From 'When Harry Met Sally' to 'The Darjeeling Limited', these are our favourite onscreen boudoirs.
8 of the Most Iconic Movie Bedrooms of All Time
From 'When Harry Met Sally' to 'The Darjeeling Limited', these are our favourite onscreen boudoirs.
Anyone looking for bedroom decor inspiration, have you tried looking on the big screen? As in, have you looked at some of your favourite movies recently? Because some of the best bedroom designs can be found in the movies you love, in particular the romantic comedies of the ‘90s we watch over and over again.
From the cosy bedroom in 'The Holiday' to the yellow-swathed boudoir in 'The Darjeeling Limited', these are some of our favourite bedrooms that have graced our screens over the years.
When Sally Met Harry
You know the drill: Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) have a love-hate, on-off friendship over the years of their 20s and 30s in New York City, without quite realising that they’re made for each other – until they do.
We love this movie, and we know you do too. It’s one of the best romantic comedies ever made for a reason, full of smart, witty dialogue, gorgeous New York scenery and great costumes. And there’s great design inspiration, too.
The late ‘80s, early ‘90s energy is gorgeous to look at, full of kitsch design elements in big New York lofts.
The best bedroom is the one belonging to Marie, Sally’s best friend, played by Carrie Fisher. We see it only briefly, but it makes a lasting impression: ombre silk headboard with honey wood paneling, looking down over a big, cosy bed, the kind of bed you want to spend a whole weekend in.
Pretty In Pink
Teen movies don’t get better than Pretty In Pink – which means Pretty In Pink offers up one of the best teen bedrooms we’ve seen onscreen.
Everything is pink, naturally, from the striped wallpaper to the retro candy floss-coloured phone. We particularly love the window sill nook, complete with lacy curtains, that Andie (Molly Ringwald) lounges on when dreaming up her fashion creations.
This is the perfect teen bedroom, which is befitting, because this movie is pretty perfect, too. If you haven’t seen it, it follows high schooler Andie, who is an outsider who mostly hangs out with her best friend Duckie when she’s not working at the record store, until she catches the eye of the gorgeous popular kid Blane (Andrew McCarthy), and their relationship begins to upend the social hierarchy of their high school.
The Darjeeling Limited
You know the bedroom: Natalie Portman, wrapped in a yellow dressing gown, relaxes under a yellow blanket in a bright yellow bedroom.
It has serious Turmeric or Limoncello Bed Threads vibes, and it’s a scene from Wes Anderson’s underrated The Darjeeling Limited, released in 2007 and starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman.
Much like Carrie Fisher’s bedroom in When Harry Met Sally, this scene only appears for a split second in The Darjeeling Limited but it’s perfect balanced colour palette and gorgeous design is enough to make it one of the best movie bedrooms of all time.
Later, director Anderson and stars Portman and Schwartzman revisited the tableau in their short film Hotel Chevalier, which all takes place inside the one bedroom.
The Holiday
How to pick a bedroom from this film? We really can’t choose between the cosy, English countryside cottage belonging to Kate Winslet’s character Iris – all exposed brick and tapestry quilt on the bed – or the palatial, modern spread in Malibu belonging to Cameron Diaz’s Amanda, with its blackout curtains and discreet furniture and super-soft neutral-coloured linen.
Both houses are beautiful, both houses look comfortable and lived-in, and both bedrooms look are exactly what we’re looking for when it comes to our own boudoir design: inviting, warm and relaxed.
Now excuse us while we activate our blackout curtains and sink into Cameron Diaz’s enormous, soft bed for a perfect night of sleep.
Marie Antoinette
Can we have a little moment for a fantasy? Because yes, we know that Marie Antoinette’s bedroom in Marie Antoinette is extremely extra (It’s in the literal Palace of Versailles, remember?).
But it’s also kind of amazing. Canopied four-poster bedframe, embroidered wallpaper, gold accents, absolutely huge room – enough to house many, many courtiers. And then there’s the double door windows that open up onto a balcony overlooking the gardens.
It might not be what you’re looking for in an everyday bedroom but you can’t deny its beauty, right?
Sex and the City
Carrie’s bedroom in Sex and the City is one of the all-time greats.
In the movies, they offer us a glimpse of a bedroom with Mr Big in their uptown apartment, but we’re still partial to her single gal flat and the open plan design, where the bedroom flowed seamlessly into both dressing room and living area, which in turn moved into kitchen and bathroom.
We just love this apartment and Carrie’s bedroom in it: full of light, simple, with a few shelves above the bed and a dressing table to one side for all of Carrie’s jewellery collection.
Over the years in the movies and, more recently, And Just Like That, the bedroom has been given a little bit of a design update and renovated for a modern audience, but we still love the original look in the first few seasons of the series.
Mamma Mia
A Greek island bedroom surrounded by big windows and painted a washed-out blue-lavender is exactly the kind of holiday house bedroom we’ve always dreamed of.
This is the bedroom belonging to Donna Sheridan (Meryl Streep) in Mamma Mia and, later, her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) in the sequel Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again. With plenty of beachside decor accents and motifs, the vibe is sun-drenched and relaxed, just like these wonderful movies.
You've Got Mail
Kathleen Kelly – played by Meg Ryan – has a beautifully welcoming apartment in You’ve Got Mail, one that we’ve always loved.
We love the brownstone facade on New York’s Upper West Side, we love the soaring bay windows and the walls of bookshelves and the squidgy furniture. And we especially love the bedroom, which we get to see quite a bit of in the film. Kathleen spends a lot of time in her bed sending emails to her anonymous pen pal (Tom Hanks), whom she doesn’t know is actually her business enemy, Joe Fox.
The bedroom is much like the rest of the apartment, soft and cosy, with wooden floorboards and a rustic bed frame and antique lamps and bedside tables and fresh flowers everywhere. It’s so inviting and warm, and we want to move in right now.
