Small Bedroom - Design Ideas

Now that we are galloping into the New Year it is at this time that we all start to think about new things we want to do like holidays, moving house, new car etc.

Our cute little front door and front garden

We have been living in our little Victorian house for 5 years which if I am honest is a tad longer than I expected not that I am saying that I don't like our house it is just a bit small for us.  It was the first house that Guy and I first started to live together and we were all excited at the prospect. It was in fact the only house we viewed, now I know what you are thinking why didn't we look at any other houses?

We weren't that stupid we did our research beforehand over the period of a year and pin pointed the area and the street that we wanted to live on. When it came to it for us to buy I had been looking on right move for months and when the house came on the market we were one of the first to see it. The houses on our road are very popular I think due to the location we are right by the station and it is a 30 min train ride to London, 5 mins to Reading, 10 mins to Shiplake (where Guys parents live). We are a very short walking distance to the village which has cute little shops, restaurants and pubs. It is one of a handful of streets in the village that has little Victorian houses that don't cost millions of pounds.

The house is a typical Victorian two and two down apart from we only have one down as the wall has been removed between what would have been the lounge and dining room. We have a small kitchen that comes off the back and the stairs are situated in our one room. There would have been two fireplaces in the room but they had been taken out a long time ago because storage is an issue we decided to build cupboards in the recesses Guy with his handy man skills built these out of mdf and wallpapered over them to make it look like they were integral to the wall which works very well.

Upstairs we have one double bedroom and one very small single bedroom and when I say very small I mean tiny it doesnt help that it also has a fireplace in it. Because Guy and I have a large shoe collection (He says mine is too big but he does have over hundred pairs which is a lot for a man) we made the second bedroom into our dressing room. I had always dreamed of a walk in wardrobe and there was no way that anyone would actually sleep in our little guest bedroom. The hanging rails we purchased from Ikea with shelving etc and it has been amazing as we would never have fitted all our clothes and shoes in a double wardrobe in our bedroom.

Five years on we would like to move house to somewhere a little bit bigger our list of ideal things for our next home would be:

1. At least two rooms downstairs as we have a lot of dinner parties so need a room large enough for a large dining table.

2. Two toilets as Guy loves to read in our bathroom he is in there for hours which is not good when you are bursting for a wee!

3. At least two double bedrooms that has enough space for all our clothes (and shoes) and guests can sleep in a bedroom instead of on a blow up mattress in our lounge

4. A bigger kitchen Guy loves to cook and is very good at it he also loves gagets which means bigger cupboards are needed

5. Parking! we have no parking down our little street it is a dead end at the bottom which requires a lot of skill turn the car around without taken out all of the neighbours cars. If you come home from work after six oclock you are buggered as there is no chance of a space so you have to park on the station road which is permit parking only. 

6. A slightly bigger garden for the pups to run around and explore. Our little garden I do love and we worked very hard on it as it was a dirt pile with a falling down old shed and huge hole in it when we first moved in. We knocked down the shed the falling down fencing we replaced, the ground was made level, the grass was replaced with fake grass (which looks brilliant and the dogs can't destroy it) Guy built an amazing shed more like a summer house and we put decking down. Which meant Guy filled it with three BBQ's yes I did say three! 



Our little garden with two of the three bbq's on show



We still love old houses but to stay in this area and get a larger old house we would need to win the lottery so who know's what our next house will be like? We would like to move in late spring and luckerly we don't really need to do that much work to the house the only major thing is that we must lose the dressing room. It has to go back to being a bedroom so how do we make it look like an amazing second bedroom? 

I have been looking at some ideas and think a day bed would work really well in our bedroom as it looks like a bed/sofa and a lot also have storage underneath which is essential in a small room.

Here are a few ideas that I liked



This room I like the vintage style wooden bed with the pile of different size cushions the white wood panel walls with the white bedlinen makes the room feel fresh and light giving the illusion of space. This look is very easy and cheap to achieve most junk shops have single pine wooden bed that you can paint.




You would thnk using a wallpaper in a small space would make it feel even smaller but I think the clever use of the monochrome wallpaper and matching soft furnishings creates a cosy feeling and because the patterns are not conflicting they help to give depth without overcrowding. Ikea do a black metal day bed at a the extremely good price of £84.00. Most of the expense in this look is the wallpaper and soft furnishings




This day bed is pure luxury the upholstery is perfect as it really does feel like a comfy elegant sofa the matching throw on the mattress hides the fact it is also a bed. The eclectic mix of furniture is a favourite of mine, the small louis chair is a perfect writing desk chair with the console table that can also be used as a writing table and a bedside table. This look would require professional upholstery so not the cheapest look to achieve




If you want a bit more of a modern look to the room then this day bed is perfect the warmth of the wood contrasts with the stark white walls and cushion. The feature painting above the day bed gives a focal point and velvet scatter cushions give a mix of texture to the wool blanket.  Wooden day beds you can get from most high street stores Ikea does this one for £259.00



So which style will we go for?
All in good time

All day bed images from Elle Decor