Small bedroom decorating ideas to help you utilise your space
Decorating a small bedroom can often be a challenge as you try to balance style with functionality: creating a beautiful and well-designed space that's free of clutter and conducive to relaxation, all while working within diminutive proportions. Small bedrooms usually require extra consideration and a clever approach to decorating to be successful.
We've gathered the most effective tips on how to utilise the small space you have – a clever use of colour to create the illusion of space, the right bedside tables and multifunctional beds to store your essentials, quick tips on utilising every inch of wall space, and the design styles most applicable to small bedrooms.
Read on for 40 small bedroom ideas to fall in love with...
Stripes
Striped wallpaper is a popular design feature because it is so effective at making ceilings look higher. Continuing the effect the length of the bed with some bold striped bedlinen is a nice trick too. Always take note of the repeat if you're using striped wallpaper or upholstery to avoid awkwardly joined corners or seams.
• Shop the look at John Lewis
Hidden storage
When it comes to storage in a small bedroom, shelving and extra rails will always provide you with extra places to pop your belongings.
'Having a smaller bedroom doesn’t necessarily mean having fewer clothes. With clever storage compartments such as Gimse, clothes can be sorted and stored away whilst keeping the room looking tidy,' explains Clotilde Passalacqua, interior design leader at Ikea UK and Ireland. 'Make the most of the wardrobe space by using storage compartments to organise clothes in an efficient and smart way.'
• Shop the look at IKEA
Wall panelling
Using wall panelling to extend the silhouette of your bed is a common design device for small bedrooms. In fact this is often used in lieu of a headboard. The wall mounted lights are a clever addition to free up space on the bedside tables.
• Design project by Topology
READ MORE: How to panel a wall: DIY wall panelling in 8 simple steps
Layers, layers, layers
There is a natural inclination to pare back accessories and textiles in a small space, but equally we don't want it to be totally devoid of character. Layers are a little more forgiving in this instance because you can pile a bed or small armchair with lots of cushions, blankets and quilts to maximise impact but minimise footprint.
• Shop the look at Dunelm
Make use of every corner
This lovely tucked-away bedroom may be small, but it's filled with character and colour. Make use of every corner by installing reading lights above the bed or creating DIY-style bookshelves. Here, bedside essentials are just propped on top of the bed frame.
• Shop the look: Parma Gray No.27 at Farrow & Ball
READ MORE: 11 alcove ideas to help you maximise every inch of space
Bedside tables
In this example, going big in a small space pays off. Instead of a small bedside table, a larger chest of drawers serves the same function and stores a great deal more.
• Shop the look at John Lewis
READ MORE: 15 stylish chest of drawers
A dramatic canopy
If your bed is the only thing you can fit in your small bedroom, you can make a real feature of it by choosing a four poster with a wonderful draped canopy. This can be fashioned easily from a length of material – a soft cotton or linen would be a good choice.
• Shop the look at George Home
Add colour through accessories
A white room will enhance space and brightness, so introduce colourful accents through accessories and furniture instead. This sweet design scheme relies on bright, chalky pastels to add colour without detracting from the airy and bright feel of the room.
READ MORE: 8 bedroom colour ideas to inspire a makeover
Work with your layout
A slanted roof will inevitably compromise space in a small bedroom, but this can be optimised with fitted wardrobes. This fabulous blush pink example with stylish brass hardware is a feature in itself.
READ MORE: Bedroom layout ideas: How to arrange your space
Shelving
This super small bedroom has utilised a tiny return to layer some simple frames and artwork, creating a makeshift mini gallery wall.
• Shop the look at IKEA
All-over colour
'To create the feeling of more space in a small room, stick to one single colour, this will help create more space as with no point of reference and no contrasts, you’re less aware of where things stop and start,' explains Charlotte Cosby, head of creative at Farrow & Ball.
• Shop the look at Farrow & Ball.
Storage beds
'When looking to kit out a small bedroom, being able to move freely around the bedroom is key to making sure you don’t bump your shins on clutter left around the floor. Think about investing in a storage bed either with drawers or with an ottoman lift, or if your budget prevents this, consider separate wheeled drawers that you can slide under the existing bed – just make sure you check the height from floor to bed,' says Caitlin Price, head of buying, furniture & flooring at John Lewis & Partners.
