If you’re wondering how to make a small bedroom look bigger, it comes down to three things: more visible floor, lighter walls and a bed sized for the room. Pale surfaces and open floors make a small room look bigger, and beds with storage keep that floor clear of everyday clutter.
Key Takeaways
- Making a small room look bigger starts with a bed sized to leave a clear walkway and space to open drawers.
- Leggy furniture, storage beds and well-placed mirrors keep the floor clear and bounce light into the corners.
- Light paint, simple bedding and storage that climbs the walls help the room feel calm and open.
For a wider round-up of styling and layout options, our small master bedroom ideas guide has 19 more ways to work with a compact room.
Jump to a Section
- Pick a Bed Size That Fits the Room
- Choose Furniture That Keeps the Floor Clear
- Place Mirrors Where They Catch the Light
- Use Light and Colour to Push the Walls Back
- Keep Bedding Simple
- Store Upwards Instead of Outwards
- How to Set Up a Small Bedroom With a Desk
- Shop Ecosa Storage Beds and Mattresses That Save Space
- FAQs
Pick a Bed Size That Fits the Room
Go for the largest bed that still leaves a clear walkway around it and space to open drawers and wardrobe doors. That visible floor keeps a small room feeling calm instead of crammed, so measure the room first and compare it against the sizes below.
| Bed size | Mattress size (W x L) | Best for |
| Single | 92 x 188 cm | Kids and the smallest rooms |
| Long Single | 92 x 203 cm | Taller teens in narrow rooms |
| King Single | 107 x 203 cm | Growing teens and solo adults |
| Double | 138 x 188 cm | Guest rooms and couples who like a cosy fit |
| Queen | 153 x 203 cm | Couples in a main bedroom |
| King | 183 x 203 cm | Couples with a roomier main bedroom |
| Super King | 203 x 203 cm | Couples who want the most room to stretch out |
The long single adds 15 cm of length to a single for taller sleepers, while the king single adds 15 cm of width as well. Every size in the table is available in our mattresses, so you can pick the exact fit your floor plan allows.
Frames add to the footprint too, so measure a frame’s outer dimensions, including the headboard and drawers, against your room before you buy. Our bed frames come in single, king single, double, queen, king and super king. If you choose a long single mattress, check that your frame is built for its 203 cm length.
Choose Furniture That Keeps the Floor Clear
Furniture on legs shows more floor, and your eye reads that open floor as extra space. Low frames and built-in storage help in other ways, by keeping sightlines low and clutter out of sight. These four pieces make the biggest difference in a small bedroom.
- Tallboy on legs. Our Highline tallboy stacks its drawers vertically, so it uses less wall than a wide dresser and leaves floor visible underneath.
- Compact bedside tables. Slim bedside tables with drawers keep night-time clutter tucked away instead of spread around the bed.
- Low-profile bed frame. A low-profile bed frame sits closer to the floor, so it leaves more wall visible above the bed and the ceiling feels higher. Our guide to low-profile bed frames covers who they suit best.
- Storage bed frame. Four built-in drawers on frames like our Sierra and Rega can replace a separate chest of drawers, which clears one whole piece of furniture from the room.
Check the drawer size before you commit to a storage bed. Our storage beds come in double, queen and king, with drawers measuring 62 x 62 x 13 cm on a double, 62 x 72 x 13 cm on a queen and 62 x 82 x 13 cm on a king. Leave room for each one to open fully, with space to stand in front.
Place Mirrors Where They Catch the Light
Mirrors bounce light around the room and repeat whatever they face, so one large mirror reads as extra depth. Hang it beside or opposite a window and daylight spreads into the corners the window misses.
Tall glass works hardest. Leaning a full-length mirror against the wall draws the eye upwards while taking up only a narrow strip of floor. Mirrored wardrobe doors go further, turning the biggest surface in the room into a reflection instead of a block.
Glass doubles everything in front of it, so point yours at a window, artwork or clear floor rather than the laundry pile.
Use Light and Colour to Push the Walls Back
Pale colours and good lighting both blur the edges of a room, so the walls seem further away than they really are.
Crisp and Warm Whites
White reflects more light than any other wall colour, so corners soften and the walls appear to sit further back. South-facing rooms get cooler, indirect light, and a warm white stops them feeling stark. North-facing rooms suit a crisper white, and our white bedroom ideas show how to style either shade.
Carry the same shade into your bedding so the bed blends into the walls instead of interrupting them.
Pale Blues and Soft Greens
Cool, pale shades visually recede, which pushes the walls back and makes the room read wider. Soft blue and sage also feel calm at the end of the day, so they suit a room built for sleep.
Our guides to blue bedroom ideas and green bedroom ideas cover the colour pairings that work with each shade.
Sandy Neutrals and Greige
Sand, oatmeal and greige add warmth while still reflecting plenty of light, so the room feels cosy without closing in. These shades pair easily with timber furniture and linen, giving a small room texture while keeping the look calm.
Browse our neutral bedroom ideas for palettes that go beyond plain beige.
Deep Shades on Every Surface
Dark colours can make a small room feel bigger too, as long as they cover everything. Colour drenching means painting the walls, ceiling and trim in one deep shade. It blurs the corners, so your eye loses track of where the room ends. This approach suits rooms with little natural light, where pale paint tends to look grey anyway.
Keep Bedding Simple
Simplebedding in a shade close to your walls lets the bed blend in instead of breaking up the palette. Light layers also keep the bed looking low and neat, while piles of cushions and doubled-up throws make it look bulkier than it is.
Pare it back to a fitted sheet, quilt cover and the pillows you actually sleep on. Spend the budget on breathable fabrics like linen or bamboo instead of extra decorative layers.
In a colour-drenched room, go a shade or two lighter with your bedding so the bed stands out just enough. Tuck the sheets in neatly, and for a personal touch, drape one thin throw across a corner of the bed.
Store Upwards Instead of Outwards
Shelves, hooks and tall storage use wall height instead of floor space, and they draw the eye upwards so the ceiling feels higher. Most small bedrooms have plenty of unused wall above head height, which makes it the easiest place to find extra storage.
Run a shelf above the bedhead or over the door frame for books and baskets you reach for less often. Keep anything above the bed light, and fix the shelf into wall studs. Wardrobes that reach the ceiling add a full extra shelf for spare bedding, while hooks or an over-door rack hold tomorrow’s outfit.
Our bedroom storage ideas guide has ten more space-saving hacks.
How to Set Up a Small Bedroom With a Desk
Fold-down and wall-mounted desks give you a proper workspace while leaving the floor clear underneath, so the room still reads as a bedroom. Fold-down models close flat against the wall once work is done.
Mount the desk under or beside a window to borrow daylight while you work. Pair it with a stool that tucks fully under the desktop, so the walkway stays clear between work sessions.
Shop Ecosa Storage Beds and Mattresses That Save Space
Our storage bed frames do two jobs in one footprint, with four built-in drawers that take the place of a separate chest of drawers. Now that you know how to make a small bedroom look bigger, start with the bed, since it takes up the most floor.
Pair the frame with one of our mattresses, made in every size from single to super king. For the tightest rooms, a single mattress at 92 x 188 cm on a slim frame keeps the most floor clear. Light walls, simple bedding and one well-placed mirror then make a small room look bigger without any building work.
Every storage bed comes with a 5-year limited warranty. Our mattresses come with a 100-night trial, so you can test the fit at home before you commit.