How to Make a Small Bedroom Feel Bigger

You don’t need to knock down a wall to make a small bedroom feel bigger. Decluttering, choosing furniture that fits the room, using vertical space, and letting in more light can make even a tiny bedroom feel more open.

Start with the biggest space hogs, including unnecessary furniture and piles of stuff you don’t use. Then look for ways to draw the eye upward, expose more of the floor, and keep surfaces relatively clear. Even small changes, such as moving your curtains or adding a mirror, can change how spacious the room feels.

Key takeaways

• Declutter before buying organizers or new furniture.
• Choose furniture that’s proportional to the room instead of squeezing in oversized pieces.
• Use tall shelves and wall-mounted storage to take advantage of vertical space.
• Keep as much of the floor visible as possible to make the room feel more open.
• Use the space under your bed for belongings you don’t need every day.
• Hang curtains higher and wider than the window to make windows appear larger.
• Use mirrors to reflect light and create more visual depth.
• Keep your color palette relatively cohesive so the room doesn’t feel visually crowded.
• Choose furniture that can do more than one job when you’re short on space.
• Move seasonal clothing, extra bedding, and other rarely used belongings out of the bedroom if they’re creating clutter.

Start by getting rid of clutter

Before rearranging furniture or buying anything new, take some stuff out of the room. Go through your nightstand, dresser, closet, under-bed storage, and any other places where clutter accumulates.

Look for:

• Clothes you don’t wear
• Shoes that don’t fit
• Empty boxes and packaging
• Old paperwork
• Books you don’t plan to read
• Broken items
• Decor you don’t really like
• Extra bedding you don’t use
• Abandoned hobby supplies
• Random things that belong elsewhere in the house

Donate, sell, recycle, repair, relocate, or toss things as needed. 

Make sure your furniture fits the room

A huge bed, two nightstands, a dresser, a desk, an armchair, and a bookshelf might all be perfectly normal bedroom furniture. That doesn’t mean they all fit in your bedroom. Look at each piece and ask whether you actually need it.

• If you have a large dresser but most of your clothes fit in the closet, could you go without it? 
• Could a small wall-mounted shelf replace a nightstand? 
• Could your desk double as a bedside table?

Also pay attention to scale. A piece that’s too large for the room can dominate the available space. That doesn’t necessarily mean every piece of furniture needs to be tiny. A few functional pieces can look less cluttered than squeezing lots of little furniture into the room.

Get furniture off the floor

The more floor you can see, the more open a small bedroom can feel. Look for opportunities to move storage upward rather than outward.

• Instead of a large bookcase, consider wall-mounted shelves. 
• Replace a bulky nightstand with a floating one. 
• Mount a television to the wall instead of putting it on a large entertainment unit.

Furniture with visible legs can also expose more floor than pieces that extend all the way to the ground. You still get the function without visually filling every inch of the room.

Use your walls

When floor space is limited, look up. Walls can store things that would otherwise require another piece of furniture.

Consider:

• Floating shelves
• Wall-mounted nightstands
• Hooks
• Pegboards
• Wall-mounted lamps
• Hanging plants
• Picture ledges
• Wall-mounted organizers

You can even mount bedside lighting to the wall instead of using lamps that take up most of your nightstand.

Just don’t cover every wall with storage. The goal is to free up space, not move all the visual clutter from the floor to eye level.

Use the space under your bed

Your bed takes up a huge portion of your bedroom floor. Make that square footage work twice. Depending on the clearance, you can use shallow bins, drawers, zippered storage bags, or a bed frame with built-in storage.

Under-bed storage can work well for:

• Out-of-season clothing
• Extra bedding
• Shoes
• Handbags
• Books
• Keepsakes
• Occasionally used accessories

If your bed sits too low, bed risers may provide additional clearance if they’re compatible with your bed frame.

Don’t forget the space above your bed

The wall above your headboard can provide storage or visual interest without using more floor space. A shelf can hold a small collection of books or decor, while one large piece of artwork can add personality without making the room feel busy.

Make sure anything mounted above the bed is installed securely. You don’t want your storage strategy literally coming down on you in the middle of the night.

Hang curtains higher

Here’s a trick that doesn’t cost anything to decorate your small space. Instead of hanging the curtain rod immediately above the window frame, position it higher when your wall and curtain length allow. Extending the rod beyond the sides of the window can also keep more glass exposed when the curtains are open. This can make the window appear larger and draw the eye upward.

Long curtains that extend toward the floor can also emphasize the room’s height.

Let in as much natural light as possible

A dark room can feel more closed in. Avoid blocking windows with bulky furniture whenever possible. During the day, open curtains or blinds to bring in natural light and give you a view beyond the room.

If privacy is an issue, consider window treatments that provide privacy while still allowing some daylight into the space. Light-colored gauze or lace curtains are perfect for this.

Clean your windows periodically, too. It’s a small thing, but dirty glass isn’t doing your natural light any favors.

Add a large mirror

Mirrors can make a small bedroom feel more open by reflecting light and other parts of the room.

Try:

• A large floor mirror
• A mirror above a dresser
• Mirrored closet doors
• A wall-mounted full-length mirror
• A mirror across from or near a window

One larger mirror may have more visual impact than scattering lots of tiny mirrors around the room.

Pay attention to what the mirror reflects. A mirror pointed toward a bright window or an uncluttered part of the room will probably do more for the space than one reflecting a pile of laundry.

