1) Build up, use the space not used (looks like you have tall ceilings);
2) Can't see your bad frame....is there room underneath to put some sliding containers?

I would pull out all the other furniture that touches the floor, replace with some shallow wall mounted shelving (on the curved wall?). You might consider an under-the-bed chest of drawers.

In general, I think you're not going to find a nice configuration without unloading a lot of the items in/around this room, and relocating stuff off the floor leaving you with some walkways around the bed.

Yeah I too was going to suggest using under the bed for storage.
Maybe you can put up shelves and put all your books up there. Not sure how much room you have else where in the apt, but maybe just try to keep clothing stored in your bedroom and thats it?
I agree to with the black dressers and orange wall. Looks very Halloween-y.
Get rid of those table lamps and put up wall lamps or something to save floor space perhaps.

Carlita! I feel for you, my friend, and admire you opening your bedroom door to the scrutinizing eyes of the AT readers. But isn't the bed totally worth it?? With the headboard made of bookcases, can you lift them up on cinderblocks (or something else) just to make the headboard functional? I'm not sure what to do about the dresser problem. My best suggestion without spending a ton of money would be to move the dresser to where the nightstand thing is so that at least you can climb out of the lower part of the bed. Would that work? I'm happy to come over and brainstorm!

I will second and third suggestions for some wall shelving.

Maybe the picture is deceiving, but the orange wall looks a tad bright.

Anyone think a mirror might help "expand" the room a little?

Not sure what the budget is, but I've seen a great bed that has a flip up platform to access storage underneath. Might make even more sense than drawers (which obviously need space to be pulled out)

scrap the headboard and push bed flush against the wall. Mount small reading lamps on the wall over the bed. Either on the orange wall or the white one. that will open more space. all furniture should be in the same family of colors (ie off white) and in your case, keep with very light colors. Instead of that dark dresser, maybe something tall and narrow. You can also get a taller and narrower nightstand for more storage space. I have something from gothic furniture (gotham??), it's pretty cheap if you paint and stain yourself (just don't forget to condition the wood first!)

I have to agree with the previous suggestions to think vertically rather than horizontally on floor level. Get rid of the headboard/bookcase if its not functioning for you. The curved wall probably calls for some sort of custom shelving/storage. If you have under the bed storage space make use of it. Since a larger bed was your priority, something else may have to go to make the room feel less cramped.

So I never comment for these things, but I have enjoyed reading other peoples' thoughts...I think you tried to do something that we did in our own bedroom - we tried to force colors on an environment that did not want them. Your room does not get warm enough lighting to make your orange wall feel like it belongs - the wall that has orange will not get any warm light from the windows during the day, so it looks darker and colder - and the white may be a little cold, too. I bet if you painted the wall in a lighter, creamier color that complements orange- you could display something orange against it and it would feel fabulous. Even that one picture on the wall would feel more welcome. Or maybe you could keep orange off of the walls and get an orange duvet cover instead! I do love the molding around your window, though, that white seems to work well with your orange color. I also think that the less clutter, the more peaceful the room will feel. Lights that illuminate the room (like a tall, discreet torchiere like the ones from Hubbardton Forge?)and accent the height will feel better than two squat lamps near the bed. If your space is very tiny, then maybe the dark,heavy furniture feels overpowering in your room as well...

We ended up keeping everything out of our bedroom in order to keep it uncluttered and feeling larger. Maybe you need to find a solution outside your bedroom for keeping your clothes...or do the storage in the floor MGR-style. The one thing we allowed was a potted plant and that always makes us happy. Even pocket change and glasses are left in another room.

P.S. I think the mirror idea (like a tall, full-length one) was a good one and would be a nicer accessory to the room than the dressers - and give the room more space -

I'll make 2 recommendations. The first recommendation would be to paint the orange wall white or some other light/pale color. Then I'd turn that wall into a shelving system/headboard combo that frames the window. Then I'd center the bed on the wall and make sure that there is some sort of step stool/ladder/nightstand that gives you easy access to the shelves on both sides of the bed. Hang a simple curtain afterwards if you prefer a more graceful or elegant look.
As has already been mentioned, leave room under the bed for storage.
If you tend to plan your wardrobe in advance (even if it is the night before) then I'd install small, sturdy hooks on either side of the bed to hang outfits, like art.
Lastly, get as much light in the room as you possibly can because you need to be able to see the things that you're storing.
I'll put my 2nd recommendation in another post.
Good luck!

