I had a bedroom a tiny bit bigger than this in my first apartment. I think it was 8' x 8.5'. I had a double bed and one side had to be against a wall because of the position of the door and the closet and the bathroom door (the bathroom was entered through the bedroom). I was able to fit a small nightstand and a dresser in the room, but nothing else. Because I lived alone, I had free use of the rest of the apartment, so I didn't spend much time in the bedroom. So a question I have for you is, who will be living in this room and how much of the rest of the house will they have access to? Do they need a computer or tv in the bedroom, for example? Will the occupant have to store everything they own in this room or is there space in the rest of the house for some of their things? If I had to do it over again, I'd get a good closet system in the closet, to maximize every inch of storage space. It might be possible, with the right closet system, to store all clothing in the closet, negating any need for a dresser. Bonus if additional storage space for other things could be created. An alternative to a nightstand is to mount a small shelf on the wall next to the bed. However, if there is room for a nightstand, it would add extra storage. Traditional nightstands might be too big, but you could Google "telephone table" to find some smaller, yet still tall enough, tables that would work. A small bookcase would also add storage. And if a tv is wanted/needed, it could either be wall-mounted or go on top of the bookcase. A bed that allows for underbed storage is also a good idea. Use the vertical space on the walls. You could run a shelf all the way around the room, just above the tops of the doors. I saw a lovely room once where they had put shelves just above the windows. There are also a great many wall-hung organizers that would work, or pegboard. As for decorating, I think a simple color scheme is best. Too many colors and patterns in a really small space can be overwhelming. I'm linking to a studio apartment I just saw on Apartment Therapy. The main color there is white, but you could switch that out to just about any color that the occupant of the room likes. Even though this studio is larger than the room you have, you can pull some ideas from it. The use of one color in most of the room to unify everything, the double purpose credenza that is part nightstand and part storage, the wall-mounted shelving and the two tall bookcases that take advantage of the vertical space, the use of open space to add the sense of more room--not cramming every corner with stuff helps to make the room feel larger,. Here is a link that might be useful: calm studio apartment

Thank you for the advice! If we get double hung windows to replace these they will be a little shorter so the ht-width is the right shape for a double hung window. That will make it easier for furniture placement, actually, which makes me happy :)

OP here, sorry it was meant to read "big gap between the window and the wall." That part is now much better (last time he had some assistants who did some of the work), but the outside still looks ridiculous. I'm just trying to figure out if there is some technical reason that a double hung might frame out on the exterior differently than a casement window. The installer kept telling me that this was the case. If that's true, okay, I wish someone had told me in advance though.

I'm actually not seeing it as a big mess. The architect spec'd the door and overall layout. We loved the idea of having a door. We knew the ovens would open in front of the door. Are you referring to the overall design as a mess, or that it's a tight squeeze? it's not like the KD can slide the run back a foot or even a few inches. When I tell you I interviewed/worked with 3 different KDs before contracting with one, working on this very area, I would not be exaggerating. We even entertained the idea of not putting that door in and instead, creating an access panel to toss recyclables, trash, etc but kept coming back to the garage door idea. Even during construction, I am loving the door so I'm not sorry we have it. Just want to figure out the door knob issue...