Photo: Prue Ruscoe; Styling: Felicity Ng
In big cities across the US and beyond, minuscule bedrooms abound. Fun small bedroom ideas feel hard to come by, and frustration sets in before anything actually improves in your space. Visions of an armchair, a “reading nook,” and a makeup vanity float by, meanwhile your space still doesn’t have room for a pair of nightstands to accompany your bed. But fear not, there are, indeed, decorating ideas that make it possible to achieve an inspiring living space, squeeze in those storage solutions, and still get a comfortable night’s sleep at the end of the day, too, no matter how small that square footage is.
How can I make the most of my small bedroom?
Consider each piece you add to the space and make sure it serves the mood you’re trying to evoke in your small bedroom. If you’re hoping for a relaxing space, maybe it’d be best to give that colorful dresser you got as a hand-me-down a naturally toned coat of paint. If you want everything to feel super unique, maybe you could skip the IKEA furniture and just go for secondhand.
How do I plan a layout for a small bedroom?
When planning the layout for a small bedroom, consider what furniture pieces are most essential to you. Are you without a closet and need some place to put your clothes? Then chances are you’ll need to prioritize a dresser or clothing rack. Do you tend to spend time in bed even when you’re not sleeping or preparing to? Maybe a daybed is in order. Is there a deep windowsill next to your bed? Then maybe you can skip a nightstand and put that surface to work instead.
How do couples style a small bedroom?
If you’re styling a bedroom for you and a partner, sit down with each other and figure out your needs as outlined above. Since you both might have different priorities for the space, you’ll likely need to compromise. In any case, it’s likely your best bet to look into a storage bed or some under-the-bed storage if you’re trying to keep double the amount of belongings in one small bedroom.
Read on for small bedroom decorating ideas pulled from Clever home tours.
Photo: Simon Brown
Add a patterned headboard
If you have a small bedroom, it can be particularly difficult to bring in pattern without overpowering a space. Designer Beata Heuman deftly displayed how to do so in this pictured West London flat. Though not every small room has space for an end-of-bed bench like the upholstered one in this flat, the commanding striped headboard look can be easily replicated in even the smallest of bedrooms. Not only does the patterned headboard draw the eye into the back of the room, but also up, as it reaches toward the ceiling and draws attention to the vertical space.
Photo: Yohann Fontaine
Display what needs to be stored
In this Paris apartment planned out by the homeowner and Myanmar-based architect Pierre Mounier, the bed is surrounded on both sides by open bookshelves. Rather than making the bed feel closed in or stuck between these two shelves, the space feels airy thanks to the lack of backing on the shelves. What’s more, the clever bedroom design allows the built-in shelves to serve as nightstands and lets the homeowner’s personal effects to double as decor, adding visual interest to the space without cluttering it. Talk about multipurpose!
If you prefer a look that’s a little more uniform, buy baskets or bins for the shelves to hold all that clutter. The baskets will add visual interest, and you’ll still be able to store plenty without needing a bulkier dresser or wardrobe.
Photo: Charlie Schuck
Use a curtain to separate your space
If your tiny bedroom is in fact a studio, or if it’s the only space that’s entirely your own—no roommates and no family calling the shots—then you likely want to maximize it, even if it is quite small. Adding curtains is a cost effective and adaptable way to separate your space to serve multiple purposes. In architect Corey Kingston’s own Lower East Side apartment, curtains separate her bed from the living area, keeping the sleeping space peaceful and personal. The curtains also add color to the space without the anxiety-inducing commitment of a bold paint job (particularly useful if you’re in a rental!).
Photo: Jenna Ohnemus Peffley
Opt for a bookcase headboard
The best small bedroom design ideas are ideas that address multiple needs in the space. A bookcase headboard does just that. Need a place to put books? Got it! Need a bedside table? It can store what you’d usually put on said table! Need a headboard? Well, that’s up to personal preference. If you do want a headboard, opting for a bookcase headboard could be your best bet.
