Moving can be exciting, fun, and stressful all in one! This is especially true when you are moving to a new place that you will have to furnish yourself. But if you have never furnished a small bedroom before, this might leave you wondering just how to do so.
Furnishing a small bedroom is different that furnishing almost any other space, with it’s unique set of challenges, including letting go of certain things you think you can’t go without. But with a little creative thinking, and our help, it can be done! So if you’re ready to learn how to furnish a small bedroom, then keep reading.
Start By Making a Plan
Just like everything else in your life, furnishing a small bedroom will be much easier if you start with a plan that has already been drawn out. And because the bedroom is small, you will also want this plan to include measurements.
When furnishing a small bedroom, you will want to start by measuring each side of the room, as well as the closet. This way, you will know exactly how much space you are dealing with as you shop.
Additionally, it can help draw out how you think you might want your room to look in advance. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a rough idea of all the items you would like to include in the room. This will help you to stay on track as you shop and be sure that you get all the items you need for your room.
You can check out my playlist on bedroom organizing with a focus on saving space to get started.
Consider a Smaller Bed
The hard thing about a small bedroom is that there often isn’t anything you can do to increase the space—instead, you have to work with the space you have. This can direct your furniture buying process.
While buying furniture for your small bedroom, you should consider purchasing a smaller bed. This will help you to save space for other items—especially if you don’t need a larger bed to begin with.
This doesn’t mean you have to be an adult sleeping in a twin bed
Do you think you can wear clothes to bed?
Do you think you can wear clothes to bed?. It just means that you should consider skipping the king or queen-size bed and going with a full-size bed instead. A bed is the bulkiest piece of furniture that you will be buying for your room, so if you save space here, you will have more space to work with later.
Not to mention that getting a smaller bed will also save you costs as smaller beds and mattresses are cheaper than larger ones.
If Possible, Try a Platform Bed
For some reason, over the past few decades, most Americans have taken to using a basic bed frame with a box spring and a mattress. While this can be economical, it is not a good solution for a smaller room where you are trying to save space.
In general, when shopping for a smaller bedroom, you will want to look for a platform bed that only requires a mattress. This will look much less bulky than a bed with two mattresses.
Plus, a cool thing about platform beds is that there are many styles that allow for storage underneath. Some have built-in drawers; others have a space for a trundle bed. You can also get one that is open underneath and purchase thin storage boxes that can easily slide underneath.
Besides being an economical solution, platform beds will make your small bedroom seem less cramped and look much more modern!
Buy a Headboard With Storage
The hardest thing about having an especially small bedroom is finding places to store all of your items. This can leave you looking for creative storage solutions.
In a small bedroom, it is best to find a bed that has storage built-in. This can be via the headboard or maybe underneath. This way, you will be able to use all of the available space of a piece of furniture that is a necessity.
Good headboard storage can replace a nightstand or even a bookshelf, depending on what you have to put on it. If you aren’t going to use it as a bookcase, then consider installing a light or a phone charger so you will have everything you need close by during the night! And don’t forget that you can use the top of the shelf headboard for storage or display purposes as well!
Build Storage Into the Walls
Furniture to store items like books and trinkets can be bulky and counterproductive in a room that has barely any room, to begin with. This is why many people choose to build storage into their walls.
When furnishing a small bedroom, it is a good idea to build any storage that you can into the walls. Bookshelves or a space to hang items are easy features to build into a space.
This doesn’t mean that you have to start knocking down walls, as individual shelves can easily be mounted high up so that you barely notice them and can store items there. If there is already a built-in bookshelf on your wall, but you don’t have any books, you can put a pole across this space and make it a place to hang shirts. You can also put a cloth bin here and use it for other storage purposes.
Install a Fold Down Desk
In a small home or apartment, a space to work from home can be an absolute luxury. This can leave you wanting to place a desk in your bedroom, but if your bedroom is also small, this is easier said than done.
To save space when furnishing a small bedroom, consider installing a fold-down desk. This way, you will have a place to work when you need it but can fold it up and out of the way when you are done.
The coolest part about a fold-down desk is that many of the ones they sell these days also include storage. So even if you miss having desk drawers, you will still have a place to store your work items when your desk is put away.
Pair a folding desk with a folding chair, and the work area in your small bedroom can easily be out of sight and out of mind on the weekends!