‘Kay…*deep breath* Here are my comments-
1. I LOOOOVE the window wall...it’s not centered and it’s painted in a vibrant color with black trim around the window. I just love it!!!! I think the orange is fabulous. Need to match comforter though.

2. do you have a closet? Maybe you can put a dresser in the closet if it’ll fit…that’ll free up some floor space. OR if you’re not attached, take the dresser out of the room, do the under-the-bed storage for things you don’t use or not in-season, and get a nice closet organizer to fit what you do wear. I don’t have any dressers in my room except a tall, skinny lingerie dresser-barely noticeable. Everything else is in my closet and I donated what I don’t want/don’t wear to free up even more closet space.

3. Definitely some shelves need to go up for the headboard collection; if you’re renting, you can patch holes up later.

4. I want to say move the bed to the middle of that wall (take out the nightstand) and put up a shelf on the larger side of the window wall (low shelf so you can reach your light/clock, but not low enough to bump your head or anything). Something big enough for your clock, a new lamp (maybe something adjustable so you can position the light if you want to read in bed or something), and candle/décor I see on the current nightstand. That’ll get more stuff off the floor and give you access to your bed from two sides. Perhaps a bracket-less shelf (sorry, don’t know the technical name for this) so that you keep the clean lines of the window?

Ah, well that’s it for now…let me to stare at the pics more and see what other solutions I see...

OH- is the doorway by the curved wall the door to go out of the room, or a closet door?

Here's my two cents. . .
1-Brutally clean out and de-clutter so that you don't have as much stuff to deal with storing; remove all lotions, chotchkes, etc.
2-Wall lamps
3-Clean, simple fabric shades or curtains (white? no patterns)
4-Clean, simple bedding (upscale hotel-like, no patterns)
5-Maybe a simple, sleek bench at the foot of the bed
6-Think of it as a BEDroom with just a streamlined bed centered on the wall, no other furniture
7-Think of it as a sanctuary and use all light, calming colors
or
8-Think of it as a nest and use all dark, soothing colors - my sister once did a chocolate bedroom for a client, and it was great

2nd recommendation-
Seperate the room into a sleeping area and a dressing area by turning the bed 90 degrees so that the long dimension is against the orange wall. Hopefully this leaves room in the event that there are 2 people sleeping so that the person on the orange wall side has a bit of room to get out of bed and walk around.
Looking at the picture again it would be helpful to know the dimension of the orange wall because it looks to narrow to accomodate any bed lengthwise...
Liven up the remaining wall space with art or decoration of some sort and it will draw your attention away from some of the things that you do not like or cannot change about the room.
Some of my previous comments still apply-
-leave room for storage under the bed
-use your walls, just not in the area near the bed
-lighting
If you have no choice but to put the headboard on the orange wall then consider putting a dresser of some sort at the foot of the bed, but not a trunk, something useful.
If you are self conscious about the mess you should probably either make the room very bold, stuffed and over the top or pare down and simplify. Either way, just figure out your routine and try not to make the room work so hard - sleeping and dressing - that's it.
Good luck!

Here's my thinking--

Move the bed over to the left. The curved wall then creates a passageway that pours in/out of the access side of the bed. Then, raise the bed even higher, so that it's level with the window (ditch the bookcase behind the bed). Switch the window film so that the bottom pane is the frosted one. Then, use shelves on either side of the window all the way up, of the same width on each side, creating a full height "headboard". The higher bed will create storage underneath, and you should have enough space to open underbed drawers on the right. Here's what I'm thinking for that window/shelf wall--

_____
_| |_
_| |_
_|_|_
_____

Hope that makes sense/displays right.

