5 mistakes you're making when decorating small bedrooms

Small spaces can be frustrating to manage, quickly becoming cluttered and feeling cramped even when you keep furniture to a minimum. However, having less room doesn’t need to feel restrictive. Applying smart design principles to your small bedroom décor ideas can make all the difference in ensuring your room feels spacious while remaining functional.

1. Stopping your storage too low

Are you worried that using the full extent of your walls will make your bedroom feel cramped? In fact, it will do the opposite, drawing the eye upwards and enabling you to leave more floor space clear. Traditional storage, such as a chest of drawers, stops halfway up the wall, 'cutting off' the space above and making the ceiling feel lower.

Elevated storage solutions are great space savers that will help expand the size of your room in the mind's eye. Look at clever options like over-bed wardrobes, which have the benefit of framing the bed, and wall-mounted shelving, which leaves the space beneath free. Tall, slender shelves and bookcases will also help ensure a smooth, vertical visual flow.

2. Choosing the wrong furniture

Most people are guilty of choosing the wrong furniture when decorating small bedrooms. There are several factors to consider beyond size, and getting this right will help you maximise space and functionality simultaneously.

Avoid large, boxy pieces, opting instead for sleeker styles which leave the space around them exposed, allowing light and sight lines to pass unhindered. This serves to make the floor area feel expansive and continuous to all four corners. Avoid dark wood for furniture as it will absorb light and dominate the room, making it feel enclosed. Focus on dual-purpose pieces which double room functionality without taking up additional space, such as an ottoman with hidden storage.

3. Relying on a single light source

When you move into a new house, it can feel unfriendly at first. This isn't only because it's unfamiliar – it's also because each room is stripped back and left with a single overhead light source, which casts harsh shadows that shrink the space. Layering your lighting ensures every section is illuminated, with the added benefit of promoting productivity or cosiness as and when required.

Focus on building three layers of lighting: ambient, task and accent. Ambient lighting sets the atmosphere, so think about placing lamps in dark corners and beside the bed. Task lighting ensures excellent visibility. Examples include a desk lamp and an LED mirror. Accent lighting is used to highlight key features of the room, or as a feature itself, and can be anything from wall sconces and pendant lights to artfully arranged LED strips.

4. Mismanaging mirrors

Having a mirror in your bedroom is a practical choice for obvious reasons, but the true magic happens when you put it in the right place. When you're planning how to decorate your small bedroom, consider where your mirror will go first and foremost, planning your other furniture around it. Its primary role in a small room is to reflect light and space, making the bedroom appear much bigger.

Mirrors should be placed opposite light sources like windows and doorways, pulling external light deeper into the room and reflecting it out again. Full-length, frameless mirrors will be most impactful, so you could consider Hammonds' mirrored sliding wardrobes as a two-in-one solution that serves a purpose without taking up valuable wall space.

5. Ignoring the visual flow

One of the most common mistakes people make when decorating small bedrooms is ignoring the visual flow. Interrupting this with seemingly innocuous touches like high-contrast colours and busy patterns can make the space feel disjointed or like the walls are closing in.

For small spaces, we recommend light walls and furniture and a cohesive colour scheme rather than one full of contrasts that compete for your attention. Extending the wall colour across the ceiling, a key technique in how to colour drench rooms, helps to blur boundaries and disguise stark lines, so the space feels larger.

Let us help you fix your small bedroom layout mistakes

We've covered the basics in this blog, but if you'd like tailored recommendations for how to fix your small bedroom layout mistakes, don't hesitate to get in touch. You can arrange a free design visit with one of our experts who will be only too happy to share their advice.