It’s the most personal space in your home, and also the place you’ll be spending most of your time in. But why is it that the room expected to hold the largest piece of furniture is often one of the tiniest?
A small bedroom can become a nightmare, but there are ways to pack plenty of style into your limited space.
Turn your snug little space into a dreamy retreat with these five tips:
Remove the Clutter
Whoever said the kitchen is the most important area in your home to keep clean, obviously never tried to fall asleep in a cluttered room. Honestly – who can lay their head down for a good night’s rest while they’re surrounded by a mess? Your bedroom it needs to be a peaceful place.
Start at your night tables and remove items that need to be trashed or recycled. Do the same for the tops of your dressers and other surfaces. Consider hidden storage spaces for those extra things you simply have to keep – like under your bed, or a shelf against the wall. Make your closet do all the hard work by hanging hooks against the doors or using baskets to separate your clothes. Tension rods are also a wonderful place to store shoes.
A Little Reflection, Please
Fake it ‘til you make it…Every bedroom needs a mirror anyway, but a few more reflective surfaces go a long way in making your small bedroom look a lot bigger – a classic trick that works every time.
Use mirrored closet doors, ornate mirrors over the dresses, small mirrors grouped on a wall or even chrome-finished lamps and accessories. All of these will bounce light around, tricking the eye into thinking a room is bigger than it is.
Vertical Thinking
The best-designed rooms – large or small – have one thing in common: They don’t let vertical space go to waste. Where there isn’t much floor space, walls become an integral part of the décor solution. Vertical spaces are perfect for that extra storage we were talking about earlier — and this is where you can get creative. Use ladder shelves to stack your stuff in reachable places or corner shelves to house some framed pictures and other personal things. If possible, you can also use a bunk bed to use the space above your head more effectively.
Embrace the Light
The whiter the room is, the lighter and fresher it seems. However, your room doesn’t need to be completely washed of colour. Soft neutrals will add just the right amount of warmth, or try white mixed with one bright or mid-tone colour.
But the light-factor doesn’t stop there. Adding plenty of light sources is key to keeping the room from feeling dark and claustrophobic. Use decorative overhead lighting (this is a great way to use headspace), mounted bedside lamps, a floor lamp, and even reading sconces to add to the ambience. Keep window treatments to a minimum to ensure you make the most of natural light.
Choose a Focal Point
A headboard seems like the obvious choice here – and that’s great if you can use it for extra storage space (and you’ve kept it in proportion). However, if your headboard isn’t fulfilling any of these functions – get rid of it. Replace it with something more personal, like statement art, to create an eye-drawing focal point that detracts from the size of your bedroom. You can also create a focal point with a wall-papered feature wall – this is especially good in a narrow room.
Dreaming about the perfect bedroom? No matter how big or small, the experienced home décor specialists from Design and Decor Lab (DDL) will help you bring out the most potential in your boudoir. You can also visit their showroom in Kramerville, Sandton for bedroom accessories and custom-made furniture that’s perfectly suited to your taste and space.
For more information on full-service décor and design services, or to schedule a private consultation, visit www.ddl.za.com.
