The sakura (cherry blossoms) are super late this year. Usually they are past their prime by now, but I would say today or tomorrow they will be reaching their peak. It feels as if they have waited – waited for people here in Japan to be ready to move forward and try to celebrate spring. There is definitely a sense that the wild o-hanami (blossom viewing) parties that usually happen will be out-of-place this year, but I think it is important to look for hope and renewal and nothing better represents that then the masses of blooms seen throughout the nation.

In honor of the season, I thought a would do a round-up of the prettiest pale pink bedrooms. I have to admit a weakness for the combination of the color with rich woods and lacy white fabrics. The pink itself needs to be soft and subtle, without any brightness or it will look like a child’s room covered in candy or bubble gum. The best pale pink paints have lots of grey pigment in them, like those from Farrow & Ball or a bit of a coral undertone to take away the sweetness.

The mosquito netting on the bed, the simple pom-pom trimmed curtains and the antique rugs combined with the fine Louis VXI furniture make Mihri Fenwick’s unpretentious bedroom in southwestern France one of my favorites.

Beverly Field has artfully added blue and white, in the form a dhurrie rug, porcelain lamp and pillow shams to her painted sleigh bed in her delightful pink bedroom.

On one side of the same room stands this amazing scrubbed pine Dutch chest which looks lovely against the pale pink of the wall. I love the formal shape made from such an informal material.

This room isn’t technically a bedroom, but it does have a day bed in it! And here you can see how lovely the pink looks with the dark Empire and Gothic Revival mahogany furniture.

Pink, as we all know, is the navy blue of India. This English country house makes great use of Indian printed textiles in collaboration with lacy white linens.

This bedroom uses exotic fabrics too, but has more of an old world faded glamour. Note the Empire dresser here as once again pink is a perfect foil for mahogany.

Sometimes, the prettiest pink bedrooms need little more than white to set them off, like these two by Philip Gorrivan and Sally Steponkus.

I love Haskell Harris’s bedroom because she has taken fairly ordinary furniture and accessories and grouped them in such as way as to make them all feel special. The pink is the unexpected backdrop that pulls it all together.

On the other side of her room the tall chest seems like a piece of furniture she inherited from her grandmother. While the big trend these days is to paint everything, I love the old fashionedness of the brown wood.

The inimitable Rita Konig seems to change her bedroom constantly, but she always finds the perfect feel for less than perfect spaces. Take a look at what a difficult space this was before she wallpapered it here. For other versions of her bedrooms (not pink) in different apartments, click here and here.

The aforementioned Rita Konig also wrote about what may be my favorite pale pink room ever, the bedroom of Marella Agnelli, in The Wall Street Journal. It has such perfect balance and I could stare at this room forever.

Instead, I am headed out to join my girlfriends at an evening o-hanami party in the park. There is nothing better than the real thing!

Related Post: Ume Blooming…Maybe Pantone Should Have Called Their Color of the Year Plum Blossom?

Image credits: 1. David Hicks tablescape via The Peak of Chic, 2. House Beautiful September 1996, photo credit: Elizabeth Zeschin, 2-3. House Beautiful April 1995, photo credit: Fran Brennan, 4. House Beautiful January 1994, photo credit: Lizzie Himmel, 5. House Beautiful September 1993, photo credit: Michael Dunne, 6. Elle Decor November 2009, photo credit: Miguel Flores-Vianna, 7. Philip Gorrivan, 8. Sally Steponkus, can’t remember where I got this from, 9 & 10. Southern Living, April 2009, photo credit: Charles Walton IV, 11. Domino Magazine, photo credit: unknown, 12. The Wall Street Journal, photo credit: Eric Bowman. 13. Carolyn Koshnick Photography