Despite having a home he loved, artist and designer Josh Young found himself recently feeling blah about his bedroom. “Every apartment I’ve lived, I’d always put so much emphasis and effort into creating a beautiful living space and the dining room, I think, primarily for entertainment reasons,” he tells House Beautiful. “But just last year I kind of realized, you know, in reality, when my husband and I come back from work and we hang out, it’s usually in our bedroom. That’s where we watch movies, read, converse.”

When Josh started thinking about what a dream bedroom would look like, he immediately thought of a European luxury hotel. “I feel like whenever I’m in one of these more minimalist hotels, I really just want to spend time there,” explains Josh, who lived in Milan for several years before settling in Chicago. Of course, he was dealing with a small space in a Chicago apartment, not a Haussmanian building on a Parisian boulevard. But, with his passion for art and antique collecting plus his design savvy, he felt he could achieve the same vibe. And he did so using a somewhat unexpected resource: Williams-Sonoma.

“The juxtaposition of classical elements and modern day technique in my work really fits with their brand,” explains Josh, who had worked with the company on a few other projects before partnering with them to outfit his bedroom. “I’m all about bringing collected items into the home, and those items marry really well with their pieces.”

To keep from overwhelming the space, Josh opted for a neutral palette, selecting a black bed and white bench and secretary desk, both of which adhere to a clean, minimal base and save space. “I love color,” Josh says. “I’ve never been one to be scared of color. But for this space., I wanted to avoid that cluttered book, so I wanted to create that neutral palette, and be consistent with it throughout.”

When working with limited color options, visual interest falls more to texture, a concept that’s familiar to Josh as a painter. He filled the space with his own textural artwork, as well as work he’s collected, all in a variety of frames that stick to the palette but incorporate additional materials.

Behind the bed, he hung a curtain to soften the space, and he brought in a vintage column to make up for a lack of existing architectural detail. “Unlike our living room, which has the original, in the bedroom, really no architectural details remain the same from the building, which was built in 1920,” he explains. “So bringing in the column adds that.”

“The curtain is a funny story,” he adds. “Behind it is a completely awkward window that drove me nuts for years. You couldn’t ever center anything around it, and we never looked out of there anyway. So I’m like, why don’t we put a curtain in and make this as if it’s a solid wall?” The solution makes the most of the window’s light, while hiding its less than ideal appearance, casting a soft glow across the space. For all you know, you could be in Paris.

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Senior Editor Hadley Keller is a writer and editor based in New York, covering design, interiors, and culture.