Do you have a sketch of the room showing doors, windows, closets (if any)?

This is the closest sample I found on the internet. The closet is a sliding door underneath the bed part. And the opening of the door is on the bottom left corner. The window would be in the middle next to the bed.

The total room size is: 9.7 ft x 9.4 ft approximately.

My Queen Bed (without the head frame): 6.9 x 5.33

Desk: 3.25 x 2

Chest Drawers: 2.33 x 1.33

Thank you so much for your help!!

The closet is a sliding door underneath the bed part.

Sorry, but I don't really understand that part. Your example did a good job of squishing everything in, but I can't help but think it must be hell to make the bed.

Hi vuvimoic! Welcome to my world! Haha! My bedroom is 10x7.5. So 75 sq ft to your 81 sq ft.

I just bought a manufactured home fixer upper and my adult daughter and I are still unpacking/sorting/figuring it all out. I chose the smallest room because I work from home and wanted to make the master BR into a library. And I wanted Joy to have a nice sized room that's her own space.

So let me ask you this: what is the purpose of your bedroom? I know it sounds obvious, but bear with me. :-). When Joy and I help people organize their homes, we make them talk through, then write down, the purpose of each room. Once you know what the room is supposed to be, it makes it so much easier to design, organize, and decorate it!

A bedroom can have many purposes: a place to sleep, study, read, watch TV, have intimate relationships, eat, store clothes, a dressing room, nap room, escape from other people in the house, and on and on and on...but the one thing it shouldn't be is an afterthought. Decide what YOU want the purpose of your room to be.

The purpose of my room is: sleep, take meds, get dressed, clothes and suitcase storage, and kitty "safe" room. From the time I get dressed and leave my room in the morning until the time I go to bed, I rarely ever set foot in my room. Thus, I don't need a big room with lots of stuff in it. I have a: bed, dresser, nightstand, lamp (temporarily because the overhead light is nonfunctional), a closet with no doors, and a cat station (food, water, litter box).

So think through these questions: what is the purpose(s) of your room? Do you really need a desk in there? Would that also necessitate a chair? Do you really need a dresser, or would drawers under the bed be sufficient? (If you have room to hang almost all your clothes in the closet, which is what I do, you really don't need many drawers.)

What size bed do you really need? I switched from a queen to a twin XL last October. Not only does it save a ton of space, I was able to afford a really, really nice tempurpedic mattress. It was so much cheaper in the smaller size, even way way less than the double! (And a friend who manages a mattress store was able to get me a primo discount.) I wasn't sure I could adjust to a twin xl, but I'm getting the best sleep of my life on this mattress!

Not to make this an "R" rated post, but I'm single and not looking. So I know I'm the only one that's going to be sleeping in this bed.

I'll be sprucing up my room in the coming months. A fresh coat of paint, maybe curtains over the mini-blinds, and art on the walls and on my dresser. Even though my room is for very practical purposes, I believe in creating beauty and I want my room to evoke a feeling of warmth and peace, even though I'm only awake in there for under an hour a day.

I think once you define your room's purpose and know what you want it to "feel" like, you'll be able to figure out what to put in there and how to make it all work together, even in a very small space!

I hope this helps! :-) Give us an update if you can. :-)

Sincerely,

Debbie

P.S. My bed is against the wall, and I don't find it too bad except getting the fitted sheet on.

My bed is against the wall, and I don't find it too bad except getting the fitted sheet on.

A twin makes a big difference there. Much easier to shove the mattress over than on a queen.

That was a good post, Debbie, about deciding what you want the room to be.

I always had a multi-use bedroom till I moved into a place where I couldn't use the master bedroom because the subfloor was bad, and I learned to really like having a room with no space for anything but a bed and a dresser. It stays so much tidier with so much less effort.

Currently I have a huge master bedroom and a tiny guest room, and I sleep in the guest room and use the big room for my office.

Excellent post from Debbie. I was thinking along similar lines...do you really need a queen bed? Both a desk & a chest of drawers? I'm confused by your diagram and post about your closet - do you have the small closet in the diagram, or do you have a wider reach-in closet? Are you open to finding other furniture?

Some ideas: my mother has a piece called a secretary in her bedroom; 4 lower drawers and a leaf (for lack of a better word) above them that drops down to become a desk. Behind the leaf are drawers and cubbies that can hold all kinds of small items. I think this type of furniture would be ideal for a small bedroom - drawers & desk and room for a lamp on top - put next to a bed it could also serve as a nightstand - all in one.

