation at home. Even though I'm in a regional role, they allowed me to be grounded in July, just to take care of things at home. Without their support, I think I might have collapsed. I have somewhat gotten used to our new schedule. Come August, I will start flying around for work otherwise it will surely be affected.

Two weeks ago, someone from the forum asked if I could help redesign her study room into a bedroom. She wanted the Zen look so I started researching online for ideas. Pardon me if my idea sucks. After all, I'm not professionally trained. I basically just take ideas from other people's work and put them together.



Here it is:

She told me that the dimensions of her room is 120" by 210" - very huge considering that it's a HDB room. I have drawn up a sample floor plan but since I can't upload excel file here, I shall use photos to illustrate my thoughts.

I like it that the user's room is huge. It is a perfect room to make it hotel like.

I suggest to include a sofa in the room so that user can hang out with her friends inside. This picture totally illustrates my idea on how the sofa and bed should be placed.





However, I don't like the abstract image that forms the headboard of the bed. Instead I suggest to have one of these wall decals pasted over the painted walls. These decals are available on ebay singapore. They cost about $20 each which are very affordable in my opinion.







The end result could look like this. If user likes the look of the 3 square red paintings, they can easily be reproduced in her personal favourite colours. Just go to Artfriend in Takashimaya or Bras Basah and look for framed canvas. It should costs around $10 each. Then buy a very small can of normal wall paint in the chosen colour and start painting. Depth and texture can be added to the painting with acrylic paint in another colour.



Here's an idea of what should be displayed on the bedside table to enhance the Zen look and feel.






Instead of having two typical bedside tables, one of these shelves which is available from Ikea can be installed at the side to add more space for candles and an orchid plant.



Since the user is still a student, a study table and a lot of bookshelves would definitely be useful and necessary. Even after the user graduates, a mirror can always be added to turn the study table into a dressing table. I couldn't find any zen study room as reference but user can take ideas from the placement of the furnitures. Colours and furniture choice can always be zen-like.







Some cheap Zen like furnitures from Ikea.





As for the wardrobe, I think as long as they're dark and simple, they are quite zen like. They can be found either on ebay singapore or Ikea. If possible, get a wardrobe that is almost as high as the ceiling. This not only creates more storage space but also makes the room feel condo-like.












To enhance the polished hotel look, a contractor can be engaged to install L-shape box with downlights. I highly recommend this. It may costs quite a bit though.

Do you have other ideas to add? Please feel free to contribute. :)