Whether you're stuck within the confines of a city centre apartment or want to join the hype and reduce your carbon footprint with a smaller living space, we're here to help you. Fear not! All is not lost with a small bedroom.
Here are 8 amazing fool-proof ways to make a tiny room more spacious, from tricks of the eye to savvy storage techniques. Are you ready to get inspired? Then, let's get into it.
Tips to add ways to space in a small bedroom
1. Let in the light by opening your curtains
One of the most effective and easiest ways to expand your space is simple – open those curtains! In fact, consider getting rid of your curtains and any upholstery around the window area. Opt for some shutter blinds or braving the bare will introduce plenty of natural daylight into your home. If you prefer the introverted technique of curtains closed with cosy lighting and lamps, the chances are your bedroom will look much smaller. It's all to do with balancing and reflecting light.
Natural light brightens the room whilst a lack of curtains creates the illusion of a bigger room – win! Each to their own, but natural light is necessary to create a more spacious living area! Don't worry; you can still get cosy with ambient lighting as and when you want with this quick and easy home transformation, you're not making any major adjustments, just letting a little light in. Who knew it would be so easy to change the size of your living space?
2. Trick the eyes with mirrors
Mirrors are for more than just staring at your face - professional interior designers frequently use them to transform smaller rooms into an expanded space. It's all to do with a trick of the eye – mirrors create the illusion of a space almost doubling in size with the correct mirror and placement.
Mirrors have found their place in modern interior design, with many homes taking advantage of their space-expanding properties. A mirror feature wall, a collection of wall mirrors and even mirrored furniture can be incorporated into any bedroom to create a more spacious environment.
Mirrors are not just a space-maximising trick of the eye but also reflect light to brighten your home for a cleaner and roomier one. Mirrored features are perfectly partnered with spotlights and windows to add extra light and make any room look fresh from an interior design magazine! With the endless designs and variations of mirrors and mirrored furniture available on the market, you can really get creative with this space-expanding technique!
3. Reduce floor space with secret storage
We cannot stress enough how important the role of storage is in achieving a spacious and tidy bedroom. We're not talking about your average bulky wardrobe and chest of drawers combo; we're referring to savvy and stylish storage solutions that are so convenient that they don't even take up any floor space. For compact living spaces, discrete and multi-purpose storage systems are necessary for a bigger home with plenty of room to roam around.
There's no better way to subtly add extra storage to a small bedroom than an ottoman bed. Combining two pieces of furniture in one can finally say goodbye to bulky wardrobes taking up too much space in your bedroom. For kids and teenagers, there are also plenty of cabin beds with built-in storage, with some of our mid-sleeper beds featuring drawers and desks, and some high-sleeper beds even have built-in wardrobes!
4. Keep your colours simple
How you decorate your living space with a small home is vital in the size it will appear. For example, filling will make it look more crowded and smaller. Leave the excessive patterns to the larger homes and keep it simple and incredibly stylish by using plain upholstery throughout your home.
This choice will make your home appear more spacious and expanded, and the simple designs also introduce a modern theme. Simple and elegant upholstered designs can still be cosy; with the right colours and accessories, you could achieve a spacious illusion with a welcoming feel – plain upholstery with statement cushions such as fur textures are highly contemporary and add a cosy finishing touch to your new expanded living space. Less is definitely more in modern interior design, with endless stunning upholstery colours to choose from to get creative. We love a good grey bed as a basis of any bedroom scheme, and white beds offer a modern minimalist touch.
5. Rugs can be your best friend
Many underestimate the power of a rug. The size, colour, and placement of this furniture can make or break your home, with specific requirements needed to suit those wanting to make their home appear larger or smaller. The size of a rug is vital. A rug that is too small can create an unwelcoming aura in a room, whereas a rug that's too large can make the room appear dramatically smaller.
A good-sized rug placed in the centre of the room could expand your living space. Make sure the rug is not touching any furniture items as this will make your home look overcrowded and smaller (extra tip: visible legs on furniture items such as beds and sofas create the illusion of a bigger floor space).In terms of design, you want to select light and brightening colours for the perfect rug for a small home, as dark colours tend to absorb light and create the illusion of a smaller home. Think whites, neutrals, pastels and other stylish light tones to transform your home into a cosy yet ample living space!
6. Incorporate hard-working headboards
As we saw with the ottoman beds, incorporating storage into your bed frame is an excellent way of saving space and eliminating the need for excess furniture; after all, the ultimate tip for a larger bedroom is to have less furniture!
Many headboards have internal shelving included to offer a savvy storage space while using the same floor room. The days of bedside furniture are dead, with shelving and drawers and every storage feature you could think of now being designed into a space-saving bed frame. The most tidy, organised (and, of course, spacious) bedrooms will undoubtedly have some form of savvy bed frame that allows them to store or display items to get rid of the out-of-date storage furniture that has cluttered up smaller homes for too long.
Alternatively, if a shelved headboard isn't quite your style and takes up too much space, you might want to eliminate the headboard altogether! Many divan beds can be bought without a headboard, and the lack of a headboard will make the space above your bed appear bigger!
7. Paint with bright colours
When planning the colour scheme for your compact home, think bright, white and eye-catching, not dark, gloomy and busy. The theme and colours you choose to fill your bedroom shape your room's appearance. Opting for plenty of white tones with pastels and neutrals helps design a modern two-tone theme and brighten up your home to create a more spacious environment.
As mentioned earlier, natural light and simple upholstery designs are essential to a more spacious bedroom. If you want your bedroom to appear bigger, avoiding dark colours and busy patterns is always a good place to start. Incorporate some light tones and white shades into your home and instantly see a more spacious environment; truly the cheapest home expansion you could ever come across!
8. Try the New York City method
Last but not least: when designing a bedroom, think outside the box. Forget the conventional idea of a bedroom needing a bed, wardrobe and drawers. Bedrooms don't have to look the same anymore! You can really get creative with how you style your bedroom. Whatever you choose, your design will reflect your personality and look incredible. Whilst the previous tips are effective methods of expanding space, designing a personal bedroom is essential for a pleasant living environment. Banishing the idea of an outdated and conventional bedroom layout could work in your favour, particularly for smaller homes.
We know unique creativity is easier said than done, so if you're struggling for inspiration, we'd recommend taking some inspiration from The Big Apple! Many New York City apartments (known for their tiny size) have quirky layouts to improve their available space. Think loft beds, rolling ladders and savvy studio spaces. A city of artists and creatives can inspire you to transform your boring and crammed bedroom into a cleverly designed and spacious home! After all, it is not about the size and structure of the apartment; it's how you choose to utilise the space available.
Interior design is all about making your mark on a building to make a house a home. Fill your living space with important things and styles suited to your personality; after all, no one will be there more than you. Whether it's an all-white pristine bedroom with matching furniture or a unique theme of an array of pastel colours to create a pleasing rainbow bedroom – the choice is entirely up to you. Every house is different; it's up to you to make it a home.
