Small Bedroom Wall Decorating Ideas

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Decorating your small bedroom can be a challenge—here are some tips and tricks that will make it easier!

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Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas to Make the Most of Your Space

If you are in distress, wondering what you're going to do with your small bedroom— relax. Space is just a state of mind. It's not the amount of square footage that counts; it's what you can do with it. Bad decorating choices can make even a big bedroom feel cluttered and uncomfortable. On the other hand, the right decorating approach can make even the smallest space feel open and inviting.

There are a lot of ideas you can incorporate to create a beautiful, functional bedroom so that you won't even miss the extra space.

Space-saving furniture solutions

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Use Double-Duty Storage Furniture

Storage is the first consideration anytime you're dealing with a small room. Putting closet and drawer organizers to use can give your space maximum efficiency, but don't stop there.

Choose Furniture With Extra Storage

Consider getting a platform bed with storage drawers. This can eliminate the need for a dresser or trunk. If a platform bed is not your style, at least get a bed frame high enough off the floor so you can slide rolling under-bed plastic storage containers beneath it.

Another way to put your bed to work for you in the storage department is to get a bookshelf headboard. The extra shelving allows you to arrange your items attractively and can even eliminate the need for nightstands if you have a narrow room.

If you do use a night table, desk, or TV stand, avoid any furnishings that are essentially a table with legs. Choose designs with storage drawers, cubbies, and cabinetry built into the model. Same thing with benches or ottomans; instead of just something you can sit on, get something that can double as a storage container with a cushioned top seat.

Go Vertical

Since you can't go horizontal in a small room, go vertical. Get tall furniture. You're better off with a chest of drawers rather than a double-wide dresser. Instead of a 3-shelf high bookcase, get one 5 or 6 shelves high. A full-height armoire takes up the same square footage as a lower cabinet. Tall furniture selections will utilize less floor space and more wall space.

If you're worried that big furniture pieces will look bulky in your small bedroom, relax— fewer, larger pieces will actually make the room look more open and less cluttered than many smaller pieces will.

Transform Your Room With Color

Color can play tricks on our eyes and visually transform the shape and size of a room. Use color strategically to change the look of your room.

Overall, painting a room a light, bright color will give it a much more open, airy feel than painting it a dark color. Light colors bounce more light around the room.

Use Color to Change the Shape of the Room

If you have a long, narrow room, you can counter-balance that with two different color paints. Paint the two long walls a darker color, and the two short walls and the ceiling a lighter color. The lighter color will make the short walls appear wider and the ceiling higher, while the darker color, in contrast, will visually shorten the long walls. This can give your room the illusion of more evenly square proportions.

If you love dark colors, you don't have to give them up. Painting a small room in deep, rich, bold tones will not do anything to make it feel more spacious, but it can make it feel cozier.

If you want to paint your room colors on the darker side, paint the ceiling white; white can make the ceiling appear higher and the room more spacious. Avoid painting the ceiling just a shade or two lighter than your wall color; this will make the ceiling appear higher but make the overall room seem narrower.

Paint Focal Walls

If you feel four walls of dark colors are just too much, you can compromise by choosing one single focal wall. Paint the rest of the walls and the ceiling a light color, and get crazy with your color choice for the focal wall—chocolate brown, royal blue, burnt orange, or dark charcoal gray. As long as it's on one wall, you can get as dramatic as you want without compromising the space.

Create Focal Points With Accessories

Every room should have a main focal point and smaller focal points that draw your eye in a line from one area to another. In a bedroom, the bed usually acts like a stage, so take advantage of it. Put the star of the show above the bed.

Remember to keep in line with the "less is more" philosophy. A single, large painting, a trio of identically framed and matted photos, or a single wall sculpture is all you need to highlight the wall above your bed and make that space grand.

Keep It Uncluttered

The key to creating smaller focal points around the room is to keep it uncluttered. Rather than littering dresser tops and shelves with a hodgepodge of brick-a-brack, place a single, striking piece there to make an impression. A single potted orchid plant, an antique jewelry chest, or a boldly painted piece of pottery makes a much classier display than a bunch of knick-knacks.

Use Mirrors

Mirrors are the small space's savior. A wall of mirrors visually doubles your space. Mirrored closet doors can have the same effect. Alternatively, instead of artwork above the bed or above the dresser, hang a large mirror in a decorative frame. Even smaller, decorative mirrors placed strategically around the room will help reflect light in the room to give it a more open feel.

Lighting Layers

In a bedroom, you want to be able to control the lighting. That's why even in a small bedroom, there should be more than a single light source.

Use Overhead Lighting and Task Lighting

An overhead fixture can do the trick for providing general lighting in your room. If you don't have a good overhead light source, a slender torchiere lamp placed in a corner makes a suitable substitute.

Task lighting is necessary to prevent eye strain. This is especially important for those who like to relax in bed with a good book, crossword puzzle, or some needlepoint at the end of the day. You can save a lot of space on your night tables if you use a pendant or wall sconce light fixture as opposed to a free-standing lamp.

Introduce Ambient Lighting

For that ambient lighting, rather than adding additional lamps and fixtures, install a dimmer. That way, at the touch of a button or knob, you can go from bright and practical to soft, calming, and romantic.

Another excellent way to introduce ambient lighting into the bedroom is with candles. If you don't have allergies, scented candles can add that extra special touch. Certain fragrances, such as sandalwood and lavender, are very relaxing. Filling the room with these light but rich aromas and flickering firelight can make it a pleasant place to pass the evening.

Use Fewer Patterns, More Texture, and Lots of Luxury

When selecting fabrics like bedding and window treatments, keep in mind that busy patterns visually clutter a room. Keep them to a minimum in a small room. Ideally, use larger patterns that seem to spread out rather than run horizontally or vertically. Patterns that appear to be expanding, such as a starburst effect on a bedspread, make it seem almost as though the room is expanding.

Use Texture Instead of Patterns

While keeping patterns to a minimum, opt instead for texture. Shag rugs, faux animal fur accent pillows, chenille throws, and velvet curtains break up the solid colors without creating visual clutter.

Another benefit texture adds is an air of luxury—big, puffy blankets and pillows that are a feast for both the sense of sight and of touch. Luxurious textures give a regal air to a room that just makes you want to cuddle up in it. A room can't feel small when it has an air of decadence and grandeur.

Space-Saving Tricks

If your bed takes up too much space, dispense with a bulky headboard. For an eye-catching solution, paint a headboard on the wall. This can save you several inches of space without taking away any of the bed's grand presence in the room.
If you're used to a big, king-sized bed, think about trading it in for a queen. King-size beds have a width of 72 inches—that's over 6 feet wide. Reconsider whether or not you need that much room to spread out at night. A queen-sized bed, at 5 feet wide, will open up over 8 square feet of floor space.
Create built-in storage on one wall. Built-in, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling storage may sound like a space hog, but because it utilizes every square inch of vertical space, you can fit more into it. One full wall built-in can eliminate the need for two or three pieces of furniture. Consider a built-in wall unit that surrounds your bed or window.

As you can see, a small space offers a lot of decorating promise. A little creativity, a bit of planning, and knowing a few tricks can help you transform it into something you can not only live with but absolutely love.

Big Ideas for Small Bedrooms