Things to Consider To Create Space in a Small Room

Being the second born has both it’s pros and cons.

Pro – The parents are a little more laid back, they’ve made all their mistakes once.

Con – You are stuck with the smallest bedroom.

Our smallest room is big enough to house a single bed and a child size wardrobe, while this has been fine for the last 3 years, Seth is now getting to the age where he wants to just chill out in his room or play with his toys up there but there just isn’t the space.
It means that we are now faced with the unenviable task of trying to create a space big enough for him to enjoy without breaking the bank, we have a variety of options to consider.

Loft Conversion

In the ideal world the solution would be to build upwards – his current room could have his toys, books and a space to play with steel spiral stairs leading up to a loft conversion with a sleeping area though maybe kite winder stairs would be less intrusive in the space – both options look pretty classy and would make a lot of space.

Unfortunately we aren’t in the position to extend any which way at the moment so we need to be clever with the space we have without knocking walls down.

Storage

As soon as I talk about the need to create space in Seth’s room everyone is quick to tell me storage is the key. People rave about those cubed units with the removable drawers or baskets.  They are great for hiding away the toys and books while keeping them easily accessible. The added bonus of these are that the drawers can colour co-ordinate with the room.

Under the bed boxes are brilliant for packing away and hiding a whole host of sins but these are mostly good for tidying away things that aren’t needed regularly, if I want to create Seth a space just for him I don’t want him to feel he can’t access half his things.

A wardrobe that is half hanging and half drawers is another option for creating more storage space and help keep the already limited space we have tidy but all this additional furniture may also make his room look more cramped and won’t create any more floor space for him.

High Riser Beds

Who knew the world of high rise beds was so vast? These come in a variety of styles from a simple high frame sleeper with plenty of space to put things underneath to a high framed sleeper with whistles, bells and slides – OK maybe not THAT impressive, but some do offer really good space saving solutions with a desk, drawers, shelves and even a wardrobe incorporated into the frame.

Although as a whole, these are really quite cumbersome it does seem like the ideal solution in creating more floor space for him to play, heck he could even have a beanbag to sit on!

Decoration

Part of the battle with a small room is how to decorate it – normally in such a small space I would veer toward light colours. Unfortunately Seth has taken the brief of ‘creating more space’ quite literally and has chosen a ‘Galaxy’ wallpaper for his room…
This defies the ‘light and airy’ colour rules but he is five, he knows what he wants.
We have reluctantly agreed to one ‘space’ wall and three pale walls – hopefully it won’t look too dingy in there. At least if we DO invest in one of those beds with everything underneath there will be a lot less ‘big furniture’ to darken the place.

By a New House

Not very cost effective but this is definitely plan B!!