Remember when I did that “working with what you have” series a while back? I thought it might be fun to revisit it and noticed that several readers had requested advice for working with a small bedroom.
Some of my very favorite rooms are small in size but are decorated “big.” Instead of going along with the scale of the room, it’s ignored in exchange for a bold idea, piece of furniture or paint color. While I’m not here to offer small space storage solutions (I’ll leave that to the experts), here are a few ways to make a big statement in a small space:
Think tall when it comes to your headboard. Even if your room isn’t big enough for a bed with a footboard, you can create the illusion of tall ceilings by using a taller backdrop for your bed. (Fabric-wrapped panels like these are easy and inexpensive to DIY and can be made as tall as you like.)
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Another option: save even more space by hanging a curtain rod above your bed and using a pretty, patterned blanket for a headboard.
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Put your color on the ceilings. For an extra-small room that might be overwhelmed and feel closed-in by color on the walls, paint them white and save the color for the ceiling instead.
Coastal Living
Think beyond your wall space. Bring your furniture arrangement out by layering it (i.e., a seating area or desk at the foot of the bed). Beds in front of windows can also work well. More examples of that here.
Hang a statement light over the bed. No room for a big chandelier in the middle of the room? Opt for a fun pendant or smaller-scale chandelier to hang over the headboard.
And, speaking of lighting, give up the table lamps. Free up space on your bedside table by using wall lamps instead. If you don’t want to commit to something that has to be hardwired, there are lots of great plug-in options. I’ve used these swing arm lamps in our house and ordered the cord covers to go with them.
Built-in storage around the bed might be a smart option. Bookcases around (and/or behind) the bed are a great way to maximize your storage and display in a small room. (And, of course, there are also a lot of good online tutorials floating around for how to take premade bookshelves and add trim to give them a custom built-in look while cutting some of the cost.)
I hate that I’m not able to give individual design advice via email, but if something has you stumped around your house, leave it in the comments, and I’ll try to tackle a few that may be helpful to many. You can read more of my “working with what you have” posts here.
As a small master bedroom owner I can relate and appreciate all of these great examples. I wouldn’t trade our ‘cozy’ master for anything.
I don’t blame you. We’ve had pretty good sized master bedrooms in all of our houses and truthfully, it’s kind of just wasted space. How much sitting does one actually do in a bedroom?! :) Or, maybe I just haven’t reached that point in my life yet…
Thanks! You just made me feel so much better about the wonderful house Im buying with a very small master bedroom!! I keep saying a large bd is such a waste!!
I always look forward to reading small space issues on shelter magazines. Love the idea of using a tapestry as a headboard.
Great post! I love our small, cozy master bedroom. I’m not much for wasted space although I wouldn’t mind if our living room could double in size!
I just wrote a post last week about how we are trying to work with our tiny closet and small-ish bedroom on our new house (http://craftivitydesigns.blogspot.com/2014/07/working-with-small-closet.html). One concept we really like is the idea of eventually replacing our dressers with wardrobes, since they use up vertical space, but not floor space. — much like the built-ins around the bed from Perfectly Imperfect. Great ideas in this post! It’s given me some more to think about :)
Great ideas. :) We have a pretty generous master, but I love having sconces instead of bedside lamps.
My suggestion for a “working with” series would be working with almond bath fixtures. That’s my current dilemma.
I second this one! They put white in all the public bathrooms and almond in the private ones– master and the shared jack&jill bath for our boys. So lame!
I would love advice on how to work with a fireplace that’s on a corner in the living room. I have no idea how the furniture placement should be.
I would love ideas with how in the world furniture placement should be for a dining room that has a fireplace that sits out from a corner of the room (it’s angled, facing out at the corner)
– Completely Stumped and Design Challenged in Texas
I second the corner fireplace issue! We have one in our large family room and I am stumped as to whether I face my chaise sofa towards the TV (which is on the wall to the right of the fireplace) or towards the fireplace (windows on the left of the fireplace). Would love your take!!
I also have a corner fireplace in my living room, and tried to arrange furniture using the fireplace as the focal point…but it never felt right. I hired a local decorator to come in and help me figure out furniture placement. Her advice? Ignore the fireplace! And it worked! I concentrated on a conversational seating arrangement and everyone that comes in my home mentions how comfortable and cozy my “designer living room” is. Go figure…
I love the textile hung above the bed. It’s gorgeous and makes a great focal point in a small room. However. am I the only one who thinks “boy that thing would get dusty right above my head!” Just keeping it real… :-)
Thanks so much, Emily for mentioning our light fixture in the bedroom…when I saw the headline of your post I thought “that’s what I was thinking for that room!” So, it was funny to see you thought so too! Love your idea of color on the ceiling…so smart and sconces instead of lamps.
Any tips for the seriously smaller side of rooms? Once our bed is in the far corner we’re left with only 2-3 feet around the 2 edges and are strugglingto make it feel relaxing as well as maximise our storage, we feel cluttered and claustrophobic!
Todas sus creaciones son un sueño
I have a living room with 11 ft ceiling. I need design ideas as this is new to me. Big artwork? Tall pieces? Just need suggestions. Not a large space – just tall ceiling.
Hi, this may help:
https://emilyaclark.com/2013/02/working-with-tall-ceilings.html
We use one of the smallest bedrooms in our house for a master bedroom, and I love how cozy it makes the room feel. I’ve been wanting to paint it black like the first image because I think that would really add to the jewel-box/cocoon feel I’m going for. Oh, and I was thinking I was so smart for hanging our wedding quilt over our bed to create that height and drama, until I realized this was first posted way back in 2014. :)
Any tips for working with fitted bedrooms. Our master bedroom has a white fitted wardrobe, cupboards over the bed and additional wardrobes and dressing table / drawers. we have improved the space. I swapped the old fashioned gold handles for funky bright ones. All different, in blue and grey tones. I keep looking for upcyling ideas re the fitted furniture but little inspiration found so far. I describe the furniture as like sleeping in a coffin. My husband says it is like sleeping in a caravan. we are lucky it is white………………..I would love to rip it out and start again. But we are still renovating other rooms and I don’t think funds will allow for a few years. The view of my friends varies from thinking I am crackers to want to get rid of the storage to thinking it is like a pensioners room (we bought the bungalow from a retired couple!). Help………….
I’m struggling with a narrow bedroom and knowing what to put at the wall facing the foot of the bed so it doesn’t look cluttered but I have space for storage. Right now from left to right you see the bedroom door, an old clothes hamper (HIDEOUS and makes me feel the room is dirty), dresser about 4.5 ft high (and any suggestions for how to nicely organize makeup or earrings in top if the dresser?) and a tufted purple armchair, then the window. I’m wondering if I should chuck it all and get a bigger/wider dresser to anchor the room, and replace the hamper with a designated drawer. I could try to configure more into my closet but not much. I like the idea of the arm chair and the window being a cute nook, but haven’t gotten the stuff together to do so yet. Any tips?
Excellent explanation. Anyone can easily comprehend since it’s simple & focused. Keep up the great work!