It used to drive me crazy looking up at the mountain of clothes on top of my chair, piles of books on my bedside table that were dangerously close to falling off, and shoes kicked across the floor whenever I ran out of surface area to place them. Not only was my bedroom tiny, it felt impossible. Imagine the feeling of being squashed against every angle of your bedroom while you scramble to put your clothes on every morning.
That used to be me. The issue finally came to a head when I couldn’t find my favourite black jumper anywhere. I rummaged through drawers, searched under piles of laundry twice and checked underneath my bed…that hadn’t been vacuumed in months, by the way (finding three lonely socks and a book I didn’t realise I’d lost).
Eventually, I found it underneath the mountain of clothes that I’d optimistically placed on my chair the week before with a label reading ‘clean, not worn yet.’ At that moment I decided I couldn’t take the cramped confines of my shoebox bedroom any longer and something had to be done. It sounds dramatic, but organising my tiny bedroom space saved my sanity.
Low-budget organisation tips for a small bedroom tend to focus on smaller changes; under-bed boxes, mounting shelves high up on the wall and so on.
Trust me, they’re great tips but when you’re struggling to cram a life into a pint sized bedroom, you have to dig deep. Some of my favourite solutions were born out of desperation. I started with small adjustments; part because my budget was small and part because I didn’t know what would work in such a small space.
The first big difference I made was simple: go vertical. And when I say vertical, I mean UP. FLOATING SHELVES ALL THE WAY UP THE WALL.
If you’re worried about them closing off your space even further, fear not; because they draw the eye upward, they actually make the room feel taller. I use mine for decor books I don’t necessarily read all the time, out-of-season storage and those annoying storage cubes that you only use for decorative purposes but end up filling with junk. Now, a word on floating shelves.
If you mount them into plasterboard walls using only the metal wall anchors provided, they’re useless. Trust me on this one – I spent until 2am staring at crashed shelves and piles of my book collection on the floor before I figured it out. Always use proper wall plugs or toggle bolts.
And before you place anything heavy or breakable on there, test it out by stacking books until you know they can hold your weight. Under-bed storage is an obvious choice, but I did it wrong the first time. THOSE DRAWER THINGS WITH WHEELS ON THE BOTTOM ARE EVERYWHERE FOR A reason; they look like such a good idea.
Until you attempt to tug them across your carpet every time you need something and your bed isn’t low enough to the ground to actually fit much into them. Two problems solved: bed risers. Get yourself a set of four.
They’re around the size of large camping pots but stackable to lift your bed frame well over yours. Now your bed is high enough up to fit substantial storage containers underneath AND you can slide them in and out without scratching your floor. I love fabric storage containers with handles for this purpose.
What you store under there is also important. I keep out-of-season clothing, spare bedding and shoes I don’t wear daily under my bed. Vacuum storage bags are amazing for bulky coats, winter dresses and spare duvets, but DO NOT put anything filled with down in them.
Otherwise you’ll end up with a de-fluffed jacket that resembles something you washed caught in the dryer. Ask me how I know. Decluttering and changing up my closet took me the longest to sort out.
Standard hanging rails take up so much dead space! Get yourself some double hanging rails; shorter bars hung at two different heights which will instantly double your hanging storage. Bottom rail for shirts/tops and folded trousers, upper rail for longer hanging items like dresses and coats.
Those over-the-door storage organisers aren’t just for shoes. I hang one on the back of my bedroom door for scarves, belts and small bags. I have another one on the inside of my wardrobe door to hold tights, socks and underwear in clear pockets so I can easily see what I’ve got without having to dig around.
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The kids of things that go missing when they live at the back of your drawer. Secret storage furniture is my new obsession. That cute ottoman at the bottom of my bed?
Storage for extra pillows and throws. My bedside table has deep drawers disguised as normal table storage to stash away chargers, hand cream and those weird bits that seem to accumulate but don’t belong anywhere else. My bedside table was actually from a charity shop which I painted to match the walls.
Cost me about £15 and a tin of paint but it looks like I splashed hundreds at a boutique furniture shop. You’d be surprised what you can find on clearance tables. Hide valuables in obvious hiding spots.
I hollowed out an old hardback copy of Matilda to stash away cash and spare keys. If someone’s going to burgle your room, they’re not checking for spare money in your bookshelf. Hooks, hooks everywhere.
Hang them behind your door, beside your wardrobe and on the wall next to your bed to hang tomorrow’s outfit. They can be used for bags, jackets, the dressing gown you actually wear rather than the cute one you hook on the back of your door to make it look like you own it. Drawer dividers.
Buy them, make your own. I couldn’t find any cheap enough that I liked the look of so I made my own using small cardboard boxes and covered them with some cute wrapping paper instead. They were also the perfect size to fit neatly into my bedroom drawers.
I have one for every day jewellery, hair accessories, smaller ones for lip balms and scrunchies. They instantly transformed my drawers from a tangled mess into actually being functional. Hang a mirror on the wall opposite your window to reflect the natural light around the room.
Not only will it brighten up darker spaces, it also creates the illusion of more space. Just be careful where you place it; I hung mine too low and it just reflected my messy bed. Move it a few inches higher and make it reflect your window and that tidy nook where you put all your floating shelves and it works wonders.
Top of wardrobe storage baskets are LIFE CHANGING. Make sure you can reach them safely but use them for the things you don’t need daily but need occasionally; gift wrap, photo albums, that box of cables you swear you’ll actually use ‘one day’ (spoiler alert: you won’t). But you can’t bear to throw them away.
Finally, not everything has to be hidden away. A lot of storage can be stylish too. That vintage suitcase atop my wardrobe is not only holding winter hats and gloves, it matches my room.
Clear glass jars on my bedside table hold cotton buds and hair ties but look pretty sat there instead of the sterile plastic boxes they probably came in.
The thing I loved most about fully organising my bedroom was how much lighter and brighter it felt. Having a place for everything means less clutter and less clutter means easier mornings and more relaxing evenings.
I can actually see my floor now. Simple, right? I thought not having to play bedroom hopscotch would be the biggest game changer.
Ha. Don’t get me started on that lesson. It cost me less than £200 in total to get my space under control.
I bought bits here and there as the inspiration or need struck, so it wasn’t an expensive project in one go. Just be patient, think outside the box and adapt tips to make them work for you. Everyone’s space will be different.