Keep the color palette cohesive

You don’t have to paint everything white to make a small bedroom feel bigger. Light colors can help create a bright, open feeling, but darker colors aren’t forbidden. The bigger goal is to avoid chopping a tiny room into lots of competing visual sections.

Choose a relatively cohesive palette for your walls, bedding, curtains, rugs, and larger furniture. Repeating a few colors throughout the room can make everything feel connected, not chaotic.

Paint the trim and walls similar colors

Strong contrast can emphasize the boundaries of a room. For a softer look, consider keeping walls, trim, and doors within a similar color family. You don’t necessarily need to use the exact same shade and color drench.

Go big with artwork

A small bedroom doesn’t require tiny decor. Covering the walls with dozens of little pieces can make the room feel visually busy. Instead, try one large piece of art or a smaller number of substantial pieces.

The same idea can work with other decor. One large plant, interesting lamp, or bold headboard can make a stronger statement than a collection of small objects covering every surface.

Clear off your surfaces

Dressers and nightstands quickly become clutter magnets. You don’t need completely bare surfaces, but give your eyes somewhere to rest.

Keep your nightstand limited to what you use regularly, such as a lamp, book, phone charger, or glass of water. Put toiletries, paperwork, jewelry, loose change, hair accessories, and other little items into drawers or designated organizers instead of spreading them across every available surface.

Use your doors

Your bedroom and closet doors are more potential storage space. The back of a closet door is particularly handy because you can close the door and hide the storage. Depending on your door and hardware, an over-the-door organizer or hooks can hold things such as:

• Shoes
• Scarves
• Belts
• Hats
• Handbags
• Jewelry
• Robes
• Accessories

Organize your closet

An overflowing closet often spills into the rest of the bedroom. Go through your clothing and remove pieces you don’t wear. Then organize what’s left so you can see and reach it.

Use the upper shelf, floor, walls, and back of the door if you need more storage.

You can also rotate clothes seasonally. Winter coats don’t need to take up prime closet space in the middle of summer, and summer clothes don’t need to crowd your closet all winter.

Choose furniture that does double duty

In a small bedroom, furniture should earn the space it takes up. The fewer separate pieces you need, the more open floor space you can preserve. Look for pieces that serve more than one purpose.

• A storage bench can provide seating and hold extra bedding. 
• A desk can double as a nightstand. 
• A bed frame can contain drawers. 
• An ottoman can provide storage and seating.

Skip furniture you don’t need

Sometimes the best small-space furniture is no furniture at all. You don’t automatically need two nightstands because there are two sides of the bed. You don’t need a dresser if your closet handles your clothing. You don’t need a chair if it only functions as a place to pile clothes. Question the standard bedroom setup and keep what works for your life and your room.

Use one larger rug

Several small rugs can visually divide an already small room into even smaller areas. If you want a rug, consider one large enough to visually connect the bed and surrounding space.

Make sure it fits the proportions and layout of the room. The goal is to make the furniture feel connected rather than create another tiny island in the middle of the floor.

Hide cords

A bunch of visible cords can add to the visual clutter. Bundle or route charging cables, lamp cords, and electronics cords so they aren’t tangled across surfaces or floors.

A small charging station can also give your phone, watch, earbuds, and other devices one designated place instead of spreading electronics around the room.

Move rarely used belongings somewhere else

Your bedroom doesn’t need to hold everything you own. Save your bedroom’s limited storage space for things you actually use there. Look at what you’re storing in closets, under the bed, and on high shelves. If you rarely use it, consider whether it needs to take up bedroom space.

Holiday decorations, keepsakes, luggage, camping equipment, seasonal clothing, extra furniture, and boxes of old belongings may be better stored in a garage, attic, basement, another closet, or a storage unit.

Small bedroom FAQ

What makes a small bedroom look bigger?

Reducing clutter, exposing more floor space, using vertical storage, adding mirrors, maximizing natural light, and keeping the room visually cohesive can all make a small bedroom feel more open.

What colors make a small bedroom look bigger?

Light colors can make a room feel bright and open, but you don’t have to stick to white. Soft neutrals and lighter colors can work well, and using a cohesive palette can reduce visual clutter. Dark colors can work in small bedrooms, too, particularly if you prefer a moodier look.

Where should you put a bed in a small bedroom?

The best position depends on the room’s shape, windows, doors, and closet access. Look for a location that leaves clear walking paths and doesn’t block storage or natural light.

Should you put a big bed in a small bedroom?

You can, but consider how much usable space it leaves around it. If a large bed prevents you from comfortably moving around the room or accessing storage, a smaller bed may make the room more functional.

Do mirrors make a small bedroom look bigger?

Mirrors can make a room feel more open by reflecting light and creating visual depth. A large mirror near a window or facing an uncluttered part of the room can be particularly useful.

How do you add storage to a small bedroom?

Use vertical and overlooked spaces. Try tall shelving, wall-mounted shelves, hooks, under-bed storage, over-the-door organizers, high closet shelves, and furniture with built-in storage.

How do you make a small bedroom look less cluttered?

Remove belongings you don’t use, keep surfaces relatively clear, limit unnecessary furniture, hide cords, give small items designated homes, and move rarely used belongings out of the room.

Should small bedrooms have less furniture?

Usually, fewer well-chosen pieces make it easier to preserve open floor space. Focus on furniture you actually use, and look for pieces that can serve more than one purpose.