In Fanny Singer’s Los Angeles apartment, the bookcase headboard serves a lot of purposes, including hosting a sort of gallery wall by holding a number of art pieces on its topmost shelf.
Photo: Rory Gardiner
Skip the nightstand and mount a sconce
If you’re concerned about being able to fit a nightstand in your small space, consider whether or not you really need one. If your primary argument for squeezing one in is so that you can have some place for a lamp to sit, consider mounting a sconce instead. Skipping the nightstands will easily free up at least a foot of space on either side of the bed and those sconces will look rather chic. Just a glimpse at the bedroom in this 300-square-foot Vincent Appel–designed apartment should prove our point.
Photo: Steve Freihon
Simplify your color palette
Often the easiest way to accomplish a feeling of tranquility in a small space is by simplifying your color palette. Even if the couple colors you opt for aren’t neutrals, limiting yourself to those particular colors will help to create a relaxed environment. If you do take this approach, as designer Ryan Brooke Thomas did in this Brooklyn renovation, it’s best to keep storage behind closet doors, rather than out in the open.
Photo: Kyle Knodell; Styling: Jamie Perez Herrera
Go for a floating side table
Okay—maybe you’re not ready to let go of the side table entirely but you still have limited space. A floating side table could be the fix for your interior design dilemma. In a Brooklyn apartment reimagined for a single mother and young daughter, Brett Masterson was left with limited space when he divided the original bedroom to create separate rooms for each family member. The mother’s room has a slim floating bookshelf that offers enough space for a charging phone and a cup of water. An added bonus: Floating bookshelves are much easier to clean under than their four-legged counterparts.
Photo: Prue Ruscoe; Styling: Felicity Ng
Center natural light
Though we may not be able to control the amount of natural light our living spaces get, when windows do appear, it’s best to center that light source as much as possible. In a bedroom at designer Yasmine Ghoniem’s own home, a low headboard was used so that the window could be as unobstructed as possible. Evidenced by the moody hues of the headboard and bedspread, deeper colors can be used in a room that enjoys natural light without making the room feel any less refreshing.
Photo: Evan Jorgensen
Keep it doorless
If you have the dumb luck of enjoying a spacious (maybe even walk-in) closet but only a small bedroom, there may not be much you can do beyond major renovation to even out the scale. What you can do is opt to remove the door, or set of doors, that separate the closet from the rest of the bedroom. This way the cramped bedroom can avoid feeling cave-like, and the closet will feel less secondary. Bonus points if you pull off an arched doorway like in this Brooklyn rowhouse that Rustam Mehta and Tal Schori, the founding partners at Brooklyn-based GRT Architects, reimagined.
Photo: Ekaterina Izmestieva
Choose a sculptural headboard
For those who prefer neutral tones and simple fabrics to bright colors and flashy prints, sculptural headboards can be particularly useful. This way you can enjoy what makes an eye-catching headboard great—it can set the tone for the whole room and take the pressure off every other element—without sacrificing a room’s color scheme or overall mood. We’re particularly into the Studio Ahead Sheep bed employed in a San Francisco renovation by SA’s founders.
Photo: Will Ellis
Choose your bedspread wisely
In a room that’s not much larger than the mattress it contains, the bedspread is the single most important factor. Forget upgrading your old bed frame or swapping out your nightstand, investing in a good blanket (and accessorizing with some fun throw pillows, if you’re into that kinda thing) can easily help level up a small bedroom. Designer Fanny Abbes used a pom-pom-bedecked bedspread in the petite bedroom of this Upper East Side apartment.
Photo: Meghan Marin
Opt for a daybed
Especially for those of us who spend plenty of time in our bedrooms during waking hours, a daybed can be an asset for a small bedroom. In the guest bedroom/home office hybrid of his New York City apartment, celebrity hairstylist Harry Josh used a daybed to make the space as flexible as possible. Whether you use your small bedroom as a space to study, host friends, or lounge around watching TV, opting for a daybed can make it much more comfortable for you around the clock.
