My bedroom is pretty tiny. I can honestly say it’s about the same size as my large walk-in closet. When I moved into my flat two years ago my mum looked around at the square footage and said, “Well love, you’re either going to get creative or you’re going to go crazy with how small this is.” How right she was.
Living with such a small bedroom has taught me one thing: every inch counts. And I don’t mean that from an Instagram-filter-on-your-bedroom-wall kind of way. I mean literally.
Where the hell am I supposed to put all my jumpers when winter comes around? Trust me, I’ve tried every Pinterest-perfect storage solution under the sun until my credit card began to fear for its life.
So here’s what DOES work (that I don’t despise using every day).
Beneath my bed are my lifesavers. Storage boxes on wheels from IKEA (SAMLA if you want to know) that I stumbled across in the Ikea depths. They were £30 for a set of four and are completely transparent so you can see what’s inside.
I keep out of season clothing in here, as well as spare bedding, and those bits you need sometimes but not often enough to warrant cupboard space. The wheels are a godsend – I can simply roll them out from underneath the bed without resorting to strange yoga moves or moving the bed itself. Sure, they might not look amazing but hey ho, they’re under the bed!
Floating shelves above my bed. Three of them. Down the middle I keep books I’m currently reading (or want to appear as though I’m reading) and on the outsides are cute little baskets containing miscellany; phone chargers, lip balm, random bits that get shuffled around bedroom surfaces.
My friend James came over the other week and noticed them, announcing that they looked like a headboard. Hilariously not my intention at all but… I’ll take the compliment! FYI, hanging shelves are the worst.
I think I broke three different types of wall plug and swear-word drilled them in. Moral of the story: once they’re up they’ve never come out and stayed put for over a year now so clearly I’ve mastered this whole interiors game. The winner though?
My ottoman at the bottom of my bed. Hands down game changer. Supports IKEA again; bought from a local shop for around £120.
It houses all my spare pillows, throws (don’t ask me why I have so many cushions, it’s just something I can’t help hoarding) and doubles up as seating when I’ve got people over. It’s also the perfect height from the ground to perch on when I’m wrestling with shoe laces. On top of my bedside table ( bedside dresser may be more fitting) I use a bamboo tray with compartments.
Not worth naming and shaming as it was an incredibly plain one from TK Maxx but served me well for about a year before I upgraded to this beauty I found in a market for £5. Honestly! Use whatever works for you.
Mine stores jewellery, loose change, keys you name it. Stuff that would normally roam around my bedroom freely, possessed with minds of their own. The drawers underneath hold spare books, notebooks and as my sister so lovingly refers to it, my “bedtime pharmac cupboard” — vitamins, hand cream, you get the idea.
Behind my bedroom door, I hung five hooks in a line. One each for my dressing gown, what I plan to wear tomorrow, and bags. Trust me, once you get used to hanging specific things on certain hooks it becomes second nature and looks far more organised than it sounds!
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Speaking of hooks, the inside of my wardrobe door is sacred real estate. I slapped on one of those over the door hanging shoe organisers you get. The ones with fabric and clear pockets.
However, I don’t use mine for shoes. Fantastic storage for scarves, belts, tights, smaller accessories. I keep suitcases on top of my wardrobe, and vacuum storage bags for winter coats underneath.
The storage bags work alright. Although I did have a tragic fail once when I put too much in one of them and ended up sitting awake at 2am listening to it explode like someone was trying to break in through my bedroom window. Turned out it was just my duvet covered in compressed jumpers.
On top of my desk (because it’s tiny I shoved it in the corner) hangs a pegboard. B&Q special purchased for about £15. Painted white to match the walls so it didn’t look too manufacturing unit.
I use tiny baskets hung on hooks to store pens, cables, postcards and anything else that would normally clutter up my desk surface. Under my desk I keep a cute little filing box. Nothing ground-breaking I know, but necessary.
Random bits and bobs that need storing; warranties, bills etc. You know, all the things that have nowhere else to live but “that pile on the bedroom floor.” I use the top of my bedside dresser as a transitional spot. There’s a cute little wicker basket that I throw library books that need returning in, things I want to take back to friends and family houses etc.
It stops my bedroom from becoming cluttered with “temporary” items. Don’t waste your money on these: hanging closet organisers with multiple layers of shelves. They looked amazing online but didn’t translate well IRL.
Far too difficult to access everything when looking for something specific, and honestly everything just sagged. Canvas storage cubes that promise to slide neatly under your bed? Hot garbage.
Doesn’t slide. Gets caught on everything. And an absolute nightmare to keep tidy.
The IKEA boxes are way superior.
Same thing goes for this bedside caddy that hangs between your mattress and bed frame. Stopped using mine after about a week because every time I moved in my sleep it fell on the floor.
The biggest thing I learnt? Storage in a small bedroom has to be stupid easy to maintain. Otherwise I simply won’t do it and my entire system is pointless.
Every single storage trick I use on a daily basis is: slide underneath bed, lift out, hang up, and you’re done. My bedroom is by no means instagram-worthy. But now I have a home for everything and I know where everything is.
I don’t have to dig around my bedroom whenever I need to find something. When I’m rushing around in the mornings that’s plenty satisfying enough for me. It took me a while to find the solutions that worked for my space/lifestyle but now I don’t know what I’d do without my tinylet me know your tiny bedroom hacks in the comments!
