Image credit: The Painted Furniture Company
Whether it’s your own bedroom or a guest bedroom that's on the small side, finding a home for everything can be a struggle.
From bedlinen to books, sweaters to shoes, most of it needs to be hidden away so you can snooze in peace. But if your floor space is limited or your room height below average, how do you fit it all in?
The good news is, with clever expert advice and savvy storage solutions, small bedroom storage can still look stylish.
If there was ever a lesson in maximising on storage, this room would be teacher’s pet. Top marks go to the clever positioning of the bed and the storage running above.
A daybed with drawers adds to the storage capacity, while the cupboards above and around the bed create a cosy cocoon and provide a home for clothing.
A small, drop-leaf dressing table (with extra side surfaces) creates a multi-purpose space for dressing, crafting or even working from home, while smaller side tables scattered around provide extra homes for books, magazines or somewhere to display treasured décor.
The large dormer windows mean there’s even room for the addition of a comfy chair. In fact, we’re hoping for an invitation to stay very soon, as this would rank highly on our gorgeous guest room list.
Although you may be able to do without certain pieces of furniture in a bedroom, a bed is not one of them. Therefore, storage and comfort need to come high on your list of requirements for smaller bedroom purchases.
Patricia Gibbons, from the team at Sofa.com, works on creating furniture that meets this brief. “When it comes to bedrooms, a clutter-free space should be a priority,” she says.
“Consider designs that incorporate storage, such as beds, which can help you stay organised and keep your floor clutter free.”
This Sunday Double Divan Bed from Sofabed.com is a great choice for maximising space, in style.
Which design you choose depends on your needs, explains Gibbons.
“For everyday access, a divan style is best as its drawers are easily get-at-able for daily needs. But if your requirements are for seasonal change-overs of clothing, or duvets and blankets, then an ottoman bed is the one for you,” she says.
“The hidden storage uncovered is vast and can hold countless sets of bedding and suitcases. you wouldn’t want to be lifting it up and down on too regular a basis,” she adds.
For a classically stylish ottoman, opt for an upholstered base to soften your surroundings. This will be gentler on your legs if there’s limited space to walk around the bed. Also make sure you choose one with a gas-lift mechanism so that it's easy to open and close.
Need wardrobes, bedside tables, and a home for your books but only have one free wall?
Call in the bespoke storage experts for a stylish and practical solution. Trained to recognise opportunities where others only see blank walls, a combination of the right sizes and effective designs can result in miracles.
In this design, a false wall behind the bed houses slimline storage for shoes, bags and accessories, flanked by deeper wardrobes either side.
“When it comes to bedroom storage, our individual needs are unique,” says Rachal Hutcheson, national retail manager at Sharps.
“The most practical solutions depend on the type of items you’re looking to store and ultimately the space available in your bedroom to accommodate these.
“Small bedrooms often need creative solutions to make the most of every inch of space.” She adds that when done correctly, bespoke storage can “provide twice as much space as freestanding wardrobes.”
Instead of using a busy design with intricate detailing or handles, handle-free doors and a colour matched to the wall paint will help your storage blend effortlessly into the room.
Hutcheson’s top tip for choosing the internal design of your wardrobes is to think about how you dress and what you wear. The beauty of fitted wardrobes, she says, is in the options available to you.
“Consider curved corner rails, pull-out trouser rails, and pull-down hanging rails to ensure your wardrobe is as efficient as it can be.
Even if custom-made cupboards are out of budget, clever storage doesn’t need to be out of reach. It’s simply a case of choosing the right furniture range so that everything has a space.
By picking furniture in one material and style, you can fake a bespoke look and make a room feel bigger than it is through that design cohesion. Traditional wooden designs, such as this Shaker-style range, are a savvy solution for combining an excellent quality finish with a modern-day design approach to meeting a family’s storage needs.
From the neat little bedside table with a space for your books to the bed with drawers or the smart compact footstool that doubles up as a tray, this room is bountiful in both aesthetics and accessible storage spots.
If your bedroom doubles as a dressing or reading area and you’re not prepared to use the bed instead of a seat, make your resting place work extra hard by choosing a seat with ottoman-style storage.
Perfect for storing winter woollies or spare sets of bedding, if you find one with a pattern you love, it can also be a starting point for deciding how to decorate a bedroom.
If you do need to open and close it regularly, you may want to consider picking a design that’s just as stylish without extra scatter cushions, so you don’t have to remove them every time you need to open it.
If space is even tighter or your bedroom has to double up as a work-from-home space, Gibbons also suggests you “look to storage benches and ottoman footstools that sit at the end of the bed to quickly stash away laptops and chargers.”
This will help you to “reclaim the space as one fit for relaxation in the evenings.”
We love this design, which features a fold-down flap and a drawer underneath the smaller top-opening section, making it perfect for laptops, electronics and jewellery boxes.
Although it’s unlikely you'll travel to Narnia when you open your wardrobe door, if your small bedroom storage is limited to a built-in single cupboard, don’t dismiss the door when selecting storage.
As the clever use of these pegboards from storage afficionado Ikea demonstrates, hidden storage can find a home in unexpected places.
Although over-the-door hooks are an alternative option, they can limit you to only being able to store items suitable for hanging, such as scarves, coats or bags.
Using a pegboard design, so you can add storage pots, trays and hooks, gives you greater opportunity to store shoes, jewellery, belts and ties.
If your guest room is only frequented by short-stay guests, and you’d prefer to avoid adding a wardrobe to keep the space feeling light and airy, take advantage of a high ceiling and hang a peg rail that spans the width of the room.
As well as providing enough space for guests to hang their clothes for an overnight stay, when not in use, it’s a great place to display photos, framed artwork or seasonal wreaths.
We also love how this room’s designer has made the most of a large, recessed window with a shelf that can be used to display plants and other decorative items. It means you can still display your aesthetic style without taking up additional floor space.
It may only take up a small amount of floor space next to your bed, but there’s no reason why your bedside table idea isn’t one that has a starring storage role.
As this model proves with its five storage spots, size isn’t everything. From the top resting place to two internal shelves, a drawer and the space underneath, it’s an organiser’s heaven.
It provides ample space for stashing away everything from books to jewellery, while still leaving room for your bedside light and refreshing glass of water.
If you are dealing with lower ceilings, or converting an attic space into a bedroom, a storage solution known as a gentleman’s chest may be the perfect solution.
Often giving the appearance of a chest of drawers they open to reveal a handy rail that’s the perfect height for shirts, trousers or skirts.
When placed neatly placed side by side, they may not be able to house your longer dresses or coats but they will provide you with sufficient storage for everyday items and are another great option if your smallest bedroom is your guest room.
Last, but not least, we come back to the central item of any bedroom – the bed. And while we may have covered underneath storage, let’s not forget the head of the bed.
As Gibbons says: “Your bedroom should be a cosy room designed for relaxation and winding down.” The key to achieving this she adds, “is to avoid having too much furniture and make sure you have multifunctional pieces that work extra hard to keep the clutter at bay.”
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