By: Nicole Harris
For many renters, small bedrooms are a common challenge when it comes to styling their space. If you own an older home, perhaps you also know the pain of a very small bedroom. In these tight spaces, choosing appropriate furniture and decor becomes vital to creating a warm and relaxing place to rest your head after a long day.
Read below for our simple tips for choosing your staple bedroom pieces.
Choose appropriate sized furniture
The best way to make use of a tight space is to use the appropriate size of furniture. For smaller rooms, opt for a full or queen bed instead of a king. A king bed will eat the room, for a lack of better term, and leave little space for other necessary furniture pieces like nightstands or a dresser. By opting for these smaller beds, you will have plenty of space for walking, making the space feel larger and not too stuffed.
After choosing your bed, the next important piece within a bedroom is your nightstands. Choose nightstands that are not bulky. While it might be tempting to choose a pair of nightstands that are oversized, allowing for more storage space, these will likely make your space feel smaller and less inviting. Instead, opt for smaller nightstands, even if they are non-standard sized. Look for ones on taller legs with a lower shelf instead of all drawers. You can also choose something completely unique like a stool instead of traditional nightstand. Small end tables can also work wonderfully. Consider how you plan to use the nightstand when deciding. Do you need a drawer for small items you like to keep nearby the bed? Or would a round end table with no drawer work better for you?
As for dressers, opt for a tallboy instead of a lowboy. Tallboys take advantage of vertical space, while still offering plenty of room for your clothing. Be sure to measure drawer depths when you purchase one, however, to ensure they are deep enough to fit your pants and shirts.
Keep furniture away from the corners
Avoid placing your bed in a corner or with the side against one wall. You want to create alleyways between each side of the bed. By placing your bed with only the headboard against the wall, you instantly create the illusion of more space. This also makes it easier to climb in and out of the mattress.
If the room is still too small for a full mattress to float away from the corners, try a daybed (see below). A daybed is meant to fit into tighter spaces with one long side against a wall. With a three-sided bedframe (a daybed frame), this placement looks natural and inviting.
Be thoughtful when choosing wall decor
While wall decor might not be one of the first things you think of when you are starting to style a small bedroom, it can be an important part of making the room feel more spacious. Start with mirrors. Mirrors give the illusion that the space is larger than it actually is. One large mirror in a bedroom can make a huge difference in how the space is perceived.
With that in mind, choose a large piece of art to hang above the bed, rather than a few smaller ones. This tricks the eye into thinking the walls are longer. If you don't like large art pieces, or maybe it isn't in your budget, you could always incorporate a gallery wall featuring several smaller pieces of art. This can have a similar effect.
Scale your rugs to the room size
Similar to furniture, your rugs should mimic the scale of the room. For any bedroom, rugs shouldn't be within 16 inches of the walls. With this in mind, a rug can help anchor the room and add dimension. When choosing a rug, opt for low pile option. When you are working with a small space, every inch counts.
Make the most out of your small room
The best thing you can do to furnish a small bedroom is to choose appropriate sized furniture. Following this one piece of advice can help you set up your space to be relaxing and restful, while not feeling overstuffed. Start with your bed, and then find other pieces that fit the space while still offering you room to store things like clothing.