Brick Wall Bedroom Ideas: Color, Layout and Styling

A brick wall already does most of the work in a bedroom. Your job is to balance its texture and warmth: keep the bed on the brick wall, pair it with soft fabrics and warm light, and choose a calm color for the walls around it.

If you have exposed brick and aren't sure what to do with it, don't worry. These ideas cover color, paint or no paint, bed placement, materials, lighting and a few fixes for the usual problems (dust, echo, a wall that feels too heavy).

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What color goes best with a brick wall?

Brick sits in the warm range: reds, oranges and browns. That gives you three easy directions.

• Warm and layered: terracotta, rust, caramel and warm wood. Cozy, a bit dark, very inviting.
• Soft and neutral: off-white, beige and warm gray on the other walls and bedding. The brick becomes the one loud element in a quiet room.
• Cool contrast: deep green, muted blue or navy in the bedding or an accent chair. Cool tones sit opposite red-orange, so each makes the other look richer.

Test swatches next to the brick and look at them in morning and evening light. A north-facing room makes everything cooler and grayer, so a neutral that looks creamy in the store can turn flat beside red brick.

Should you paint or whitewash the brick?

Natural brick gives you warmth and history. A white brick wall bedroom feels brighter and more modern, and it helps in a small or dim room. Whitewashing (thinned paint that lets some brick show through) keeps the texture and softens the color. A full coat of deep paint feels dramatic and snug, but it makes the room look smaller.

Painting is hard to undo, because brick is porous and holds paint. As an architect, I'd test a small hidden patch first and live with it for a few days. If the brick is old and crumbly, ask a local mason about sealing it before you paint or leave it bare.

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Where should the bed go?

If the brick wall is the longest one, make it the headboard wall. Center the bed on an uninterrupted stretch so the room reads as symmetrical and calm. Wall-mounted sconces on either side keep the nightstands small.

• Leave about 24-30 inches of clear walkway around the bed.
• In a small room, pulling the bed a few inches off the wall makes space for a sconce cable and keeps pillows from scraping rough brick.
• Putting the bed opposite the brick works too. You see the texture from bed, and a large mirror or art on the facing wall balances it.

In a larger bedroom, a chair and small table near the brick make a reading corner that shows off the surface.

How do you make a brick wall more attractive?

Brick is busy, so give it fewer, larger things. A few oversized pieces of art read from the bed, while small frames get lost in the mortar lines. Hang them with masonry anchors, not nails.

Other things that help:

• An upholstered headboard softens the edge between brick and bed.
• A leaning mirror bounces light and doubles the visual depth of the room.
• Pothos or a snake plant on a shelf adds green against the red. If you have a dog or cat, check any plant with your vet or a pet-toxicity list first.
• Smooth plaster or matte paint on the adjacent walls makes the brick look chosen instead of leftover.

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Which materials and finishes pair well?

Rough next to smooth is the principle. Linen sheets, a wool throw, velvet cushions and a thick rug all calm the brick's hard edge. Warm woods such as oak or walnut echo its tones, brushed brass keeps the warmth going, and matte black fixtures give a modern brick wall bedroom a sharper look.

Repeat one material in a few places (a wooden bench, picture frames, bedside tables) and add one surprise, like a woven headboard. That keeps the room from looking like a catalog page.

Brick and sound

Hard surfaces reflect sound, and brick is hard. Rugs, curtains and an upholstered headboard absorb some of the echo, which helps a bedroom feel quieter.

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What lighting works best on brick?

Warm bulbs (about 2700-3000K) bring out brick's color, while cool white makes it look dull and gray. Layer three sources: a dimmable ceiling light, reading sconces, and a picture light or small uplight that skims the wall. Light that hits brick at a low angle throws tiny shadows into the mortar joints and emphasizes texture. For more on this, see our guide to bedroom lighting.

Can faux brick look as good as the real thing?

Good faux brick wall ideas include thin brick veneer and panels. They're lighter, usually cheaper, and easier in rooms where the structure can't take real brick. Real brick has more depth and mass, so it handles sound better. Pick faux if budget or weight is the limit, and look at samples in your own light before you buy.

If you like the look in other rooms, our modern brick wall living room post shows how it translates, and a wood accent wall is a useful alternative to compare.

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Keep trends in the small stuff

Painted brick, mixed-material headboards and black fixtures are popular right now. I recommend putting trends into pillows, lamps and art, which are cheap to swap, and keeping the bed, bedding and flooring simple and durable.

Frequently asked questions