Mount Your Lighting
All bedrooms need some form of lighting. And if you’ve already decided that you won’t be having a nightstand in your room, this can leave you wondering just where you are supposed to put your floor lamp.
Save space when furnishing a small bedroom by mounting your lighting on the walls. Not only is this more convenient, but it will save you valuable floor space.
In the modern age, it’s typically easy to install lighting on any wall in your room that you want—with the help of an electrician, of course! But if you are only renting your small bedroom, not to worry, as there are options of mounted lighting that won’t damage the walls—you might have to shop around a bit to find them!
Use Vertical Storage
By now, you should have an idea of a bed and some lighting for your room. But chances are you still have a lot of stuff, but not a lot of space to put it in your small room. So now it’s time to talk about some other storage options.
When furnishing a small bedroom, look for storage solutions that are vertical. This way, they will take up less space on the floor but offer plenty of room to store things.
Vertical storage can be anything from a shelf that you can put bins on (that extends upwards, of course) to a ladder shelf, or even just bins that can stack inside your closet. Either way, you should pick at least one of these options for storage.
Most people prefer a shelf because it is easier to access the items they need than in a stack of bins. But bins can be nice too because you can label each bin with its content, helping you do always select the exact bin that you need when you need it. The choice is yours.
Hang a Mirror
A mirror is a necessity in almost any bedroom. After all, you wouldn’t want to leave your house not looking your best! And luckily for small bedroom furnishers, a mirror is a small item that can help you with your space problem.
In general, you should always aim to hang a mirror in a small bedroom. This is because a mirror is not only useful, but it will also help the room to appear larger.
A strategically placed mirror can make a room appear to double in size! Just make sure you get a mirror with a thin profile that doesn’t protrude from the wall too far. You will also want to avoid any bulky frames as these will not help with your space problem.
If the room has a wardrobe instead of a closet, putting a mirror on the door of your wardrobe can really help it to seem less large and imposing.
Although adding a mirror doesn’t actually save space, it is an essential aspect of furnishing a small bedroom because it can really make the room look larger and less cramped as you are putting furniture into it.
Skip the Nightstand
A nightstand is a great place to set a few books, your reading glasses, and to charge your phone overnight. But in a small bedroom, a nightstand might just be a waste of space.
As you are furnishing your small room, it is a good idea to skip the nightstand. This is because it will take up space while performing the function that another piece of furniture could do just well at performing.
For example, you could move the dresser or your bookcase over by your bed and use that as a nightstand. Or if you’ve squeezed a desk into the space, that could work too. But even if you don’t have any of the above, consider getting a floor poof or small stool and using that as a nightstand as it will take up less room than a piece of furniture.
You could also hang a shelf just by your bed, leaving the space underneath free for storage while also providing you a place to set your items at night. And, truth to be told, if you can sleep away from your phone, it isn’t a bad idea to leave the things you would leave on a nightstand on the desk across the room instead.
If there is simply no way that you can see yourself skipping the nightstand, then consider getting one that is mounted off the floor. This can help the room seem more spacious, as well as allow you storage underneath. It will make things difficult if you want to rearrange the room later, however, so make sure that you keep that in mind.
Lose the Dresser
So you’ve already skipped the nightstand in your small bedroom to allow you more room for other items. But have you ever thought about skipping the dresser too?
Bypassing a dresser when furnishing a small bedroom may seem strange, but in the modern-day, there are so many other options available that you don’t need a bulky piece of furniture for your socks and underwear.
This is especially true if your room is a closet, as there are many storage solutions for closets that can allow you to skip the dresser. One of them is an accordion-style cloth shelf that can be hung over the bar of your closet. You can use this to store pants, shirts, and even your underwear.
But if you don’t have a closet, don’t fret because you will likely be buying a wardrobe anyway. In this case, just be sure that you buy a wardrobe that has drawers for you to put your items in it. This will solve both of your problems at once while keeping the furniture in your small bedroom to a minimum.
More on if you really need a dresser here.
Choose Your Rug Carefully
A rug is an essential part of any bedroom with hardwood flooring, as a rug will keep your feet warm and keep your furniture from sliding around. But you need to select a specific type of rug when dealing with a small bedroom.