Photo: Kirsten Francis Photography
Get a bed with built-in storage
Storage space is one of the first things to go when it comes to downsizing your bedroom–after all, it’s not like you can get rid of the bed! So what to do? Designer Margaret Costello opted for a bed with built-in storage for her Greenwich Village apartment. Though storage bed models vary, Costello’s Niels Bendtsen-designed DWR bed maneuvers the mattress up to access that extra space, making it particularly handy if your bedroom doesn’t have the space for pulling out under-mattress drawers.
Photo: Melanie Landsman
Add a mirror
Perhaps the most dependable trick in the book on making a space appear larger, adding a mirror can always be counted on to make a bedroom feel more spacious. In this 800-square-foot Brooklyn apartment, the mirror was added above the bed, removing the undesirable experience of waking up and immediately confronting your own reflection. The wall behind the bed faces the windowed wall, doubling up on all of that precious natural light.
Photo: Joe Kramm; Styling: Mieke ten Have
Go for an accent wall
When floor space is limited, an accent wall is often the most foolproof of small bedroom ideas. In this New York City apartment revamped by Project AZ, built-in storage painted in a deep teal lines the bedroom wall. If you live in a rental and can’t do built-ins and prefer not to paint, a gallery wall or painted wall shelves should do the trick. Or—for something slightly more adventurous but still low stakes—try peel and stick removable wallpaper.
Photo: Tim Hirschmann
Spice up the ceiling
Depending on how adventurous you are with DIY projects, spicing up the ceiling is a wonderful way to make your room look personal without messing with your bedroom layout. This California desert home features wood paneled ceilings that continue the texture of the thicker paneling on the walls and tie into the natural tones of the duvet cover and other linens.
Photo: Muk van Lil
Bring on the throw pillows
Cute throw pillows aren’t just for jazzing up the living room! When there’s little space for any decor, throw pillows can add visual interest and make the bedroom more comfortable all at once. Well-designed throw pillow covers are like little works of art, and they’re much easier to bring in than an artwork that needs to be hung or another piece of furniture that would take up precious floor space. Just glimpse at designer Madelon Oudshoorn Spaargaren’s own bedroom and you’ll get it.
Photo: Francisco Nogueira
Add a houseplant
Where would we turn to make our living spaces a little more, well, lively without houseplants? Whether your living space leans minimalist, maximalist, or boho, as this earth-toned Libson home does, houseplants can add a sense of groundedness in even the most frustratingly small bedrooms. You can stick a tiny succulent on a floating shelf, pop a hook on the ceiling and flaunt a hanging plant, or eke out a sliver of floor space for a monstera—however you achieve it, the houseplant will definitely prove itself worthy of the footprint it takes up.
Bring in pops of color
Sophie Lou Jacobsen’s eclectic apartment is full of fun finds, and her loft bedroom is no exception. Though the bedroom is dominated by its bright white walls and ceiling—and the desk and lamp are also white—the space feels energetic thanks to the random pops of color from the other furniture and the bedspread. It just goes to show that it only takes a couple pieces to truly set a tone in a small space.
Photo: Seth Caplan
Make a statement with lighting
With high ceilings, you have space for a dramatic chandelier; with an extra wedge of space on either side of the bed, you have room for an impactful floor lamp; and no matter what, you should be able to stick a sconce on the wall of your bed. No matter what light fixture your space lends itself to, it can act as the statement piece of your room. In this playful loft, the midcentury-style floor lamp packs a punch.
Photo: Barbara Corsico
Add a loft space
Whether you add it for extra storage room or as an area for the mattress, a loft space will immediately give you more space to rejigger your room design. In this Italian vacation home, which measures just 323 square feet but is intended to host six people, a loft space was added above a mattress to home another mattress built-in bunk bed style. Pink ladder, wood grain lining, and blue and green paint—the clever colorful design by homeowners and architects Stefano Carera and Eirini Giannakopoulou shows how distinct even a simple loft space can feel.