Somehow I missed this thread. Boy, can I empathize! My house is a converted church and we have 4 (FOUR) closets in 3000 sf. 3 are the size of small coat closets, one is a bit larger. And, there is only a small galley kitchen, no pantry. Yes, this does make it hard to organize!!! Though this house is roughly 3X the size of our old one, there is less than half the storage space. There is only so much stuff you can get rid of! Of course, we spent all our $$ on the house, so remodeling is not an option in the near future. I put cabinets over the toilets - big enough for hand towels and washcloths and shampoo, etc. I keep the rest of the linens under the bed (in rolling drawers.) I still have to keep the vacuum cleaner behind the sofa (and my guitar underneath)! We have a large laundry room and I'm trying to figure out how to make better use of that space. What is frustrating is that there is space that we don't really use, but I'm not clever at trying to convert this space myself. The house is all windows, too, so that really cuts down on available wall space; the third floor is an attic conversion - very steep walls and not conducive to practical storage. If I had a nickel for every time I've banged my head up there! I did buy a couple of big melamine cabinets (garage quality) to store stuff in, and that has helped a little. Glad to know that I'm not the only one with this problem! I spend a lot of time on the home decorating forum and just drool over those new houses with big pantries and huge walk-ins. Good luck and if I come up with any brilliant ideas you'll be the first to know!

cpartist why would you want to run all the way to the garage to get a step stool Thank you, Claire. The door to the garage is right next to my kitchen so no running. And I live in FL so it's not like it's a problem with cold air. Heat yes. Cold no. There is a space right next to the steps that lead down for a hook on the wall for the step stool. It's really not an issue as I had thought it might be. cpartist does this tall cabinet actually exist in the kitchen where you are able to add a bar above cabinets and have the ladder tucked away when it’s not in use. Yes it does but as noted in the drawing that is a wall up against it. Plus there is no room. Also my kitchen is mostly finished. The cabinet peeking out on the left below is the cabinet you circled. The wall next to it juts out 24" to frame in the nook with the buffet. To the right of the buffet is the door to the garage.

I'm guessing since you are painting the dresser you like dyi or you are on a budget. I think a tuff head board, paint furniture white and some pretty drapes. This is a link to dyi tuff headboard and scroll down and she has similar gray color scheme going with white bedside tables grey tuff headboard. You could go with other color that compliment your gray walls/carpet If you scroll the link she shows a picture of the room. Its older post 2013 but I'm still seeing tuff beds so it should be ok ;) I'm not a designer and not trendy so it may be consider out of date LOL I'm sure others will let you know Have fun and make the space something that's peaceful for you https://www.thriftydecorchick.com/2013/07/diy-tufted-headboard-tutorial.html

Well hello Sarah. Good for you. I see you and your husband are okay with painting the room. Bottom line Sarah you are the ones who have to be happy with the room after all you and your husband are the ones who have to live with it and painting it again is no fun. Originally you wanted to make the room feel bigger. It is up for debate; some say darker colors do the job, others light. Anything that reflects light in a room makes it feel bigger such as mirrors, wall lights and I believe, lighter walls. I ask, what color makes you and your husband happy and gets you excited? Also what color is closest to your duvet? Do you want to match the duvet or go just one color lighter? It does seem as if this project is driving you up the wall. Ouch. My wish is that you had a room upstairs that you could turn into a master. BTW the one with a touch of grey looks great. Best wishes, Marcie