1. Agreed--raise the bed to window height.
2. Lose the "headboard." You should each have a small shelf mounted to the wall, big enough to hold one book, your eyeshades, a (smaller) alarm clock, and a glass of water (my bedside carafe came in the mail today!). Reading lamps mount to the wall.
3. If you own, build storage nooks into the wall, between studs (and wiring!). If you rent, hang hooks and towel rods for your clothes on the curvy wall, and vegetable baskets for your underthings from the ceiling. If you like your clothes, you can keep these visible; if you don't, cover the whole wall with a very light curtain.
4. Also consider pole shelving--the IKEA Stolmen is good and cheap--to replace your dresser. If you start the first shelf relatively high, it seems to free up floor space, and you can store off-season clothes up high.
5. Trunks are nice but they take up a LOT of space.
6. Keep the orange--you love it.
7. Try to have nothing on the floor except for your bed.
8. If you do nothing in your bedroom except sleep and have sex, you'll have a happier life.

a few suggestions
-I bought cheap little bed leg lifts at Bed Bath and Beyond. They raise your bed a little to make under-bed storage easier and they cost about $10.

-I would paint all the walls a more neutral but still richly hued color. I think combined with simple curtains and bed linens, a solid, assertive wall color will make things feel more cohesive and a little less like you're fighting against the nature of the room.

-You could try tall slimmer shelves instead of the bureau, or those tower-things that they sell for bathrooms.

-I would put in very high shelving for books, etc.

-Buy a mirror.

-We bought wall-mountable lights instead of bedside lamps. Those save a lot of space.

Oh the humanity!! Oh the horrors of Internet photo imaging! That orange DOES look terrible. I assure you it is more of an Hermes orange than Day-Glo. We really like it and love the warm energy it has created. Remember, orange represents sexual energy and hunger. It is the corresponding color for the lumbar chakra. www.healer.ch/orangechakra.html

Well, with that said, you have all been so kind to not pummel me and give such constructive criticism.

To answer the questions
1. We rent
2. The ceilings are very high---11-12''
3. The orange wall is 7.5" wide.
4. We have storage bins under the bed.
5. We just painted the wall and now need to take care of the dressers color. I agree it's down right Halloween Horror-ific.. 6. Same thing goes for the non-matching duvet and pillowcases.
7. I agree that the headboard/bookcases have to go. Will do this post haste.
8. Mirror=great idea
9. Tall torchier lamps= great idea as well
10. Our closet is filled to the rim with both of our clothing. The entire apartment only has two closets and we both work out of the home. So, we have a lot of his work gear and our things taking up the other closet. The dressers (or something approximating that type of storage) seems to be imperative.
11. The door at the curvy wall is the door into the living room. I just had some things hanging there to dry.Beside it is the closet door.
12. Their is no frosted window pane, it just looks that way from the photo---but cool idea regardless.
13. Just wondering if there is any kind of shelving unit (like the IKEA Stolmen) that can be covered up, rather than bare shelving. Any ideas?
14. We originally had the bed lengthwise against the orange wall and think that sounds like the best idea.
15. Serious decluttering is certainly needed. Will commence soon with Maxwell's three bin system. *smile*
16. The wall lamps and shelves are a good idea as well

Whoo!! *wiping sweat off my brow* I hope I am remembering everything. Bring on more if those questions stir up more thoughts!!

Thanks!! ~C

All of these ideas are great, but they all seem to suggest that the stuff that makes life livable be either donated, thrown away, or stored under the bed. Maybe it's me, but I don't have an extra 3 hours every night to put away and take out the basics, like hand lotion and all the other "chatchkis" that people are saying should be out of sight. I want to keep the out-of-style sweater that takes up half a dresser drawer because I love it and I know that it will come back (like all the other stuff I threw out in an effort to de-clutter).

I think the issue here is what this woman should do with her large bed and dresser, not whether she should rid her bedroom of everything necessary for living just so the room looks good. Isn't there some happy medium? Who wants to climb up to shelves or scrounge in an under-the-bed drawer for anything other than the most out-of-season items?

Bash away - I know I've entered dangerous territory.

She complained of hardly being able to walk around her bed, so if she gets rid of alot of crap she may be able to do so. and to help out with this 'have been waking up with my head on the shelves'

Did you happen to catch the feature on Avedon's apartment in New York magazine in January? He had a fabulous book-bed system composed of artfully stacked wooden crates. Here is a link (it's on page 8 of the tour).

www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/shopping/homedesign/features/10784/index.html

re 13--you could mount sliding doors on the Stolmen (like medicine cabinet doors) in various shades of frosted plexiglass. It's nice to be able to look at things sometimes but not all the time.

re In Defense of Reality, I like things, and I'm all for having the things I like close at hand, but I find I'm happier with some areas of high density and some of low density, rather than one thin layer of stuff all over the house. Your mileage may vary.