If your bedroom has a standard reach in closet...I've seen pictures where people have fitted in either a desk or a chest of drawers in part of that space. My own is fitted with 2 ft. of shelves on one end. I realized that I don't own clothes that HAVE to be hung on hangers. My future closet will hopefully be mostly shelves with a couple drawers for undies and such. Another option is raising the hanging bar in a closet as high as you can comfortably reach and installing a second bar, or shelves, or a low chest of drawers below it.

Going back to Debbie's post, really consider what you will do in this room. I my current situation, I use my bedroom for sleeping, changing clothes, and storage. In previous life chapters I've used a bedroom for ALL of the activities Debbie described - lol!

Tons of small space solutions on the internet. If you are interested, I'll share some that I think could be useful.

Debbie, Great questions on the use for bedroom space. I do use the sitting space in our bedroom as mentioned on the Tea thread. I also tend to drift that way if I am on the phone. Otherwise I do not use the room much. It is a large room at 12 1/2 by 13 1/2 I think I forget now. A good sized room.

Thank you all. Yes, a dresser/chest of drawers can go into a reach in closet! I forgot about that. If you arrange your hanging clothes long to short (i.e., coats, pants, skirts, dresses, tops, shorts) you can pretty easily fit a small dresser in there under the short clothes.

llucy, I really don't have clothes so fancy I have to hang them up either. I just do it to free up dresser space and because it makes it easier for me to find clothes. Because my closet doesn't have doors (the house came that way), I can just glance over and see everything at once. I also don't have a lot of clothes, so it might not work for everyone. I LOVE the secretary your mom has! What a great solution!

writersblock, I agree--a small bedroom with just the necessities is so easy to keep tidy! In my last apartment I had a huge master and I had a desk in there, 2 dressers, a tea cart/table, a magazine rack, etc. It always looked messy! Oh, and a queen bed with massive headboard/footboard. I'm guessing you're the same as me--I want to separate home and work spaces. I'm finding that having that extra bedroom to convert into a library is awesome! First time I've been able to do that.

Shades, I really like your bedroom setup with the sitting area for tea! It's a place of quiet solitude, and we all need that.

llucy is right--there's a wealth of information on the Internet about creative uses and storage solutions for small spaces. And now, with the "tiny house" movement having gone viral, there's even more! The HGTV show "Tiny house, big living" shows a lot of neat storage ideas, and I know they have a site on the HGTV website.

The one thing Joy and I always tell people NOT to do, which goes against the grain of most other organizing books and advice: Don't START by going to the Container Store, Target, Walmart, whatever, and buying a bunch of bins and organizers. People do that and then they have a bunch of bins and things that don't fit the space, or aren't the right kind of organizer for what they need. START by figuring out the purpose for the room. NEXT, figure out EXACTLY what has to go into the room. If your room is really cluttered, take EVERYTHING out, including furniture! Then pull out only what you need to serve the purpose of the room and put ONLY those things back into the room. (With the leftover stuff, put it in the room where it should go, donate it, sell it, or trash it.) NOW you know what you're working with! NEXT, measure, measure, measure. Measure EVERYTHING! Write it down. Write down what type of organizer you need for each thing you need to organize, and write down what size bin/basket/shelf/drawer/whatever will fit in the space you've designated. NOW go to your store of choice with your list and get the right containers for your space and purposes! Believe me, you will save a lot of time, headache, and money this way! Otherwise, you either end up using organizers that don't really work, or you have to haul them back to the store and start over.

Let us know how it's going! :-)

More great information Debbie. Thanks.

I have two dressers a desk two trunks, one large one a childs trunk under the window as a step for kitties coming in and out the window. Then there is a buffet and a night stand for hubby, my chair and table. OH MY!!! OH and a small end table beside the dresser. Double oh my.

My hopes are to send my dresser and tall secretary type desk and buffet to my niece and nephews. At this point we are all stalled trying to figure how to get them there. I also have some other furniture that can go through out the house. These are all good pieces of furniture. Antique in beautiful condition. And the buffet is a family treasure. I might have to load them up and drive them to MO myself. UGH. OR better yet fly one of the kids out to drive them back in a rental and I will pay. That would be easier on me. the kids are in late 30's so they can handle long road trips.This will seriously clear out the bedroom.

The sitting area in the bedroom is also needed for those times I need to be in there with hubby but not in the bed. I do not know how the end will play out. And BTW he walked to the post office today. WHOOT First time he has been out if the house in over a week. Happy he is feeling better today. Now if he will just eat a real meal.

