Boudoir

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Illustration of a boudoir, furnished in the style of Louis XVI, by Frederick Litchfield, from Illustrated History of Furniture, From the Earliest to the Present Time (1893).

A boudoir is a lady's private bedroom, sitting room or dressing room. The term derives from the French verb bouder, meaning "to pout"¹.

Historically, the boudoir formed part of the private suite of rooms of a lady, for bathing and dressing, adjacent to her bedchamber, being the female equivalent of the male cabinet. In later periods, the boudoir was used as a private drawing room, and was used for other activities, such as embroidery or entertaining intimate acquaintances.

In Caribbean English a boudoir is the front room of the house where women entertain family and friends.

Latterly, the term boudoir has come to denote a style of furnishing the bedroom that is traditionally described as ornate or busy. The plethora of links available on the internet to furnishing sites using the term boudoir tend to focus on Renaissance and French inspired bedroom styles. They have, in recent times also been used to describe the 'country cottage' style with whitewashed styled walls large heavy bed furniture and deep bedding.

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Boudoir

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