When furnishing a very small room, a fluffy rug or has a crazy pattern can make the room seem even smaller. This is why you should look for a rug that is more neutral and flatter in texture.
Now, of course, you will want to select a rug that matches your décor, but just be aware of how tall the rug is because although shag rugs might seem like a great idea, they really can make a room look smaller.
Also, don’t be afraid to experiment with a rug that is large enough for your furniture but much smaller than the room. This can make the room seem much larger than it is, just like hanging a mirror on the wall does.
Don’t Be Afraid to Rearrange
Often, when people draw out exactly how they want their room to look, they get stuck on that idea and are afraid to move the furniture to a different formation. This can be extremely counterproductive.
If you’ve furnished a room, and it still seems quite small, don’t be afraid to try a different furniture layout. Even just switching the wall the bed is touching can make a world of difference.
And although many people think of a traditional setup where a bed has a nightstand on either side, know that you can also only have one nightstand and push the bed up against a wall instead.
Not to mention that lighting has a lot to do with how big or small a bedroom looks, so when you rearrange the furniture, you might be surprised to see that it does look smaller—all because the light is hitting the room differently! And if you’ve rearranged the room once, and don’t like the outcome, don’t be afraid to try again!
Purchase Bold Bed Coverings
One of the must-haves when it comes to furnishing a room is coverings for the bed. This means a sheet set, comforter or duvet, and pillows. And if you pick these items carefully, they can help your small bedroom to seem larger.
When selecting items to cover the bed, consider going with something bold to make the bed the focal point of the room. This will draw attention away from how small the room is.
A bold touch could be a bright comforter or a more neutral duvet with a throw blanket tossed over it. Or, if you don’t want to go that route, you could also have a throw pillow that draws attention to the middle of your bed.
For those that like patterns, this is the time to incorporate them into your room. Patterns can make a small room look smaller if you use too much—so putting a pattern on the bed is a great way to show restraint!
Loft Your Bed
This next idea might be a bit too weird for some people, but it is a great way to save space when you are furnishing a small room. And you never know if you will like something until you try it!
Lofting your bed is a great way to save space when furnishing a small bedroom. Not only does it give you ample space underneath for storage, but this can also be a great area for a desk or other type of workspace.
Most people, when they think of a lofted bed, think of one that is hanging from the ceiling. But it doesn’t have to be up that high. Instead, a lofted bed can simply mean getting a bed that is higher than normal to allow for extra storage. This can be in the form of a dresser or creating space.
Lofting your bed is perfect when you don’t have a closet or room for a wardrobe because you can put several drawers of space underneath. Just be sure you account for space for a ladder or step stool that you can use to climb onto your lofted bed!
Order Custom Built Furniture
There are so many great ideas in this article, but reading about them and putting them into practice are two different things! This is especially true when the small room you are furnishing has unique dimensions.
All small rooms are different, so when furnishing your small room, you may find it beneficial to order furniture that will be custom-built to the space. This will ensure that you get exactly the furniture you want that is perfect for your space.
It is very easy to order custom-built shelves to fit any height and room slope. But many people forget that you can also order items like custom platform beds and dressers. Custom furniture can help you to use every inch of available space in your bedroom without having to stress.
And while you are ordering custom-built furniture, this is a good time to get creative. Experiment with ideas of a pull-out bed, futon for a bed, or maybe even a fully lofted bed that allows for a sitting space underneath. No matter where you are purchasing the furniture from, they will be happy to help your dreams become a reality.
Final Thoughts
Furnishing a small room can be a challenge, especially if you have lots of items like clothing that need to be stored! Luckily, there are several tricks of the trade that you can use to help you to make your small room look larger as you furnish it.
So as you are purchasing furniture and decorations, don’t be afraid to experiment with your room’s layout, size, and lighting. Know that you can skip certain pieces of furniture if you don’t want them and look for pieces that can be used for multiple purposes. Before you know it, you will have a beautiful small furnished bedroom that looks like it is fit for a king!
Here you can learn about how to fold clothes to save space, or you can get some more information about dressers here
I’m an expert wardrobe organizer and a bit of a clean freak. I created this website and its YouTube channel to share practical guides about laundry and organizing. My teachings have been featured in multiple large news publications, and I’ve self-published two wardrobe organizing books and an entire course on the subject.