Carla, I agree with the post by me, keep it simple. Your orange wall emphsizes the narrowness of the room. What if you chose one color for example white or different shades of white, for the walls, window tratments(,Roman style shades would soften those windows) white for the bed linens. Your eye has nothing to stop on creating a harmonious space expanding effect. I would remove the dresser. Any furniture used in the room should be low, tall pieces crowd a small room. I make these suggestions because my bedroom is 8 by 9 feet and I use these ideas to keep my bedroom a restful retreat.

MRoman--Where do you keep your clothing? My partner and I both share a tiny closet and those two dressers for ALL of our clothing. I have purged my closets so many times, that I don't know (want?) to get rid of anything else. If our apartment was bigger I could imagine putting the dressers outside of the room, but with the apartment the way it is now, can't do that.

*at a loss and wanting a whole new apartment very badly right now*

I used to live in a loft studio with one closet.
So my bf and I use to share one closet. And in the upperpart put dressers. We now have moved into a one bedroom, and have 3 closets, and I have put dressers in the closets. I could never downsize on my space again. But at least every 2 months I go throwing out stuff, I'm a bit compulsive like that. When we were in the studio it felt very cramped. The closet was full with tupperwares to store winter clothes, and just packed to the brim. I agree w/ the other suggestions to go vertical more. Maybe dressers that are longer too.

Also if you do decide on moving eventually for more space, I do this all the time, I recommend Jersey City.

I think the consensus is not that you need to get rid of all your necessities, but that the current dresser storage system your using is not working for you. By using taller and perhaps narrower dressers or some other vertical storage you could utilize the space you have more efficiently and give your self a little breathing room. The suggestion to go with floor storage boxes like Maxwell (at least for some items) is also an excellent possible solution.

2nd thoughs--

If you are rotating the bed lengthwise, what about running a curtain cable and hanging sheer panels on each side. Voila, instant canopy bed. You then break the room into the sleeping area/the 'working' area. If the bed were raised properly, you could put a narrow bookcase turned on it's side underneath, giving the look of a mate's bed & adding storage as well. I can email you a drawing of what I was thinking (unless I can figure out a way to post a picture here)

What a cool idea Joey!!! Please do email me a drawing!! Also, MRoman, I would LOVE to hear more about Jersey City. A friend was recently speaking to us about it and it sounds intriguing--especially after the year we spent looking at real estate in NYC.

PS After a friend's urging I would like to rename my partner my fiancé. We've only been engaged for two weeks and I am still getting a hang of calling him that. I also wouldn't want you guys to go easy on me because you knew I was recently engaged!!

Carla email me at the link on the bottom of this, and I'll send you some info ;)

As no one has suggested raising the bed, I will! A friend who lives in a VERY small apartment who needed extra space when her boy moved to town unexpectedly (SURPRISE!) bought a second dresser to match the first and, using a few necessary stabilizers, put the bed on TOP of the dressers and bought a little step stool with came off the bottom of the bed. As I am one who doesn't like light in my bedroom (unless it is very subdued) I would put a sheet of something muted (like a sheet of smoked glass) in the window to make it a solid, usable wall but still allowing light in. Also, no one wants to see my cranky ass in the morning, so why let them!
This would open up the floor space quite a bit and also give you more storage.

For the curved wall I would attach multiple pegs in the wall. When empty they would be a great arty-type look and when used (either by pretty hangers holding clothes or just with clothes hanging on the peg) quite useful.

The dresser you currently use looks as though the stuff piled on top could be moved to a seperate location. Perhaps you could get some floating shelves that could "float" right below a mirror. They make these handy dandy shelf baskets that attach to floating shelves where you could keep your miscellaneous items (make-up or brushes and the like).

Regarding the orange...LOVE IT! However, you may want to limit it to a few wide stripes going up the wall (floor to ceiling) with the bed linens matching to extend the eye upward but not emphasize the width of the room.

ugh, how I hate those black metal replacement window frames, those need to be de-emphasized, by either covering them with some sort of blind or curtain. Or match the trim and wall color to the black...

