New Ideas for a small room

**Cheyenne** · 01-30-2011 07:18 PM

This summer I may be re-paiting my room and moving some stuff around. Two years ago, I moved a lot of things around in room, and I loved it. Now, I don't love it as much. I have a super TINY bedroom, and I can't do a lot with it. Right now, I have a bed, a desk, a dresser and two bookcases amd some odd an ends things. My room is barely big enough for all of that. I want my room to look bigger than it is. And have more space than I do now. I want to keep most of my things that I have in my room there if I can. Can someone please give me some ideas and tips for this? Thanks!

**Olympia** · 01-30-2011 08:23 PM

Color of the walls can deceive the eye.. (larger or smaller)... Windows also have an effect.. Objects that are on the walls, or suspended from the ceiling will also open a room to the optical effect of space.. (larger)
Do you have a window, large or small..?
wall color,.. Willingness to change (perhaps drastic or plain?
Mirrors.. (they can be used to reflect space that is open..) make the room appear larger. Do you have any..?

**Olympia** · 01-30-2011 08:37 PM

Ooops...
(lol)
forgot to mention.... Lighting also can be utilized, for depth, and mood!
(nudge, nudge......) wink!

**lizzardb63** · 01-30-2011 08:40 PM

I also have a very small bedroom. What I did was get rid of my dresser and other storage (Cuz i dont have a closet) but instead on the free wall I have a rack screwed into the wall where I can stack clothes on and hang all my shirts and stuff on. It saves a lot of general space and it looks like your own personal dressing room. I have blue walls and my racks are white so it looks good with the white trim. The darker the color of walls, the smaller your room will look though.

**Cheyenne** · 01-31-2011 05:08 AM

Olympia, I have a white room and I am willing to change the colors, I just don't know to what yet. I was thinking of a light lavender, almost blue. I do have a small window facing the driveway. I have a couple of posters hanging up and some shelves. I don't really like mirrors in my room. It's just a thing I have. I have an overhead light and a lamp, both of which I use a lot. Lizzard, I do have a closet, and a dresser. But my closet isn't big enough to hold everything that my dresser has in it and that's where my lamp sits.

**Olympia** · 01-31-2011 07:34 AM

Cheyenne,
It sounds as though you are living in a dorm, if so make sure you get permission... as they used to sock it to us when we changed or added things to a room...
Have you ever seen a wall that was sponged..? (parchment paper look) It can soften the feeling of a small space yet open it. Mirrors are a great space deception, but not necessary. Painting the ceiling with a satin paint since you have a light there, will reflect that light. I have used the color, 'Rice Cake' (off white) satin, for that same purpose. It helps to lighten.. Storage under the bed, (foot locker) for clothes that will not fit in closet. (seasonal perhaps) Shelves attached to the wall to free up floor area. A loft bed would help this as well..

**Little.Chuck** · 01-31-2011 07:43 AM

Some great ideas from posters above. Olympia, love the satin paint and mirrors idea. Cheyenne, maybe a feng shui type design would work well?

**Cheyenne** · 01-31-2011 04:03 PM

Olympia, I am not in a dorm. I'm in my parents house, the same rrom I've been in since I was 2. No, not really. My ceiling is kinda like that, but it's bumpy, and rough. I had an idea of painting the whole room white, or off white, and then paint splatter it. What's a loft bed? I have a twin bed, but it's starting to become to small and uncomfratable for me, and I was thinking of buying a full sized bed. But I'm not sure how well that would work out. I have a storage box that I keep my seasonal clothes in, but it's to big to keep under the bed, so I put it the corner and put my sheets on top of it. I have a few shelves up, but they're mainly for specail items that I don't want damaged. I was thinking of putting some relaxtion or calming posters up. Little Chuck, what do you mean by feng shui type?

**Little.Chuck** · 01-31-2011 04:43 PM

Search 'Feng Shui' in google images

**WildChild** · 01-31-2011 06:00 PM

What you need to look at is your footprint, that is the floor space something takes. For example your bed is 39 x 75 inches, a full sized bed would be 54 x 75, that is the foot print. In a room anything that takes up floor space pretty much keeps you from using the space above it. If you got a full sized bed and had it sit up off the floor enough, you could use the space under for storage, then you are getting more in that foot print.
A loft bed is rather like a bunk without the bottom bed, you can put a desk, dresser or other things in that space, again fitting more in the footprint. Under the bed dresser would also do this, allowing storage under the bed. A second hanging lamp instead of the one sitting on your dresser would free up a little space.

Have seen bathroom space savers? These are a shelving unit that straddles the toilet tank and provides shelves above. You can build something like this to create shelving over your dresser or even over one end of your bed. If you have a lot stuffed animals you can make a hammock for them and hang it up close to the ceiling, then they are there but the space under is usable.