Walk into my bedroom and tell me if you think it was made for anything other than sleeping. Bed. Nightstands.
Dresser. Easiest. Seriously though…I lived in this space and made due for YEARS without thinking twice about adding anything else.
I liked having the extra room but I definitely didn’t stress if we ever had house guests and they needed a spot to crash: they slept on the floor. We all do it.
I thought about it occasionally when I’d flop down on my bed to read or scroll through social media because I had nowhere else to go.
Then one day I got a crazy idea: I wanted to add a couch. Yeah…you heard me. My sister thought I was crazy.
Literally laughed in my face when I described my plan. “Claire… bedrooms are for sleeping,” she replied. Gee thanks… like I want a hot tub in my bedroom too! Something about the idea of lounging in bed grew on me though.
I loved the idea of having a cozy spot to do more than sleep. A place to sit while I put on makeup or read Sunday morning coffee books. Bonus if I could create a makeshift landing zone for clothes that didn’t involve THROWING THEM ON THE FLOOR.
Inspiration initially struck when I realized how cramped my bedroom felt each morning when I got ready. I found myself balancing on the edge of my bed trying to put shoes on half the time. Standing at my dresser doing my hair seemed almost unnatural.
There was this awkward empty spot by my window I’d been avoiding for over a YEAR. It was literally just floor leaning up against the wall, mocking me. Dust collecting on the floor, socks hiding beneath.
It was about four feet by six feet. Not massive by any means, but it was JUST BIG ENOUGH to jog my brain into overdrive. Could I…should I?
Suddenly I was measuring EVERYTHING. The bedroom itself is pretty spacious at 12×14 but once you throw in our king size bed, nightstands, and dresser there isn’t a lot of wiggle room. Couch was going to have to be small to fit in that awkward corner by the window but still cozy enough to actually sit on.
Funny how once you start looking for a specific piece you suddenly notice EVERYTHING-IN-THE-WORLD-IS-A-COUCH that either a) sucks and is way too big to work or b) adorable but probably made for a hobbit. After weeks of searching I found “the one” tucked away at a local furniture consignment store. It was a 48″ velvet settee in sage green with gorgeous curved brass legs in the perfect shade of…well, brass. “Oh honey it’s been here FOREVER,” the older woman helping me told me. “Definitely from an estate sale. probs an antique from the 1960s judging by the construction.” She was $320 which at the time seemed outrageously expensive but not totally unrealistic.
More than I wanted to spend but FAR less than buying something brand-spanking new. My friend came to help me lug it back to my apartment (barely fit in her SUV!) and we actually had to take the legs off to pop it up the stairwell to my second floor bedroom. Half of me was concerned the whole way home that I was going to hate it.
Who puts a couch in their bedroom?? Would it swallow the room? Forget my sister – did I officially have the judgmental eyes of every design blogger EVER on me?
It clicked the second we set it in that corner. Suddenly my bedroom had a FOCUS. I loved how it anchored the entire room by my window creating an adorable sitting nook that actually made my room feel finished vs slapped together.
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It was SMALL ENOUGH that it didn’t overwhelm any particular area but big enough that it actually felt like furniture. Placement took a few tries. At first I set it perpendicular to the window facing my bed.
Fun idea but weird to THINK about laying in bed while someone was ALSO sitting there watching me sleep. Next I angled it towards the window which was better but blocked precious sunlight. Finally, I came to my GENIOUS conclusion: place it parallel to the window with an adorable side table to the left of it.
Now I have a spot to set down my coffee cup or phone! I wasn’t sure how often I’d actually USE a couch in my bedroom. Honestly thought it would be ONE of those cute rooms that looked great in photos but served no real purpose other than “check_yes Imathingthatchiques” on Instagram.
Wrong. So very WRONG. It completely changed how I USE my bedroom each morning when I get ready for work.
I sit down to do my skincare routine instead of awkwardly crowding the bathroom sink. Shoes go on here. Laundry folds here while I catch up on Stranger Things on my laptop.
Sometimes I even read in bed BEFORE I go to sleep instead of stacking pillows against my headboard to keep my phone propped up. The downside to living in a one bedroom apartment is oftentimes my “closet” doubles as a catch-all for all of OUR clothes. Adding a couch gave me the most glorious spot to PUT something besides throw my clothes down!
I put clean laundry here to fold, I lay out my work clothes for the next day here. It functions as a pseudo-dressing table where I can stage getting-ready without destroying my bed. SO many times I worried about putting the couch in there.
Was it going to make my room look smaller? Cramped? Fill it to capacity with furniture when there WAS enough space?
Truth is…it does none of those things! If anything adding a couch TO MY BEDROOM made it feel bigger. It gave my room distinct areas to hang out: lounge by the window OR sleep at the bed.
The dark sage green adds a hint of color without being overpowering.
And velvet? LORD DOES THAT TEXTURE JUST MAKE EVERYTHING ELSE IN YOUR ROOM LOOK FANCY.
Honestly the only thing that’s changed about my routine is that I actually TAKE my time when I get ready. My chair faces the window so I have natural lighting when applying makeup. On the weekends I brew my coffee first thing and sit here and enjoy it for a few minutes before my day begins.
SUCH a simple change to my life but I love feeling PUT-TOGETHER because I took five extra minutes to slow my bathroom routine down. My one regret? NOT doing this sooner.
Literally MONTHS of looking at that empty spot in my bedroom thinking it was “too small to fit anything cute” but really it was PERFECT. You just have to know what you want and sometimes THAT means thinking outside the box. OR building a closet in your front room.
But we’ll save that story for another time 😉