Definately gotta get rid of the pokey sized dresser, either forgo dresser all-together and do underbed storage. Or find a way to fit a huge too big for the room Armoir.

maybe wall attached lighting on either side of bed.

Carla -- can't believe I didn't think of this earlier, but how about making your room similar to Maxwell's? There were photos during the bedroom competition, in case you missed them.

you have so many good suggestions that I would just like to share what I did in the smallest bedroom I ever had in NYC. (It was also the cheapest share I ever had here so it was not a bad thing.) It was exactly the width and two feet longer than the queen-sized futon that I slept on, but it had high ceilings, so this is what I did.

I hung Elfa shelving strips on all sides, right next to the ceiling, and from them I hung 1) a really wide shelf around three walls, on which I stored everything I didn't use on a daily basis, then 2) hung a clothing rod on one wall, from which hung my clothes, then 3) put shelves on the other two walls, on which I kept everything else, including lights (and I put a paper lantern about the bulb which hung from the ceiling).

The only thing on the floor was my futon & a small folding stepladder (to get at the wide top shelf) that leaned against the wall. With lots of cushions on the futon, it became a kind of big cushioned room.

I'm not saying you should do this -- but raising the bed, and keeping as much as possible under it seems to be a similar trick. The key in a small bedroom is to make sure the only furniture you see is the bed. You can do this either by putting everything under the bed (as people here suggest) or by hanging everything from the ceiling or the walls, which I did but which is messier -- anything so that it is off the floor.

Put your stuff anywhere but on the floor and the room will feel more spacious and calm.

As for style, the bedroom already had a cat, which in my opinion is the main style element a bedroom really needs.

Do you feel trading up to the queen bed worth the loss of space?

I really do feel it is worth it. My fiancé and I have been sleeping on a full for years and I was really suffering for it. It's surprising how much the difference (54"X75"<60"X80) can make, both in terms of our comfort and the room.

Joey sent me a great graphic for his idea and I think I am going to try it out. I will send it to Maxwell --maybe he will put it up on the site.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Me-- I would love to do something like Maxwell's set up, but don't want to invest that much into an apartment I hope to move out of within the next few years.

Carla,

Oh well. I'm just itching to see how other people interpret Maxwell's set-up in their own spaces . . . since it's so impractical for me!

How much room is there, actually, from bottom of the windowsill to the floor?

And hey, how come nobody gave Carla any grief about lotion on the nightstand, like they did Charles?!?! ;)

My suggestion is to lose the orange, paint the back wall a lighter color, choose a light window treatment to match and center the bed on that wall.

On either side of the bed, have two tall and narrow bookcases painted the same color as the wall. You can put your alarm clock and bedside books in them, clip on (stylish) lights, etc. You can have square baskets in the lower and higher shelves to handle things like lotion and socks.

This eliminates the need for a headboard - just have some square European pillows behind your head. Those can be bright wild orange, along with your toss pillows and a throw going horizontally across the end of the bed.

Center the dresser at the foot of your bed and paint it white. Your bed will now float in the center of the room.

The only downside is if you have seasonal stuff kept under the bed in containers, you might have to pull the dresser forward to access them.

Just some ideas.

Another thing you can do is place a curtain rod at the same level as the top of the two bookcases and hang a filmy curtain going all the way across, with the bottom coming to the windowsill. You can draw back the left side.

It actually doesn't even have to be a filmy curtain - it could be an opaque Suzani or fat horizontal stripes in white and orange silk, or something like that, to put a little luxury into the room.

Hello,

I can certainly sympathize with the odd-shaped bedroom. I have a couple of suggestions that may help, and are affordable.

1. love the idea of a mirror, makes all the difference in the world. (i've found a few large ones that are very reasonable at expo and bed, bath & beyond, very big and well under $200)
2. bed linens! some matching sheets and toss pillows could really pull this room together and give it a more mature look.
3. PLEASE move the clutter away from over your head! This is the one thing I saw that made my skin crawl...the worst feng shui! A way I suggest doing this is by purchasing some stiff canvas/heavy cardboard boxes in a neutral shade (container store, hold everthing, etc.) and placing the items on a shelf--away from your head. If you need the essentials to be close by (alarm clock, etc.), there are some great dark brown wall cubes in container store for about $15. Keeps essential things close by but hidden just enough.
4. If you do not put up curtains, how about a roll up shade in a natural material like the bamboo-ish ones they have in pier one? that might look nice.

