Something no one tells you about small bedrooms is that the regular furniture industry largely ignores them. It wasn’t until I moved into my first “grown up” flat that I learned this painful lesson. My first flat was a gorgeous Victorian conversion with stylish hardwood floors and a “double bedroom” so small that when I pushed the bed up against the wall there wasn’t enough room to open the wardrobe door all the way.
As I stared hopelessly around my new bedroom surrounded by full-sized furniture that just looked…well, giant in my tiny room, I may have had what my mother would refer to as “a breakdown”. Ok, maybe not a breakdown, but you get the picture. The bed frame I purchased from a well-known high-street store wasn’t extravagant – just a basic pine platform frame – but it was still so tall and bulky that I found myself sideways-shuffling from the wall to my bed to access my clothing.
My matching bedside tables were completely out of the question. Every item of furniture I considered normal-sized in the store now mocked me with their immense bulk.
I found a narrow chest of drawers that would squeeze in my room, but that only left me with eight inches of walkway.
Yes, I measured. Key lesson: never underestimate the power of visibly-ample-clearance-between-your-bed-and-chest-of-drawers syndrome. Eventually I uncovered the magical world of small-scale bedroom furniture.
Unfortunately, someone failed to mention to me that “small” doesn’t necessarily equal “proportionate” or “well-designed”. Much of the miniaturized furniture out there is really just regular sized furniture chopped with a blunt pair of dwarfish scissors. On to Wikipedia for “maltitude”.
But some of it is brilliant. Let’s talk about beds. I ended up finding a platform bed frame that was only twelve inches tall rather than the standard sixteen to eighteen.
Inches matter when you’re lacking square footage, and those four stolen inches from floor to bed frame made my room look and feel taller and more open. Did I mention the bed was lower to the ground? With my new-found verticle space came the unexpected bonus of being able to see out my bedroom window from bed without having to crane my neck like a game bird.
My bed came with built-in storage – not the lift-up seats with embarrassingly tiny compartments built for socks and lost earrings, but pull-out drawers that actually housed extra blankets and seasonal clothing. Speaking of miraculous bedside tables…who knew you could have DAYLIGHT between your bed and nightstand and actually use it as walking space?! Regular old bedside tables run anywhere from twenty- four inches to twenty-eight inches wide.
The ones I found were only eighteen inches across but they still came with a drawer and shelf. They weren’tju stored skinny – they were perfectly proportioned to my petite bed. And (drumroll please…)I could walk past them without killing my toe every single morning.
Previous Toe-Sacrifice Total: too many to count. Current Toe-Sacrifice Total: zero. Thank you small furniture gods for your small victories.
So where does one find these fabulous sized gems? NOT at your Ikea-participating brother-in-laws wedding furniture store. Seriously.
Most places cater to what I like to call “larger than average” people. I hit up every cute-as-hell local furniture store within a fifty mile radius of me and asked the owners if they carried anything that would fit in my wee boudoir. Many directed me to their children’s department.
Fun Fact: Children’s bedrooms often have awesome furniture too. Score. Online shopping became my friend.
As with all furniture shopping, stick to the dimensions. Don’t assume “compact” means what you need it to mean. It’ll say it’s 19 inches wide but maybe that’s not including the book-holder-that-then-swivels-over-to-your-bed-side-flip-it- thingy.
Also, bookshelf-sized doesn’t always mean flat sized. IKEA gets some things right. Their lovely HEMNES series comes in “narrow” varieties that are surprisingly easy to fit into your scaled-down space.
You Might Also Like
I nabbed myself a three-drawer chest that was only twenty inches deep rather than the usual twenty-four. Who knew four inches of breathing room would make such a big difference? Suddenly I had room to fully open my dresser drawers and even put a laundry basket underneath.
Proportion matters. One of my girlfriends fell into the furniture-medusa’s-mini-skirt trap and bought a teeny dresser that was so top-heavy and tall it looked awkward and whimsical all at once. I recommended she look for furniture that is short and narrow instead of long and skinny.
I’ve also scored many a sweet vintage piece at thrift shops. Dressing tables and wardrobes from the 1950s and 60s were much smaller than their contemporary floor-devouring cousins. I found the absolute CUTEST teak chest of drawers in a local antique shop.
It’s from the 19sixties and is perfect. Much smaller than a modern chest of drawers but really well made. Solid wood.
The drawers glide like a dream. None of this “super smooth sliding mecanism” that comes loose after six months of irritating you bullshit. Speaking of drawers…storage is obviously king when you have a small bedroom.
But ironically I’ve found that I own less crap since downsizing my furniture. Sure I have fewer drawers and closets than the average bear but my four faithful pieces serve me well. I have my bed with built-in storage, my two mini bedside tables, and my perfect dresser.
That’s it. Every item has multiple purposes and there’s nothing cluttered about it. Buy fewer quality pieces instead of lots of cheap stuff.
Just because you’re downsizing your room doesn’t mean you have to fill it with crappy college-aged student furniture. There are plenty of well-made, small-scale wooden bedroom furniture pieces out there. They just might not be hanging on the showroom floor waiting for you to come along and buy them.
Cheque out West Elm’s small furniture collection or CB2’s Flat Sized Furnishings. Splurgey expensive? No.
Same price as the big-boy furniture but actually functional in real life flat sized rooms. Have your furniture custom built. Seriously.
If you have the extra dough, it might be worth the investment to have something custom-made. I had a local carpenter build me a custom headboard with attached floating nightstands. Floating nightstands = small shelves that attach directly to your headboard.
Bam.
Floor space saved. Looks intentional and high-end, not cluttered and like you had to by Ikea twin beds when you grew out of your crib.
Also, your lighting situation changes when you downsize your furniture. My table lamps rest closer to floor level which actually works great for lighting-wise. I never thought I’d say this but low-end lighting= more adorable.
Hang wall-mounted sconces for even more floor real estate. Just make sure you hang them low enough to actually use. Ask me how I know this.
Oh and go hardwood floor on the floors if you have the option. Carpet looks ridiculously small in a tiny bedroom. Spend the extra bucks and rip it out.
You’ll thank yourself later.
