Bedroom Remodel design

What the room has to do

A secondary bedroom rarely justifies structural work, so the remodel is finishes and storage. That is not a limitation — a bedroom is one of the few rooms where new floor, new colour and a built-in wardrobe genuinely amount to a different room.

Layout rules

• A single bed needs 24in of access on one side; a double needs both sides at 30in.
• The room stops working as a bedroom below about 7×10ft once a wardrobe is in.
• Keep the door swing and the wardrobe swing off each other — the two most common collisions in the house.
• A desk under a window works; a bed under a window rarely does.
• Allow 36in from the wardrobe face to any obstruction.

Lighting plan

Keep it simple and warm. One dimmable ambient fixture plus a bedside light is enough; the mistake is a bright cool ceiling light that makes the room feel like a corridor at night.

What usually goes wrong

• A wardrobe placed on the wall that made the room feel wide.
• Flooring run in the same direction as the shortest wall, emphasising it.
• Downlights above the bed, glaring at anyone lying down.
• Trim left the old colour so the new wall colour reads as unfinished.

In a small one

Paint the trim, doors and walls the same colour in a small bedroom. Contrast trim draws a line around every edge and tells the eye exactly how small the room is.