How To Ensure Your Bedroom Is A Sanctuary, According To Ashley Stark

PHOTO BY BRITTANY AMBRIDGE

Most of Ashley Stark’s 770,000 Instagram followers know her as the creative director of Stark carpets and owner of the fabric and wallcovering brand Scalamandré. Most aren’t aware that the design influencer lives with debilitating migraines. The busy mother of three recently renovated her townhouse on the Upper East Side and has become an expert in designing with this struggle in mind.

“I think your bedroom should be your sanctuary. Bright colors or lots of patterns can be triggering, so keep the room simple and textural—pale colors like light blue, whites and creams,” Stark suggests.

She installed motorized light-cancelling shades from Hunter Douglas and—to absorb sound—uses high-pile, wall-to-wall carpeting (from Stark, of course). She also finds hypoallergenic bamboo bedlinens helpful and gets her own custom made from Fine Linens.

But Stark does suggest against the inclination to design a dark bedroom, noting, “It’s hard to get up in the morning when you’re in a cave.”

PHOTO BY PATRICK CLINE