Lesson learned from living in a 9×11 bedroom? When designing your walk-in closet, every choice counts. Literally.
But seriously, the limitations of a tiny bedroom made me twice as creative than if I was redesigning one of those giant suburban bedrooms. My bedroom began as a beige box, accented by what could only be described as scandalous carpet that brought me absolutely no joy. It felt and looked like your typical generic college flat.
Coming home from stressful days teaching myself code, I dreaded crawling into my bed and making it feel like I lived in a college dorm. Tight budget + aspiring software engineer = making smart choices with my money.
Paint was an obvious choice, but painting a small space is scarier than it sounds!
I lived with paint samples on my wall for weeks – probably looked insane to my neighbours! I’ve found that lighting makes a TON of difference when choosing paint colours (wow this looks blue!) so I live with them for a few days to make sure I like it at all times of the day. My downstairs neighbours were definitely judging me walking into my flat to see different coloured squares popping up and down on my bedroom wall.
I finally settled on Agreeable Grey by Sherwin Williams. ($47 for enough to paint my room with 3 coats.) It brightened up the room without being overwhelmingly white. It also matched most of my existing belongings without me having to revamp my entire wardrobe just to “match” my room. I was feeling adventurous, so I painted the wall behind my bed a darker shade of grey.
Storm Cloud by Sherwin Williams. ($47, same as above.) The dark frames my IKEA bed frame nicely and doesn’t look like I just randomly threw paint on my wall. I started frequenting thrift stores every weekend while I was redesigning my room. I found this AMAZING brass lamp at Goodwill for $8.
The lamp shade was horrific. Floral pattern that reminded me of grandma’s wallpaper. But the lamp base was real brass and had so much weight to it.
Vintage vibes, am I right?!? I picked up an off-white drum lamp shade from Target for $12. Don’t laugh.
I now have a lamp that looks like it cost me $200 for $20. One thing I didn’t have enough of was storage. Tiny bedrooms don’t allow for…lots of stuff.
I started looking into “decorative storage.” Storage that looks pretty enough to leave out. I found these woven baskets at HomeGoods. They came in 3 different sizes for $35.
I keep them on top of my dresser and they store everything from extra phone chargers (what is up with all the phone chargers I own?) to random odds and ends I normally would have lying around my room. Almost broke the bank on these curtains until I had an epiphany…in Target. I was standing staring at their curtain panels ($25/panel and I needed 4) when I slowly meandered into the bedding section.
They had these linen-ish looking flat sheets on clearance. Queen flat sheet for $14. Score!
I bought 2, spent a Saturday and Sunday measuring and hemming, and ended up with exactly what I was looking for for $28 instead of $100. Moral of the story? Look everywhere.
Think outside the box. I really wanted my bed to look cozy and layered, but throw pillows can get expensive. So…I used IKEA pillow inserts and fabric remnants Jo-Ann’s had on sale.
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Their sales are CRAZY if you know how to use them. Each pillow cost me roughly $6, instead of the $30-$40+ I was seeing online. Mixing textures is key!
Chunky knit, linen, soft velvet. It honestly looks like I spent way more than I did on my bed setup. Thankfully, I wasn’t allowed to change the carpet because I’m renting.
But I found a cute area rug at an estate sale for $35. It was a little too big, but I tucked it underneath my bed and dresser and now it anchors my room. It had gorgeous blues and grays that matched my colour scheme and distracted me from the hideous carpet.
Mirrors are SUPPOSED to make a room look bigger. They totally do! But don’t feel like you need to break the bank on a large mirror.
I picked up this mid-sized mirror at a thrift store for $15 and hung it across from my window. It reflects so much light around my room and in the late afternoons it literally glows. This was, by far, my largest purchase.
BUT again, I got strategic. Target has a brand called Threshold. Their bedding is actually really nice and they frequently have sales.
I got white sheets during a sale ($25) and white just photographs really well (no matter the wrinkles!) and will go with ANYTHING. It also makes your bed look super crisp and hotel-ish. I topped it off with a white, textured duvet cover from H&M Home for $39.
My whole bed looks expensive for less than $65. So this is the thing. When furnishing and decorating a small bedroom on a budget, everything has to serve two purposes.
This brass lamp wasn’t just providing light to my room, it was adding warmth and texture. My baskets weren’t just storing clutter, they were adding interest and texture to my room. You can’t have things that are just functional, or just pretty.
It has to be both. Embrace the things you can’t change about your room. That angled ceiling made half my room feel closed off?
Drape string lights along the angles and it feels cozy.
That sliver of a window that doesn’t let in enough sunlight? Hang your curtains as wide and as high as possible to create the illusion of a bigger window.
Those are just a couple of my favourite tricks I used when designing my tiny closet. My whole bedroom revamp took me roughly 3 months of thrift store adventures and waiting for sales. My total was around $280.
It’s not perfect. I still hit my dresser when I’m rushing to get ready in the mornings, and I will forever complain about my lack of closet space. But it’s my room now.
It feels cozy, organised, and put together without trying too hard. Most importantly, I love spending time in there! Whether I’m relaxing in bed reading or getting ready in the morning, my soft colour palette allows me to destress after a long day of debugging, my organizational pieces eliminate clutter (stress!) and all of the layered textures really make my room feel high-end.
