courtive's Profile

My bedroom is far from perfect. It is an awkward layout with two doors on one long wall and two windows right across in a room that is a total of 8x10 maximum with a teeny teeny 2x3 closet shared between the two of us - which basically means queen bed smack dab in the center of the room. I've tried having it shoved up against one wall and I hated having to crawl out at the foot and it seemed to actually reduced our storage options. I think it will always be somewhat of a work in progress, however, I have come to a few solutions that have helped. I bought this storage bed from ikea: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10098893/#/70098890
It has been a lifesaver for storing extra bedding, sweaters, work out gear, etc. And I also have storage boxes under the bed as well.

One of the first things we did is build two 2x2 cabinets on either side of the bed, which act as additional closet space. I was struggling however, with the small amount of space that was leftover, to come up with some sort of end table solution. There is about 10" next to each bed side. We mounted lamps to the sides of our "closets" and that works great, but needed a spot for bedside stuff, a glass of water etc. I thought about a storage headboard, but that would have left even less space to walk at the foot of the bed. Oh and our bed is in front of the window, so mounting a shelf was not an option. Well I finally bought these mini "cubes" the other day and so far it they are working great. I have them oriented vertically with the back to our "closets", but I'm thinking about mounting them too.
http://www.target.com/p/closetmaid-6-cube-mini-cubeicals-white/-/A-13217291?reco=Rec|pdp|13217291|ClickCP|item_page.vertical_1&lnk=Rec|pdp|ClickCP|item_page.vertical_1

Those have been our big moves. We also have to very very narrow tall dressers on either side of the bed. I assure you we do not have a lot of clothes and I have pared down on those A TON, but with such a small closet and a small house in general we have to store things like coats in the bedroom and such....

Oh a couple things were mentioned that I have found solutions to - I put laundry clips on "semi-dirty" clothes, I also have a hook next to the closet where I hang tomorrow's outfit.

One big change we have been prepping for is a baby (he's due this week). I thought about co-sleeping but my husband sleeps like a log and I like to curl up with lots of covers- so we got a rolling bassinet instead which will be on my side of the bed at night. We will see how well that works!

A great idea here, but there is another way to "green" your curtains. I read a post today on another blog I follow about using your curtains to make day lighting more efficient in southern windows which if you are going to replace your curtains, might be something you should think about. Here is the link:

http://gabe-greencross.blogspot.com/2010/01/daylighting-from-southern-windows.html