• Shop the look: House Beautiful Chloe Ottoman Bed at Dreams
WFH space
If part of your bedroom has to be given over to work, make it inspiring and space-saving. This clever WFH spot designed by Design & That Studio sits neatly between a pair of forest green wardrobes with a revitalising view of the outdoors.
READ MORE: 10 ways to turns unused alcoves into little pockets of joy
Wish-list wallpaper
Papering a ceiling – and especially a pitched ceiling – creates a cosy, tented effect in the most diminutive of spaces. Small bedrooms are an opportunity to indulge your decorating fantasies with a wish-list wallpaper design.
READ MORE: This renovated flat in a converted Victorian mansion is a haven of pattern and colour
Black accents
Blocks of black will always draw the eye, so exercise caution with how and where you place them in a small bedroom. You may want to use them to draw attention to your best light source, or to direct the flow of your room to a focal point like your bed.
READ MORE: How to use black accents in every room in your home
Sofa beds
The ultimate solution for small bedrooms, and particularly handy if you live in a studio flat. Sofa beds have come on in leaps and bounds in terms of comfort and the variety of styles available. We're partial to our very own Darcy sofa bed at DFS in this contemporary pink velvet.
• Shop the look: House Beautiful Darcy Sofa Bed at DFS
Sorbet colours
When decorating small bedrooms, one of the best ways to maximise space is to use light and fresh colours. Hues such as soft sorbet pinks and buttercup yellows will help to ensure the room feels bigger.
• Shop the look: Chess Wool Rug in Harvest Yellow at Layered
READ MORE: 28 colour combinations that just work
Fitted wardrobes
Fitted wardrobes are a must in small spaces, especially if they are configurable, like the House Beautiful Realm fitted wardrobe at Homebase. These space-savers can wrap around corners, provide floor-to-ceiling storage and accommodate the most awkward configurations in a small bedroom.
• Shop the look: House Beautiful Realm Fitted Wardrobe at Homebase
A loft bed
The ideal solution if your small bedroom is short on floor space but generous in height – a loft bed can free up room for a sofa or a desk area. These work especially well in tiny guest bedrooms. Select something light and airy, like this pale-toned pine loft bed from Ikea, with a slim and unobtrusive frame.
• Shop the look at Ikea
Create a feature wall
Go bold with a statement feature wall in your small bedroom. An all-over wallpaper can be a bit imposing in an already small room, but having just one standout wall will create a bright statement. Play around with Scandi-style wooden panelling or an innovative tile.
• Shop the look at Bert & May
Faux headboard
This clever faux headboard has actually been fashioned from a simple MDF panel. It serves dual purpose as a shelf too, here used for some invigorating springtime blooms, but equally useful to hold books, lamps or bedside essentials.
READ MORE: 15 headboard ideas to transform your bedroom
Symmetry
Thanks to its perfectly symmetrical composition, this brilliant and over the top bedroom at Margate House Hotel feels organised rather than overwhelming. Using symmetry in this way in small spaces creates a sense of order in a room, so it’s a useful tool if you favour the unruliness of maximalism.
• Shop the look: Recycled Cocktail Cushion Tobacco & Coconut at Colours of Arley
Overhead storage
Overhead units are an excellent way to add extra storage when you are short on floor space. These Ikea storage units are just 42cm in depth, perfect for tidying away books, accessories, extra bedding or towels without taking up valuable inches in a small bedroom. We love the idea of adding a narrow desk underneath for the ultimate multifunctional space.
• Shop the look at Ikea
Miniaturise your bedside table
A bedside table is super handy for keeping your phone, a book, or soft task lighting close by, so don't forgo one if you have a small bedroom. Opt for a small round bedside table to reduce the footprint of your furniture, or a floating bedside unit to keep night-time essentials up and away from your bed.
• Shop the look: House Beautiful Gatsby Blue Pleated Blinds at Hillarys
Statement headboard
Don't be afraid to add a large statement bed into a smaller room. It really should be the focal point of your bedroom, and a tall feature headboard takes up minimal space. There's always the option to add storage underneath.
