luckygal said: "After looking at the RE listing it's obvious the homeowners cannot really afford this house. The exterior is badly in need of restaining and the furniture in all rooms indicates a low budget for furniture and decor." I'm not sure you can make those assumptions about the homeowners. Those of us on this site are NOT the norm. I grew up with parents that constantly maintained their home. No painted surface ever got to the point were it looked old and worn. At the other end of the spectrum, my DH grew up with parents that only replaced things once they looked like crap or were broken. They had the money, just didn't see the need to spend it until absolutely necessary. I see small and large homes that are immaculately kept and other that are neglected. It has nothing to do with the size or cost of the home, but everything to do with the priorities of the homeowners. Edited to add, that postponing the regular maintenance of a home always ends up costing you more, so it isn't just about not spending the money, the person just doesn't see that they are being shortsighted and that the repairs/maintenance will cost twice as much when they finally get to it. This post was edited by chispa on Mon, Apr 28, 14 at 19:50

When I had the master suite created in my DH's home up north, it was crowded for bedside tables too. So I got two wooden tall plant stands, with 12x12" tops. They fit perfectly fine. Then swing arm wall mounted lamps for each side of the bed. Enough room for a book on the shelf below and a glass of water or whatever. I never just use an end table when there is an option to have a small chest beside the table. That works even in a small room with limited storage space. Every item has to WORK to make the cut when space is scarce. And, in the bedroom in Alabama, I am going to be sorry to leave it for the BACK bedroom, which will become an ensuite master, because it is beginning to look SO comfortable. It is a west-facing bedroom, on the street. It has two PAIRS of windows, and the closet and entry to the bedroom are on a third wall. That leaves one wall which has no windows and no doors or other obstructions. However, I did not want the bed to be sideways in front of the entry door, so had to put the bed first diagonally in the corner between the two pairs of windows. This worked fine for a while, with the wicker chests I use for bedside tables centered between the windows. However, it was hard to make up the bed. So I decided to center the bed in front of the windows on the street wall. I closed the blinds to block the high heat coming through those windows anyway. And then I found some floor/ceiling grommet drapes at Tuesday Mornings! That is when I got DH to install crown molding wide enough to mount the double drapery rods, and I started planning 3 layers of curtains...grommet drapes wall to wall on both window walls, sheers on the second drapery rod, and finally the top-down roman shades using 90% shade cloth and Thermasuede fabric as a liner. I am almost done with the curtain project, but even with the shade cloth pinned in place on the west wall, the difference in heat gain is significant. This room is 12 x 12 give or take an inch. We changed out sliding closet doors for 2 pair of Jeldwen bifold shutter doors which I painted to match the crown molding and base boards and other wood work. The wicker chests are on either side of a full sized bed, with lots of breathing room. There is a rocking chair near the closet. There is a third chest between the closet and the door to the hall, and a wall mount TV is above the chest. So now I've ordered the Hudson queen size storage bed from Room and Board in cherry. It should arrive this month. I can hardly wait. It is a platform bed with no footboard, and no box springs, and it measures 60 x 80. A full bed is 54 x 75, so only a few significant inches of comfort which I look forward to having. But when the contractor finally comes, and bumps out the master bath for a tub and a long walk in closet, we'll be moving this new jewel to the back bedroom. This current bedroom will convert to a nice study/guest room. Only we seldom have over night guests, and may just put desks and bookcases in there until we move the contents of the up-north house. It seems to me that we have plenty of space in the 12 x 12 bedroom. Since we've repainted and made the room so peaceful, I will now take a horizontal break to meditate or read or chat on the phone. It looks good in natural or ambient light all times of day since northern exposures give true light, and the shade cloth gives a sense of separation from the street. Keeping active pursuits out of the bedroom is conducive to rest and separation from the cares of life.

What kind of kid stuff? It partly depends on what size TV you find acceptable and how ideal you want TV viewing to be vs other factors. A love seat is generally going to be somewhere between 4.5 and 6', I think depending on the generosity of its seat width and its arm width/style. (e.g. at the low end 21-22" seat and 5-6" arms). One option is to do two loveseats which would provide seating for the family plus a guest and allows for seating not all in a straight line. They could be put in the corner along the 10 and 11' top and right wall and with a wall mounted flat screen TV on the 5' wall and an end table in the corner between them. That would provide an acceptable angle to the TV for the two in the couch on the top wall, but not for someone person sitting against the other wall. Possibly a chair floating near and in front of the left end of the couch for a fifth seat with a better view of the TV. Or one could put a 3 seat couch against the top wall, but, at least in our family, the middle seat that doesn't have an arm is the last one chosen. Or a smallish 3 seat couch parallel to and facing the 11' wall with the TV on that wall. Perhaps with an end table connecting it to the 10' wall and a seat or love seat on the 11' wall. Or a couple of reading chairs in the bottom left corner with a small table for a lamp. A low cabinet/credenza or shelf unit under the TV could provide a home for the kid stuff.

What are the cubes for? Is your closet a reach in or walk in what are you using the shelf for ?IMO the best is to have as few pieces as possible in small room so anything that can go into the closet should go there and anything that sicks out from the wall should be gone unless absolutely necessary .I think as far a s bed placement you don’t have much choice