Small Bedroom Ideas UK: 15 Clever Ways to Make a Small Bedroom Feel Bigger
Published 20 October 2026 by Hush My Bed, Birmingham
Plenty of UK bedrooms are on the small side, and the box room, the loft conversion and the narrow second bedroom all come with the same problem: where does everything go? As bed makers, we spend every day helping people fit beautiful beds into real British bedrooms. Here are our 15 favourite small bedroom ideas, from choosing the right bed to the colour tricks that make a room feel twice the size.
The 5 changes that make the biggest difference
- Swap your bed for an ottoman storage bed and lose the chest of drawers
- Choose the right bed size, not the biggest one that fits
- Go tall and slim with the headboard, low at the foot
- Pick light, warm fabrics close to your wall colour
- Keep the floor clear: storage under the bed, lights on the wall
Choosing the right bed
1. Make your bed your storage
The single biggest space-saver in a small bedroom is an ottoman storage bed. The mattress platform lifts on gas struts to reveal storage under the whole bed: roughly 670 litres in a standard king size, which is more than many chests of drawers. That can free up a whole wall. If you need even more room, our deep storage ottoman beds have taller side rails. See how the options compare in ottoman bed vs divan vs drawer bed.
2. Choose a bed that opens upwards
Drawers need clear floor space beside the bed to pull out. An ottoman opens upwards, so it works even when the bed is tucked against a wall or a wardrobe. Just allow about 60cm at the foot so you can lift the base and reach inside.
3. Get the size right
The most common mistake is buying the biggest bed that physically fits. Leave around 60cm of walking space on each side and at the foot. A 4ft Small Double is a brilliant compromise: our frames are 130cm wide, 15cm narrower than a 4ft6 Double, which can be the difference between squeezing past and walking round. Use our UK bed sizes guide to check room sizes for every bed.
4. Pick a bed that sits on the floor
A gap under the bed quickly fills with boxes, bags and dust, and clutter you can see makes a room feel smaller. Our ottoman beds sit directly on the floor with no legs and have a solid storage base, so everything is hidden away and there is nothing to hoover underneath.
5. Let the bed replace your bedside tables
Free-standing bedside tables eat into floor space. The Evelia ottoman bed has floating upholstered bedside tables built into the headboard, each 55cm wide with an electric socket and USB charging. The floor underneath stays clear, which instantly makes the room feel more open.
6. Make a box room work twice as hard
For a guest room or a child’s room, a bed with a pull-out trundle guest bed gives you two beds in the footprint of one. The Sibel takes a 2ft6 or 3ft trundle that slides away under the bed. A daybed works as a sofa by day and a bed by night.
Headboards and footboards
7. Go tall with vertical lines
It sounds backwards, but a tall headboard can make a small room feel bigger. Vertical channels and fluting draw the eye upwards, so the ceiling feels higher. The Korina offers headboards from 130cm up to 210cm, and the Luisina pairs vertical fluting with slim, straight wings.
8. Match the headboard height to your ceiling
As a rough guide for headboard height measured from the floor:
| Ceiling height | Headboard height | Typical room |
|---|---|---|
| Sloping or under 2.3m | 112cm to 130cm | Loft conversions, under windows |
| 2.3m to 2.5m | 130cm to 150cm | Most modern UK homes |
| 2.5m to 2.7m | 150cm to 182cm | Older semis and terraces |
| 2.7m and above | 182cm to 210cm | Victorian and Edwardian rooms |
Not sure? Stick masking tape on the wall at the height you are considering and live with it for a day.
9. Keep the foot end low
A high footboard blocks the view across the room and makes it feel shorter. In a small bedroom, choose a bed with a low footboard or none at all. The Adele and Melina have plain, low footboards, and the Korina has no footboard at all.
10. Use horizontal lines to widen a narrow room
If your room is long and narrow rather than low, horizontal channels do the opposite job and stretch the wall sideways. The Emmeline has deep horizontal channel tufting that makes the back wall feel wider.
Colour, fabric and light
11. Choose light, warm fabrics
Pale, warm shades bounce light around and make a room feel airy. From our fabric range, look at Atlanta Soft Teddy in Ivory, Smooth Velvet in Pale Cream, Linen-Textured Beige, Chenille Cream and Wool-Textured Tweed in Sand. The Svea in Ivory Atlanta Soft Teddy shows how soft and bright a light fabric can look.
12. Go tone on tone
Choose a bed fabric close to your wall colour. When the headboard and the wall blend together, the edges of the room blur and the space feels bigger. Add contrast with cushions and throws instead, which are easy to change. Colours look different in every room, so order free fabric samples and hold them against your wall in daylight and lamplight. Our guide to our fabric collections explains each fabric.
13. Put a mirror opposite the window
A large mirror facing the window doubles the daylight and the view. A full-length mirror on a wardrobe door saves space as well.
Layout and finishing touches
14. Position the bed carefully
Place a double bed against the longest unbroken wall, ideally where you can see the door from bed, with space to walk round both sides. In a very narrow room, or with a single bed, pushing one side against the wall frees up the most floor. Avoid placing the bed under a window if you can, but if you must, a low 112cm or 130cm headboard keeps the window clear.
15. Lift everything off the floor
The more floor you can see, the bigger a room feels. Swap bedside lamps for wall lights, use floating shelves instead of bookcases, and keep the bed’s storage doing the heavy lifting. Finish with a mattress that fits the frame exactly; browse our mattresses, including the Allure Memory Foam 1000 Pocket Sprung.
Small bedroom checklist
- Measure the room and allow about 60cm round the bed
- Choose a storage bed that opens upwards
- Consider a 4ft Small Double instead of a 4ft6 Double
- Tall, vertical headboard; low or no footboard
- Light, warm fabric close to your wall colour
- Wall lights, floating shelves and a mirror opposite the window
Frequently asked questions
What is the best bed for a small bedroom?
An ottoman storage bed is usually the best choice for a small bedroom. It replaces a chest of drawers with storage under the mattress, opens upwards so it needs no space at the sides, and sits on the floor so there is no cluttered gap underneath.
Can you put a big headboard in a small room?
Yes. A tall headboard with vertical lines draws the eye upwards and can make a small room feel taller. Keep it in a colour close to your walls and pair it with a low footboard or no footboard so the floor stays open.
What colour bed makes a small room look bigger?
Light, warm shades such as ivory, pale cream, beige and soft grey reflect light and make a small room feel bigger. Choosing a bed fabric close to your wall colour also helps, because it blurs the edges of the room.
What size bed fits in a small double room?
A 4ft Small Double is often the best fit. Our 4ft frames are 130cm wide, 15cm narrower than a 4ft6 Double, and with about 60cm of walking space on each side they fit a room around 250cm wide.
Where should a bed go in a small bedroom?
Put a double bed against the longest unbroken wall, ideally facing the door, with walking space on both sides. In a very narrow room or for a single bed, pushing one side against the wall frees up the most floor space.
Need help planning a small bedroom?
Visit our factory showroom at 24 Athole Street, Highgate, Birmingham, B12 0DA, or call 0121 448 6987 and tell us your room size. Every bed is made to order in Birmingham. Delivery is normally within 2 weeks of your order and is free to mainland UK addresses.
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