Think about that feeling you get when you’re sat on the bed edge having one too many mugs of coffee. You know the one, it’s 8am on Wednesday and your life is slightly chaotic. You’re half buttoning up your shirt/socking up your feet/all of the above, trying not to spill half your life down the hallway floor..
Yeah. That was me for three months. It was ridiculous.
Every morning looked something like this. Sit on edge of mattress as if you live there, flail around trying not to drop everything/spillage ensues, rinse and repeat until you feel like you’re going insane.
For years I’d been convincing myself that my bedroom was “cosy”.
Bonus points if you read that with the voice actors voice from census when they say “cozy” (AKA anyone that watched cartoons as a kid estate agent’s definition of cosy). Small enough that you can touch each wall from the centre of the room without leaning ( technically 10x11ft but who’s lying here?). Majority of that space occupied by a king size bed.
Which seemed to expand every time I saw it.. Add into that equation the wardrobe. Wow that wardrobe took up so much space..
IKEA mamoth of a cabinet that looked like it was embarrassed to share the room with me. Ever since I moved in this clumsy seating arrangement had bothered me. But I kept putting off actually buying something- where do you even start looking?
Chairs for tiny people? Chairs that go in small bedrooms? Did not inspire confidence in my googling adventures.
Until one day my sister visits, and due to lack of seating options she HAS to sit in my desk chair.. You know the desk chair. Fake leather ones that squeak everytime you shift your weight.
She kept slipping down into seat death because the lift mechanism broke ages ago and as I’m watching her struggle not to slide onto the floor whilst chatting to me, it finally clicks. THIS IS AWKWARD. Adults shouldn’t have to choose between sofa-ing it on someone else’s bed or improvising with malfunctioning furniture apparently bought for giants.
Off I went. Searching high and low for the perfect seating option to fit into my studyious bedroom. First stop- Pinterest.
God what a joke. Terrible idea. You’re scrolling through these beautiful feeds of bedrooms.
Rooms you dream of living in, full of spacious “coffee corners” and mid-century modern sofas.. And there’s me with 18 inches of floor gap between my mattress sea and nearest wall. Pinterest was crushed.
I measured. Twice. Kidding myself I wasn’t obsessed with measuring everything I own?
Occupational hazard of being a software engineer apparently. Turns out I had exactly 18 inches (.46metres for my metric friends) till the wall. 18 inches.
Sure enough room for a chair to SIT DOWN_SIDESWAYS in.. but actual furniture? Dream on. But wait!
What I discovered after MUCH heartbreak and many many returns? You don’t need tonnes of space, you just need to be damn smart about it. My FIRST idea was an ottoman with storage.
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Found this cute navy/blue option at a local store- nothing crazy fancy but sleek lines and opened up to reveal tonnes of space for spare pillow cases/sheets and those annoying little oddly shaped things you have no idea where to store. cost me £85 which was totally reasonable considering it doubles up as storage too.. For the first few weeks I was patting myself on the back telling everyone about my new life changing purchase.. THEN reality hit.
Sure ottmans are cool for resting your feet on. but actual usable chairs for reading/sitting doing things? No way. Try and curl up with a book on an ottman.. mid shin height is not comfortable for your knees or spine longevity.
And don’t get me started on trying to reach stuff at the bottom! Every single time you wanted something you had to move everything on top awkwardly shift about trying to dig out what you want, then clean up the_shuffle.gif. Madness.
Fine. Chairs it is. Found this gorgeous mustard yellow velvet accent chair online.
Seemed pricy enough but was only £140 so went for it. Measurements matched up perfectly on their site, countless reviews said what a dream it was. What no one talks about in these glorious reviews is HOW OUTSTANDING the legs are.
Once assembled, they seem to fan out at weird angles that ultimately took up about twice as much room as they should’ve. The seat was also about as wide as your average hallway so.. good looking? YES.
Comfortable human seat? HARDLY. That chair only lasted me 5 days before I realised I’d been dumb and promptly shipped it back.
Fun fact the customer service lady thought I was insane when I tried to explain “It was just too.. chair like? For my bedroom”. I’m sure that’s not a technical term but she nodded along so..
Lucky for me I was scrolling round Facebook when I saw someone selling this cute lil armochair hiding in the depths of their sofa collection. Nothing too fancy- grey colour that’ll hopefully survive the occasional coffee splash, arms that didn’t look like they wanted to take over the world and a supportive back that wasn’t giant taking over the whole room. Oh and looks like the previous owner had it reupholstered not long before selling it too so I was getting brand spanking new furniture without breaking into Ikea..
Cost me a cool £65 and actually fit in my car boot. Life. The game changer though?
Instead of forcing it into that stupid gap next to my bed like I was originally going to do for the past three weeks. I shifted my entire room layout around. Moved the nightstand to the opposite side and squeezed it beside the window.
Suddenly I had created a cute lil nook for seating that didn’t block the one simple path I have to walk from door.bedroom wardrobe.bed. You know that path. The one you don’t realise how much you use until something is in the way and you’re endlessly stubbing your toes.
Splashed out on one of those adorable side tables that fold flat when your not using them too and utilised a floor lamp I didn’t use anymore in the living room. Spend less than £80 inc side table and completely transformed how my bedroom functioned..
Now I use the chair for literally everything.
Slip shoes on, fold clothes, video call friends. Heck I’ll even read on there now! ! Oh and the storage ottoman?
Now lives it’s new life as my living room coffee table. Much happier and makes a lot more sense there. Moral of the story?
Don’t force a seating option into your bedroom just because you THINK it’ll work. Take inspiration from whatever you see but make sure you can ACTUALLY USE it. My tips?
Measure twice, buy once.. and for the love of god PLEASE sit in your furniture before you commit if you can! Happy Chair Hunting!
