8 Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Decorating a small bedroom can be challenging for even the most experienced interior designers. No one wants to feel cramped up in a room that’s intended for rest and relaxation. But unless you knock down a wall, it can feel like there’s little that can be done to improve the situation.

Fear not. With a little outside-the-box thinking, you can make a room look more spacious, and in fact create more space. This blog post features 8 ideas for you to try.

Make a small room seem more spacious

If you’re decorating a small bedroom, then you need to attempt the impossible - make the room seem more spacious than it is. Believe it or not, there are a number of clever visual tricks you can do to make your small room feel much bigger than it is.

Use contrasting light and dark colours

White walls are always a safe bet when it comes to decorating. In small rooms, white walls open the space and make it look bigger. If you want to add depth and variety to the space, use contrasting dark colours to add accents and features.

For example, you can turn one wall into a plain or striped feature wall. Horizontal stripes along tall wall will lengthen the room while or vertical stripes up and down shorter walls helps give the illusion of extra height.

Add a large mirror

The reflection of the room gives the illusion that the room extends beyond the small space. You can add a large mirror on its own or attached your wardrobe. The mirror will also reflect light helping to make the room brighter and appear bigger.

Add floor-to-ceiling curtains or do away with them completely

Curtains can be a tricky feature to get right. Common mistakes when hanging curtains include placing the curtain rod too low and having short curtains. In a small bedroom, using long curtains can help to make a room look taller. Therefore, you'll need to pay attention to the rod placement and curtain length.

Alternatively, you can do away with curtains completely and instead fit a blind which perfectly fits the window. This is good for especially small rooms where you are going for a minimalist design whereas curtains can feel bulky in a cluttered space.

Choose furniture with raised legs and see through features

“See through features” refers to pieces which are not entirely solid, but instead have gaps which allow you to see some of the space on the other side of the furniture.

Raised furniture and see through features allow more light to flow freely and makes your small bedroom airier and your furniture appears less bulky. A raised bed offers underneath storage space which comes in handy when as one our recommendations is below to declutter your room.

Maximise the space in the room

Visual tricks aside, there are also a number of things you can do to get the most of the space in the room. Here are four ideas.

Push the bed against the corner

This one may not be popular with adults but if you can only fit a single bed or small double bed in your room, then this layout is a good option. You'll have more walking space and you’ll be able to fit a small wardrobe in the room as well. Just use the above tricks to try and make the room look bigger and choose sophisticated high-quality furniture to give the room a more ‘grown-up’ feel.

Declutter and keep furnishings to a minimum

Less is more when it comes decorating an exceedingly small bedroom. Keeping the room clear of clutter will free up more space in the room. Try going for a minimalist design by having just enough of what you need and no more! 

Remember earlier when we said your bed should be raised? Well, now you can use the space under the bed to neatly store your shoes, off season clothes, or any other clutter which you're not willing to part with just yet. Be sure to use storage boxes and baskets with lids to keep the dust off your stored possessions.

Add wall mounted furniture and fittings

Using wall mounted fittings will help to keep the floor clear and provide more walking space. For example, you can do away with side tables, floor lamps, bookshelves and even full length wardrobes by adding wall mounted lamps, floating shelves and side tables, and wall mounted cupboards over your bed to make use of the upper space in the room. If you have a TV in room as well, go on and mount it onto the wall instead of bringing in a bulky TV stand.

Avoid platform beds

Platform beds, particularly the designs which extend wider than the mattress and usually sit flush on the floor are not recommended for small spaces. For starters, they break one of our rules above, choosing furniture with raised legs. 

But the cardinal sin of platform beds is the that they take up precious walking space and you will stub you toes and shins on those corners more times than you can count. Yes, they seem like a good idea and aesthetically, a platform bed looks good if you have large room; but trust us on this one, your toes and shins will thank you.

These are just a few practical and applicable ideas you can use to make your small bedroom look bigger and save space. Some ideas may not be popular, like pushing the bed into the corner - what am I, a university student? - but when you're working with an extremely small space, you have to make the most of every inch of space. We hope you've found these tips useful. Check out our range of oak bedroom furniture and see if you can make the most of your small space with high quality solid wood pieces.