I really love the space in our bedroom even though it is overkill. Certainly not necessary for so much room. WE had a 9 1/2 by 13 master bedroom for 4 years and I made do with it but found it quite tight.

Hummm was trying to photo the sitting area. Trying on a different post.

Chris, you are my favorite hippy! :-) I love your funky sense of style! It sounds like your bedroom is fitting your purposes at the moment. I especially love the way you've arranged for your fur babies to go out the window! (IIRC, you've posted a pic somewhere of a cat going out that window.) You have your quiet tea-time area, and a way to sit with your dear hubby. And you have a plan for some of the beautiful antique pieces you cherish.

I think having your niece/nephew fly up and drive the furniture back to MO is the most sensible thing to do. Let the youngens do the travel!

I also remember, and love, the bling, colorful scarves you made into a doorway, was it into the bathroom, or a closet? Can't remember. What a great example of using colors and materials you love, but could change in five minutes.

(btw, Cris, I just saw your message this morning. Expect an email!)

I somewhat envy those of you who have the room to keep "rotating" decor. I have quite a bit of holiday decor, but I'm even going to have to let go of most of that because I simply have ZERO storage. No garage, shed, any out buildings. The closets were ripped out of every bedroom. So our "storage" is four cupboards over the washer and dryer.

Even though I'm really into the minimalism thing, even I need some storage space. Where would I store a Christmas tree, where do I keep holiday decor, or my bin with my whole family history and photos? Right now (except we don't have a Christmas tree), these things are in bins in the middle of Joy's room. Unacceptable!

My long range plan, and I'm talking more than five years off, is to build an enclosed, four season deck off the back door that is straight across from the washer/dryer. I would relocate the washer/dryer to the porch, put in a bunch of storage, maybe cabinets, maybe open shelving, and possibly a utility sink. I would then have room for a pantry, and maybe a small upright freezer, where the washer/dryer currently are.

For outside, I have a couple of options. Right now I have two sets of tires, a pile of wood, and Joy's three wheel bike out there. I'm terrified Joy's bike will be stolen, and also, it just looks tacky, like giving the "trailer park" a bad name. So...

I need a shed. If I have to do it, it will be a lot of years from now. I just don't have the money, and there are a lot of structural problems with the house I have to fix first.

BUT...the owner of the park says he is going to build a row of garages right behind my lot (and across an alley) that he intends to rent to residents. He is not known for his speediness, lol, so I don't know when it will happen, but I'm first on the list, apparently. He hasn't decided how much to charge, but if it's more than $100 a month, I can't afford it. So we'll see. :-)

In the meanwhile, as I preach in my minimalist philosophy, I have X amount of space. 900 sq ft, or a little less. Therefore, I get to have X amount of stuff. We're working on it!

:-)

Debbie looking forward to your email.

I have a HUGE storage area under my bed in the suitcases. Three have my Christmas things in them. I do have one small 2 foot tree and a larger one in the shop loft I used on the front porch. But I have not done Christmas for years. Joe hated it and gave me such a bad time about it I just gave it up. I do not get rid of the Christmas things because I love them so much. I have had most for over 50 years. From my first husbands Grandmother. She gave them to me our first Christmas. Little treasures from the past. I really purged the collection of Christmas stuff but I kept these things and my nativity.

Raise your bed up or build a deck it can sit on with drawers in it. There is a name for it and it is escaping me right now. You could save that 100 a month and pay for the raised bed in a month or so . Ask your painting helpers if they have the know how. I really love getting out of a high bed in the morning. I am almost standing when I get out. Actually I am standing. It is getting in that is hard some times. But I am not losing that storage space. NO way. The three wheeler will not fit under the bed though. Sorry.

Debbie, I did the same thing as Chris, raised my bed and used luggage to store things underneath. My bed is the standard mattress over box springs on a metal frame. In a future home I hope to have a simple platform bed built 13 inches up from the floor. Even though your bed is a single I think you might be surprised by the extra "closet" hiding under there if raise your bed up.

I don't know how often people want to replace or remove sheds, but you can always place and ad on freecycle and Craig's list SHED WANTED and see what happens.

Many people I know who live in MH's use bins for storage behind the skirting. That might work for you if you don't have to worry about flooding.

That's what I have under my beds. Plastic bins made just for that. I keep my extra linens and towels in one, sweaters in another and my mom and dad's personal "junk" in another. I should go through that one and get rid of most of the junk. I come from a long line of "under the bed storage" people. My mom had stuff under the beds including our Christmas presents from time to time. :)