March is National Bed Month so celebrate by turning your bedroom into a super sanctuary. We’ve asked three designers to reveal their secrets for a beautiful bedroom

Rachel Ashwell

She’s the designer whose name is synonymous with the trend for ‘shabby chic’, an unpretentious laid-back living style she helped bring into vogue 20 years ago.

Ashwell favours a country look for a bedroom based around easy-on-the-eye soft, primitive colours.

“I love faded florals, with vintage scatter cushions on the bed for summer days, and like to conjure an eclectic, romantic, inviting and soft atmosphere,” she said.

“Traditional furniture, either in light or bleached wood or in distressed finishes in whites or greys, won’t dominate and will impart a tranquil feel.”

In her own bedroom she has plush silk curtains, a sparkling chandelier and a collection of photographs to inspire happy memories.

TOP TIP: Place an easy chair where you can sit and relax, and keep the bed as a separate zone for sleeping. Colours such as soft greys, pinks, blues, teals, taupes, ivory and whites are good choices for a peaceful setting.

Chrissie Rucker

The founder of the hugely successful The White Company believes the bedroom should be a sensual sanctuary where comfort reigns.

“The starting point for great quality bed linen is that it must be made from the best quality yarn. Once you've slept in fabulously smooth and luxurious, pure cotton – whatever the thread count – you'll never look back.

“Don’t be deceived into thinking that the higher the thread count the better the sheet, as different types of bed linen require different thread counts to produce the desired finished produc she points out.”

TOP TIP: In spring and summer a bedroom should be a cool, airy sanctuary with soothing scents.

“A softly scented bedroom is bliss. Lavender-based scents or light, floral-based scents such as rose or peony always work well. Flowers such as simple, white potted orchids also work well in bedrooms. Use pillow mist or linen spray to scent linen and a scented candle to help you unwind after a long day.”

Kylie Minogue

The singing star has her own collection of bed linen and says: “Bed should be a place for just two things – love and sleep.

“I’ve actually become a better sleeper than I used to be by doing the things you should do in bed rather than the things you shouldn’t, such as being on my laptop or watching TV.

“I love making beds with fresh linen – either from my At Home range or vintage – but I hate hospital corners. I like to be able to pull things around me.”

Minogue, who splits her time between London and Spain, where her partner Andres Velencoso is based, added: “Travel and vintage finds are my main inspiration for my bed linen designs.

“I have a gorgeous eiderdown from the 1930s that I found a couple of years ago on eBay, beautiful vintage fabrics I have owned for close to 20 years, a hand-painted book of Japanese kimono designs bought 10 years ago in Melbourne, and my focal point is the silk and crystal-studded panelled wall of my bedroom.”

TOP tip: Make your bedroom a place of refuge with lovely linen, throws and cushions. Banish TVs, computers, iPads and mobile phones, and run a hot bath with oil and scented candles to relax you before you turn in.