Oh, and some green plants. Good luck!

I'm a few weeks late, but here goes...

My bedroom is 8x12 and I don't feel cramped at all. So, here's some ideas...cattycorner the bed. Get another headboard which you can make with plywood, fabric, and batting. Move the dresser to the other end of the room and either flank it with the bookcases or put one on top of it. Or, stack the bookcases. Good luck!

It sounds like you've figured out a plan that you're all set to try, but there's a couple of things that come to my mind that might work that include some of the other things previously mentioned.

Color - The idea of singling out one wall for its own color seems to point out just exactly how small the room is. If you like the orange and must keep it, I understand, but I would suggest the other walls either be a paler, more neutral version adjacent to it on the paint chip, or all that very same color. The more neutral the rest of the room is, the easier it will be to see the colors of your clothes for what they are when you get dressed, though.

I think that turning the bed lengthwise on the wall is crucial. The curtain at the edge is a brilliant idea, and it could either be something white, and diaphonous and cloudlike which coule keep it all very modern and clean, OR... since you love rich colors, consider making it in some kind of gorgeous jewel-tone. ALSO, you could continue that orange paint to the parts of the walls that would flank that window wall, and just have it end where the sheer panels bank, so you have this 3-sided orange nook. In which case, I would probably go ahead with orange or some other jewel-tone bedding so it's really like some kind of Moroccan love den.

Sounds like your all set with the under-bed storage idea, and the above suggestion would work well with that. If you used it, you could put some richly patterned dust ruffle (custom or makeshift, since ready-made ones won't be high enough) to fit in with Moroccan idea, because it would conceal the storag bins, and yet keep them accessible. If you needed sort of a "step" to get up into the bed, you could use some very sturdy old vintage suitcase flat on the floor to gently step up on -- it would give kind of Ralph Lauren look, and give you yet another bit of storage. You could also get an actual captains bed from Gothic cabinet craft, except that the drawers are meant to be on each side, and in your case, one side would not be openable, because it would be smack up against the window wall, but you might be able to have them custom-built some VERY long, narrow drawers to open on just one side.

Losing the head board is a must, too. But if you feel strongly about having books in the bedroom, that corner where you now have a dresser could get a very tall, thin bookshell going all the wall up to the ceiling. The towering scale might make the room feel bigger, and give more storage, while keeping the footprint small and not be crowded. OR, you might find a tall, narrower chest of drawer for that space, instead. Either way, you could put some kind of light source on top of it, turning the whole thing into sort of a long, tall floor lamp. In a friend's place, we used 6-foot tall, skinny CD cases from IKEA and put their very inexpensive lamps that look sort of like a thin glass block on top. It looks like a modern torchiere. But you could do that with something more ornate if you wanted to affect that Moroccan look, too.

Someone mentioned a full-length mirror. I think that, since that angled wall can't have furniture in front of it, that would be the perfect wall for a VERY tall mirror. I'd take that mirror up as tall as you can afford it to be. Whether you're going to go with that pasha den look, or a more clean-lined modern look, you can still do that long, tall mirror. It will expand the room a LOT because of that angle, and it will show you how your whole self looks in the morning.

If you had your pillow, etc. on the end of the bed to the right of the window (with the larger piece of wall), you could either put a corner whatnot shelf in that corner for your alarm clock and glasses (maybe up high enough not to bump your head, but low enough to reach), OR you install a narrow book case flush with the ceiling and hugging the corner, using the bottom shelf for the alarm clock. That would utilize the upper reaches of the wall height, and you might install little light on the underside of that bookcase for reading.

I would take the headboard thing out. Can you turn the bed around? If it fits you can throw extra pillows etc and make a pit. You need to tone that color orange down and put something light and gauzy at the window. You know like semi sheer. The dresser is useless but shelving would work. You will have options of course, such as storage containers with drawers(lots of styles now) baskets,hatboxes,there are tons of storage out there. Just go shopping with measurements in hand. Get a duvet for your comforter. What color is your rug? Pick a color out of there. Good luck

You might want to use a "hanging" headboard; i.e., a headboard that is hung from the wall. I've seen this in hotels. It looks like it is part of the bedframe, but if you move the pillows away, (depending on the size of the headboard and how high it is hung) tell that it is attached to the wall, not the bedframe.

lots of good ideas above.

