Kelly Hoppen reveals the 'controversial' cushion mistake that leaves your bed looking 'undressed'

Rethinking how you style your bedding can immediately transform your entire bedroom, but it's all too easy to get it wrong. Luckily, interior design icon Kelly Hoppen CBE has shared her foolproof tips and tricks for mastering the art of dressing the bed like a professional.

Whether you want to make your bedroom look like a luxury hotel or are looking for an easy way to elevate the space, styling your bed like an interiors expert is an everyday task worth mastering.

And who better to teach us how to perfect the bed dressing routine than interior design expert Kelly Hoppen? Sharing advice on her Instagram @kellyhoppen, Kelly walks us through correct pillow placement, decorative throws, and what should be on your bedside tables.

Aside from the bedroom layout rule all interior designers follow, your bedding is an important styling opportunity.

"My top tips for actually making a bed and how you do it, there are a couple of really important things that will help you when you’re dressing your bed. So, one way of doing your cushions is stacking them; these work best when you have a large sham in front because that will sit back," explains Kelly.

We know from reading Kelly's book, Essential Style Solutions for Every Home at Amazon, that in her professional opinion, a bed is not complete without the correct cushion formation.

She states, in her book: "Cushions can be controversial, but in my view, a bed looks undressed without them. A classic configuration is two large squares at the back, followed by two smaller squares with two rectangles in front."

"Showing you another one to give you an idea, so this is a taller sham as well, so you’ve got two very different sizes. That’s when the pillows look best stacked above," she adds.

It is, of course, dependent on your personal taste, and understanding this, Kelly offers up another way to style your cushions.

"If you want to, then do it a different way than with your pillows. You can do this where you’re actually stacking your pillows this way up instead. And that’s when a smaller cushion looks better in the front; if you have them the other way, they're going to come out," she shows.

No matter which way you choose, make sure you do the same on the other side. And Kelly also recommends adding a smaller decorative pillow in the middle to join the two.

Bedding is a great way to add personality to your home, so it's no surprise you'll want to show more of the set and not cover it with a throw.

"If you’ve got some of the plainer linen, then of course, put the throw over on the top. The other thing is that the bed is the biggest piece of furniture in your bedroom, remember that, so what you put on it will have the biggest impact," points out Kelly.

"Now, when you’re buying your bedding, if you’re going to spend the money buying something that’s got a beautiful stripe or a pattern on it, it’s a shame to cover it; it’s good to have it open and shown like this. You can play around with different lines and patterns on your bed, it’s much better then to have a throw at the end of your bed like this. If you already have one of the bed covers, you can always fold it over," she says.

"And that applies to what you put next to your bed, so you could have a really nice lamp. This is a tall bed and a four-poster; if you don’t have a four-poster but have a tall headboard, it’s better to have a higher lamp. Then it balances out, then you can have your flowers, which will be lower, and your scented candle, whatever things you want next to your bed," she says.

Adding one of your best scented candles to your space is the perfect way to finish off your bed dressing.

Along with owning some of the best bed sheets, knowing how to use them correctly can make all the difference in how your bedroom looks and feels.

If you want to really make sure your bed is looking the best it can, then Kelly recommends ironing your bedding before putting it on. While it might seem like a big task, it really does look fantastic in the long run.