• Shop the look: Headboard in Dijon & Terracotta Stripe Fabric at Colours Of Arley
Invigorating styling
Mood is just as important as clever storage or visual trickery in making a small bedroom appear bigger. Here, zesty and energising colours and springtime florals can inject some life into the most diminutive of rooms.
Shop the look at Oliver Bonas
Low-profile furniture
The way in which the eye travels around a room has a huge impact on how big or small it feels. Low-profile furniture – this side table is a great example – won't break the eyeline like larger and more cumbersome furniture will, allowing you to take in more vertical space without interruption.
• Shop the look: Pavona wallpaper at Little Greene
READ MORE: 25 small bedside tables to save space in compact bedrooms
Limewash
Neutrals are great in a small bedroom, but they can often look washed out, especially if we take a lighter approach to print and pattern. Using a limewash paint is a really lovely counter to this because it adds depth and variation to your colour, as well as some welcome texture. And sliding doors are always great space savers.
READ MORE: How to recreate the limewash wall trend
Built-in shelving
Built-in shelving is an excellent way to bring in some extra storage space. It's an opportunity to showcase flowers, ornaments and books, and a great option if you wouldn't otherwise have room for a freestanding cabinet.
• Shop the look at John Lewis & Partners
Throw out the rule book
If you are willing to embrace the diminutive proportions of your bedroom, then go maximalist. This 'more is more' style of piling colour on top of pattern on top of an abundance of furniture and accessories is decorating at its most joyous, and will help to create a space you love to spend time in.
• Shop the look at John Lewis & Partners
Dark and cocooning
A small space can often benefit from dark and cocooning colours. 'Dependent on light direction, smaller spaces are more successful with the introduction of darker colours such as Sulking Room Pink or Treron as this distracts the eye from the size,' says Charlotte Cosby, head of creative at Farrow & Ball.
• Shop the look at Piglet in Bed
Colour drenching
There is an argument for drenching a small room – ceilings included – in cocooning colour. This fabulous jewel box of a bedroom really leans into the trend. The sheen is a clever choice too – glossy paints are great at bouncing natural light around a room.
• Shop the look: FTT-001™ Rich Gold at Mylands
Utilise window space
A clever space-saving hack for the smallest of small bedrooms: If you don't have an inch of floor space to spare, look to your windowsill. If there is any depth there, it's the perfect place to create a small shelf to stack books or magazines. If you have a bit of extra depth (you'll need at least 16 inches) consider creating a window seat with some simple upholstery and scatter cushions.
• Shop the look: House Beautiful Chalk Pink Shutters at Hillarys
The bedside locker
This bedside locker will give you the most storage in a compact space. The door opens to reveal two adjustable shelves inside to hide clutter, one handy hook and a cable hole.
• Shop the look: Mustard Made Shorty Locker at Oliver Bonas
Wall mounting
The designers at Topology have used a wall mounted light and tiny shelf in lieu of a bedside table here to save space, and colour drenched the room in this lovely blue-green to create a sense of spaciousness.
• Design project by Topology
Painted effects
In the smallest of bedrooms, remove the bulk of a headboard in favour of a painted 2D effect. 'Using paint to emulate furniture shapes into 2D on your wall is a fantastic way to make an impactful statement,' says Annie Sloan. 'For best results, use the boundaries of your bed and design up from that width.'
• Shop the look: Chalk Paint in Old Ochre, Honfleur and Scandinavian Pink at Annie Sloan
Paint effects
This small bedroom corner uses a clever paint technique that is very achievable in your own home. The wall colour – here a lovely cheerful pink in F&B's Calamine – stops just short of the ceiling moulding and the crisp white paint on the ceiling extends down by around 30cm. This visual trick makes the ceiling look higher.
READ MORE: 18 shoppable ideas to steal from this fabulous London home
Recruit natural light
A whisper thin voile has been used in lieu of heavier curtains in this small bedroom to enliven the space with natural light. It's a prerequisite that you're a heavy sleeper, however.
• Shop the look at Piglet in Bed
Clever multi-purpose beds
One way to make use of a small bedroom is to get your hands on a bed that has more than just one purpose. While its comfort is vital for a good night's sleep, finding a bed frame that has the option for extra storage makes for an excellent find.
• Shop the look at Ikea
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