1. paaint wall. lose orange. use off white. in any tint. light grey, light blue whatever you like, close to off white and light though.

2. lose dresser and furniture. just keep bed in room and center it.

3. maybe hang up thin plain white curtanis-secure nicely with curtain rod so it doesnt look messy.

4. lose headboard with junk. just get plain thin 2 inch headboard. who needs to look at photos or read books while sleeping.

5. if you have furnitre, have one narrow piece and go high to ceiling and have it covered so you dont see junk on open shelves.

6. if you must, have one little nightstand near bed with phone light or persoanl things.

have only bedroom stuff in bedroom , have fewer cloting and toiletry things there.

Since my bedroom is 7'x11' I think I can weigh in on this one: turning the bed is a great idea, raising it is another great idea. But be careful not to raise it too high or it will look heavy in the room. underbed storage is a good idea, but too much underbed storage is a problem. I put my bed on wheels and it's much easier to make. Candace Olsen had some great bed side units in an old show - they were very simple and had a drawer for storage and a shallow surface for water, clock etc. They hung on the wall. As for storage - go high and use doors or shoji or fabric panels or something to cover up the clutter - you need to have stuff but also need to have a calm and simple expanse on which to look when you are resting. As for color - have the colors you love. And hang whatever you want on the walls - that's what spackle was invented for.

______________! Entry !___________
! / ! ! This is
! Curved / ! Closet ! just a
! Wall / __ ! small
! / !D ! ! diagram
! / Circular !o ! ! of just
! / Rug !o ! ! another
___ C !r_! ! idea for
!W !h ! ! the small
!I !a !________! bedroom.
!N !i Hardwood !Tall ! I would
!D_!r Floors !Shelf! do more,
!___________________ !_____! but not
! Tall Open Cubicle ! ! enough
! Storage Shelf ! ! space on
!___________________! ! this
! Room Divider ! comment
! ! box. I
!Wall Wall ! could do
!Light Circular Light! alot more
! Rug ! for you
!_____ _____! if you
!Tall ! !Tall ! would like
!_____!______________________!_____! a more
! ! graphic
! ! version.
! ! I do this
! Queen Size Bed ! stuff for
! ! a hobby.
! ! I am a
! ! problem
! ________ ! solver for
!__________________!Window !______! everyday
!________! problems.

I saw this site recently and found it appealing and was reading this and I like to fix things so I figured why not help. So I thought of a way to create a sort of diagram on here with the limited sources that I could use. I hope that this is a benefit for you. You could easily do alot more with this room. The simple wall outlet light fixtures, medium sized circle rugs give a different touch to a small space also. I also think the large open cubicle room divider/storage is a benefit it creates a privacy wall for the other still sleeping while one gets dressed or if you are coming into the room and do not want to disturb the other. I even gave you a couple of tall open cubicle storage shelves so that you could get even more off the floor. You could even put things in square wicker baskets on the shelfs as sort of drawer for clothing or etc. The Large shelving unit in the middle can be for a sort of library for your work books or other things and there is even a chair spot on both sides for reading or whatever. You really have a ton of wall space to put up lots of pictures or paintings I would even suggest a sort of wall tapestry painting for the curved wall so that it is not so bare and unattractive. This is a space when go into each day that you would like to relax not worry about trying to step over or not step on anything at all it should make you want to be there to relax. You could also put long skinny mirrors on the back side of both doors so that you have a sort of dressing room affect in the entry way.
Well I could go all night with the different ways to improve this room. I made this diagram guessing about what the room looks like size wise to the best scale I could guess. Like I said if you would like more help just e-mail me and I can give you more help. I know how limited you are and what you can do with an apartment. I always around tj_stk@yahoo.com and I can give you more ideas. Let me know what you think about this idea.

.T.J.

my bed broke from my friends fighting and we cant afford to get another one rite now and im so embarassed having a mattress for a bed any ideas