God, small bedrooms are the worst, aren’t they? I’m talking about those rooms where you open the door and immediately feel claustrophobic, where the estate agent probably described it as “cozy” but what they really meant was “you’ll be sleeping in what’s essentially a glorified cupboard.”
When Danny and I moved into our little terrace, I knew the second bedroom was tiny, but I hadn’t quite prepared myself for just how tiny. We’re talking maybe 9×8 feet, and that’s being generous with the measuring tape. The previous owners had used it for storage, judging by the dents in the walls and the mysterious stains on the carpet. Oh, and they’d painted it this soul-crushing shade of beige that made the whole space feel like the inside of a cardboard box.
I remember standing in the doorway that first day, looking at this depressing little room, thinking there was absolutely no way we could make it work as an actual bedroom. The radiator took up most of one wall, there was barely space for a bed, and the single window was so small it felt more decorative than functional. Danny suggested we just use it for storage too, but I was determined to prove him wrong.
The thing about tiny bedrooms is that every single decision matters. You can’t just throw furniture around and hope for the best like you might in a bigger room. Every colour choice, every piece of furniture, every little decorative touch either makes the space feel bigger and more comfortable, or it makes it feel even more cramped and horrible.
I started with the walls because that beige situation was genuinely depressing me. Everyone online kept saying to paint small rooms white to make them feel bigger, but honestly? I think that’s rubbish advice. White walls in a tiny room just make it feel like a hospital room or a prison cell. Instead, I went completely the opposite direction and chose this gorgeous deep green colour I found marked down at B&Q. It was one of their “oops” paints where someone had ordered the wrong shade – got a whole tin for fifteen quid instead of forty-something.
Painted just one wall with it, the one behind where the bed would go, and the difference was incredible. Instead of feeling cramped, the room suddenly felt cozy and intimate. Like a proper grown-up bedroom rather than a spare room we were camping in. My mum thought I’d lost my mind when she saw it – kept asking why I’d made the room darker – but she changed her tune when she saw how much better it looked with everything else in place.
Storage became my absolute obsession pretty quickly. When you’ve got no built-in wardrobes and barely any floor space, you have to get really creative about where to put your stuff. I bought a load of those clear plastic boxes from Wilko – the really basic ones that cost about three quid each – and covered them in wrapping paper left over from Christmas. Sounds naff, but I found this lovely William Morris-style paper in the sales, and once the boxes were covered, they looked almost expensive sitting under the bed.
The bed itself was a nightmare to figure out. A proper bed frame would have taken up half the room, so we ended up with the mattress on a low platform I made from some reclaimed wood I found on Facebook Marketplace. Guy was renovating his kitchen and just wanted rid of these gorgeous old floorboards. Cost me twenty quid and a trip to Arnold in Danny’s van, but I sanded them down and made this really low, Japanese-style platform that fits perfectly and gives us loads of storage space underneath.
Lighting was probably the biggest game-changer though. The room came with one of those horrible overhead lights that makes everything look like a hospital ward. Couldn’t afford fancy fixtures, so I got creative with table lamps and fairy lights. Found this brilliant vintage brass lamp at a car boot sale for eight quid – needed a new shade, but Dunelm had some lovely ones for fifteen quid. Added some warm white fairy lights around the window frame and suddenly the whole room felt about three times bigger, especially in the evenings.
I ignored all the advice about keeping small rooms minimal too. That might work if you’ve got storage elsewhere in the house, but we didn’t, so I had to make the room work hard. Put up floating shelves along one wall using brackets from Screwfix and some wood Danny’s mate cut for us. Arranged books, plants, and some little decorative bits I’d collected over the years. Makes the room feel taller and gives me somewhere to display things that actually matter to me, rather than just having bare walls.
The mirror trick everyone talks about actually does work, but not with those tiny mirrors people always suggest. I found this massive old mirror at an estate sale for twelve quid – frame was a bit tatty but nothing some white paint couldn’t sort. Propped it against the wall opposite the window and it basically doubled the natural light coming in. Made such a difference, especially on those grey Nottingham mornings when you need all the help you can get.
Plants were my next mission, even though everyone said the room was too small and dark. Got a snake plant from Tesco for six quid because they’re practically impossible to kill, and it sits perfectly on the windowsill. Added a trailing pothos on one of the floating shelves, and both of them are doing brilliantly. There’s something about having living things in a small space that makes it feel less like a box and more like somewhere you actually want to spend time.
Changed the curtains pretty early on too. The ones that came with the house were these horrible thin things that didn’t block any light and made the window look even smaller than it was. Bought some lovely thick fabric from the remnant bin at John Lewis – probably cost them fifty quid a meter originally but I got enough for full-length panels for twenty quid because it was the end of the roll. Made them myself using YouTube tutorials, and they make such a difference both for sleeping and for making the window look bigger and more important.
Added a small rug from Facebook Marketplace that ties all the colours together and makes the space feel warmer underfoot. Cost me eighteen quid and it was barely used – probably from someone who’d bought it for a bigger room and then moved house. It’s this lovely soft grey that doesn’t show every bit of fluff and makes the whole room feel more finished.
The really clever bit was making a little dressing area in the corner. Found this narrow table at a charity shop for ten quid, painted it the same green as the accent wall, and it fits perfectly between the radiator and the corner. Put up a small mirror above it and some hooks for jewelry, and suddenly I’ve got a proper getting-ready space in about two feet of floor space.
Whole thing cost me just under two hundred quid, spread over about four months of hunting for bargains and doing bits when we had some spare cash. Could’ve done it cheaper if I’d been more patient, but sometimes you just need that new duvet cover right now because the old one is making you sad every time you look at it.
Best part is, when we eventually move to somewhere bigger, all these ideas will work in a larger space too. The colour scheme, the storage solutions, the lighting setup – it’ll all translate to whatever comes next, just on a bigger scale.
Looking at the room now, with its cozy green wall and carefully arranged bits and pieces, I can’t believe I ever thought it was hopeless. Sometimes the tiniest spaces just need the biggest imagination, and maybe a willingness to ignore half the advice on Pinterest.
