Bedroom Furniture Tips to Maximise Space

Have you ever tried to change a baby’s nappy in an airplane bathroom? It’s basically impossible. Not an inch of free counter space, hardly room to turn around, let alone maneuver your little bundle of delight into position for the delicate operation. Odds are you end up with one foot in the toilet, bum cream in your eye and poop smears on the walls.

With any bedroom that’s a tad on the small side, you’re bound to come up against some space challenges. Fortunately, unlike so many victims of those aggravating airborne ablutions, you don’t have to be pulled into a vortex of chaos. With some smart bedroom furniture choices and a little thinking outside the box, you can create the space you need, and have some poop-free fun in the process.

You will no doubt come across loads of awesome small bedroom ideas gathered in herds all over the web—great for a day of leisurely browsing. To save you some time, we’ve boiled these down to just four basic concepts with a few of our favourite examples, so you can go forth and hack your way to small bedroom bliss!

1. Think Lite, think Light

Firstly, it’s called a bedroom for good reason. The whole purpose of this space is to give you a place to click ‘refresh’ at the end of the day, and leave in the morning ready to take on the world. So ‘think Lite’ when it comes to furniture, and let your bed be the hero, while making sure anything else you include in the room is contributing in some essential way to your feeling peaceful and centred—not presenting you with more chaos.

Do you really need your desk in here, or can it fit in another corner of the house? That sentimental rocking chair you inherited from grandma? Maybe it’s time for a yard sale. This doesn’t mean you have to go bare bones on style—it’s just about making careful choices.

Featured Headboard - Jiba Headboard

Instead of billowy curtains, you could opt for a neat, modern blind. Keeping window dressings to a minimum will cut down the fuss and let more light in to keep the room feeling airy and bright.

Featured Headboards - Catherine Headboard

You may also want to ‘think Light’ when picking your colour scheme - lighter colours reflect more light and naturally help us feel more energised, awake, and open to possibility. On the other hand, darker, moody tones can make things feel more cosy and intimate, but they might also have you feeling like the walls are closing in on you.

Featured Mirrors - Celestial Mirror - Pinto Mirror Medium - Pinto Mirror Large

Go with your personality and what feels right for you – no need to white wash your walls into mental asylum mode, but going with lighter shades and adding a couple of mirrors is definitely going to help keep claustrophobia at bay. 

2. Think multi-function

While true multi-tasking may still be pie in the sky for us humans, we have fortunately come up with great ideas for furniture that can pull off more than one job at a time, and still look pretty doing so. Think about it this way – you can effectively ‘double your space’ if you pick furniture that performs more than one essential function.

Why have a clunky chair that’s just a chair, when you can have a stylish storage box or ottoman that doubles as a chair, a bedside table, and a step ladder for all things ‘up’?

Hooray for the humble (and potentially magical) floating shelf. This baby is the king of multifunction—night stand, book case, desk, shoe-rack…the sky’s the limit (well, actually, the ceiling).

3. Think Up

Have you ever noticed how fixated we are on floor space, while the top half of most rooms goes totally underused? There are loads of innovative ways to put this ‘dead space’ to good use. Here are two of our favourites…

Featured item: Chest of drawers

No space for a bulky closet? Go vertical with a hanging garment rack above a modest size dresser.

A leaning ladder is an awesome idea to create vertical storage space for all kinds of things, while adding a quirky touch to your room. Plus, it’s easy to move around, with no installation required.

4. Think Under

This may be the most obvious point, but it’s about much more than shoving your shoes and unmentionables under the bed…

True story though, your bed offers one of the best places for hidden storage, particularly in the form of purpose built storage beds (and of course you can do a DIY version, which might just require swapping out your traditional box base for a more space-savvy bed frame).

Keep in mind that ‘thinking under’ often goes together with ‘thinking up’. A platform or loft bed may be a little less practical for some, but if you don’t mind literally ‘climbing into bed’, it can free up your room in a massive way with potential storage, seating, work or chill space underneath.

Cielo has one of SA’s widest ranges of stylish bedroom furniture to meet your unique needs. Visit us online or in-store today.