What's in a Bedroom? The English Words for Everyday Objects

We have already named the everyday objects in the kitchen and the bathroom. The last of the main rooms is the one where the day begins and ends: the bedroom. Here are the words for the things in it, in everyday American English, with the British terms you will also hear.

The bed

The soft, thick part you lie on is the mattress. Over it you pull a comforter (UK: duvet), a soft quilt filled with feathers or fiber. Your head rests on a pillow, which is slipped inside a pillowcase to keep it clean. The upright board at the top of the bed, behind the pillows, is the headboard.

Photo: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Beside the bed

Next to the bed stands a small nightstand (UK: bedside table), usually just big enough for a lamp to read by and an alarm clock to wake you in the morning.

Storing your clothes

Clothes that need to hang go in a closet (UK: wardrobe), each one on its own hanger. Clothes that fold, like sweaters and socks, go in a dresser (UK: chest of drawers); you pull open each drawer to reach what is inside.

At the window

And to keep the morning light out a little longer, you draw the curtains across, or lower a blind over the glass.

Photo: cogdogblog / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Put the words into play

That completes the tour of the home: kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. These are the quiet, everyday words that a textbook skips but real life never does. Open The Bedroom collection above, practice each one in a simple sentence ("Fluff up the pillow", "Lower the blind"), and they will be ready whenever you need them.