How to furnish this small loft space for a bedroom?
My daughter is moving into a 4 bedroom apartment, but there will be 5 girls living there (college). Until one of the other girls moves, my daughter gets the loft space and will share the hall full bath with one of the other girls. It's less than ideal, but this is what it is going to be for at least one semester. Here is the floor plan:
Here are the measurements of the loft that I drew in powerpoint:
I need to buy her a bed and a dresser. She does not need a regular sit-down desk with a chair, but rather she needs some kind of storage solution / shelves / cubbies where the whole thing ends up at the right height for a stand-up desk. That way she won't need a chair and she likes to stand at the computer anyway. If she wants to work sitting down she'll probably be downstairs on the sofa or at the kitchen bar area, etc.
There are a couple of issue: it's open to the downstairs, so light will be a problem. The girl that lives there now has a large piece of fabric hanging from the ceiling, but it's very flimsy and really does not block much light. But if I give my daughter something more substantial to hang, then it will probably be too heavy to be able to attach with tacks as the current tenant has done it.
The storage solution / shelves / cubbies / stand-up desk? I'm not sure if I'd be able to buy something that would work best. Maybe we could build it with some blocks and wood from the hardware store? Not sure what to do for that.
Where to buy the other items? It seems like Ikea (we have one in our city) specializes in small spaces or at least creative storage solutions such as drawers under the beds and so on. Should we go there?
Placement of furniture: I'm thinking right when she walks up the stairs there will be a small dumping station, maybe a skinny little table to throw her keys, phone, and other items that she will want to grab in the morning; and some command hooks on the wall when she arrives at the top of the stairs to hang her purse or hook an umbrella, etc.
Then on the really long wall I think there should be the storage solution / shelves / cubbies / stand-up desk. Also on the long wall perhaps a separate tall wardrobe with hanging space because the closet is tiny.
On the short wall under the loft should go the bed, hopefully with storage underneath. If the bed is pushed towards the stairway end of that wall then there could be a dresser at the foot of the bed with a lamp on it.
The walls: I don't know if she'll be allowed to mount a large magnet board or bulletin board or anything else on the wall that has to screw in. She might be limited to whatever a command strip can hold, and I'm not sure how much weight they can handle. If we can put something I would like to put it above the hooks. Or we could just screw things into the wall and I'll just patch and paint it if needed when she moves so she doesn't get into trouble with the apartment management. It's been decades since I've rented so I don't really know what they typically allow nowadays.
Please give us some feedback and advice as to this plan and also where the best shopping options are. I am searching online for some used items, but I am also willing to go down to IKEA or someplace else and buy some new things.
Here's a drawing of what I was thinking:
Thanks!
Comments (20)
tibbrix
6 years agoGet permission from the landlord to put up these ceiling hooks for curtain rods, and then she'll be able to hang a heavy curtain.
You can get these at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Make sure you use anchors and don't just screw it into the ceiling without them.
Take the door off of the closet and put a curtain up instead. The door swinging out is a huge waste of space and prevents you from using that wall.
then put the twin bed against that wall next to the close so that it points out toward the center of the room. You then have both walls - the 11'8" and 17'11" walls - for a dresser and other storage pieces. She could also put a dresser at the foot of her bed, which would also create a privacy wall of sorts at the end of her bed.
ssdarb thanked tibbrixRelated Discussions
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Comments (3)So I just tweeked your current plan a little bit by doing pier style cabinets on either side of the bed. Then you don’t have to have a nightstand. Or you can just do full height wardrobes. You will have to account for the jogs in the wall so that the bed is positioned so that you can get the doors open. Then the desk would be opposite the bed and possibly add a little bookcase. I am showing a queen sized bed....See More
robo (z6a)
6 years ago
ssdarb
6 years ago
Kitch4me
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agossdarb
6 years ago
Annie Deighnaugh
6 years agotibbrix
6 years ago
Olychick
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoI agree with putting the bed as far from the open balcony as possible and lining the (is it a half wall or a railing with balusters?) open area with tall bookcases (as narrow depth as you can find for some of them to optimize her space). If she isn't claustrophobic, you could also maybe more easily fashion a curtain enclosed bed to help with the light aspect. She could cocoon herself in darkness when needed. Maybe look on CL for an inexpensive bunk bed and put a curtain around the lower, use the upper without a mattress for more storage.
Eta to add this pic, but the bed would be behind the curtains, not on top:
Maybe even fashion something like this out of pvc to give her more breathing room when the curtain is closed.
ssdarb thanked Olychickssdarb
6 years agoOh my gosh! We forgot the air purifier (she's got allergies). So I shortened the shelving unit. Is this better?
nosoccermom
6 years agotibbrix
6 years agossdarb
6 years agossdarb
6 years agochicagoans
6 years agossdarb
6 years agoHi! Thanks for all the advice. I went to help her set things up and to look at it in order to decide how to provide privacy. I decided to get ceiling tracks (found some at BBB for $9.99 on sale from $39!). I got 4 tracks of 48" each to cover the 12' span. I'm going to attach to the ceiling and I made 4 blackout curtain panels (bought ready-made panels from Target and added blackout fabric to them) to hang on the tracks. The opening at the staircase will not be covered so light will come in there,but for privacy that will be okay. She'll decide later if she wants something added there.
So here's is my final question:
The ceiling is 9' tall and the half-wall is 4'. So that leaves a 5' space to fill with the curtains. I am all done making them except to hem to the final length. Should I have them extend beyond the top of the half-wall, so maybe hem them to 65" or so? I was thinking that if the curtains are a little bit longer than the opening, they would stay closed better if there are slight breezes from AC or the nearby ceiling fan. Would about 5" extra inches be sufficient, or should it be more, like 10 or 12"?
So far: Ikea bed with drawers, over-bed storage rack form BBB, a soft-sided Ikea wardrobe, Ikea shelf with plastic bins (instead of a wooden dresser), shelf from BBB. Adding soon, a small laptop desk and a swivel chair from Ikea with will fit at te foot of the bed where there are about 4' left. We realize nothing matches but we were going for function and had to choose from what was available.
ssdarb
6 years agopractigal
6 years ago
robo (z6a)