relocation / room redesign / shared flat (rental)

RobertH · 2024-07-26T20:15:59+00:00

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Hello everyone,

I've seen so many great room and design ideas on this page so I'm sure you'll be able to give me some inspiration. My parents are hoarders but I'm trying to live minimalistic, I am passionate about music (both listening to and playing rock and metal music) and I'm an avid cyclist and hosting other bikepackers. I will soon relocate to a shared flat in Düsseldorf, Germany for my first full-time job after studying. The new room has one big window with sun in the morning and its ceiling is 9ft tall.

I am happy how my current furniture matches (Ikea Stockholm sideboard and a matte nut wood bed), I'm proud of my wooden CD board and the scandi lamp, also I like the color scheme (yellow wall and red old carpet). I am unhappy that the room is so packed at the moment and I want to replace the uncomfortable couch. I like to mix several styles, I love touches of scandinavian furniture and bohemian style but I'm not good with decoration and my minimalist self doesn't want to overdecorate. I'm not attached to any belongings except for the guitars. I want to upgrade on a budget so it's sensible to keep most of the furniture, also I like to buy second hand. I'd love to have more/bigger plants, but I'm not good at keeping them alive.

I identified several use cases: (a) sleeping (double bed), (b) listening to movies or watching a movie (I am picky about the sound, so speakers and seating should roughly be an equilateral triangle), (c) playing board games with up to 6 people (extra chairs are available from kitchen), (d) hosting up to two guests in the same room (my current couch is a sleeping couch), (e) playing the guitar while listening to music, (f) occasionally doing some desk work. I included an idea of how to arrange furniture in the new room (true to scale).

What is my question? I like to gather ideas if/how my use cases can better be represented. I was also thinking about a loft bed and a music area below but I have no experience with loft beds. I considered replacing the desk with a bureau but I'm worried that it will again clutter the room. I love the carpet but I'm not sure if it will match the floor, even more I'm worried that the dark brown furniture and the dark brown floor will be a mismatch. I am open to paint walls, could imagine a bold blue/green/yellow couch and a lighter tone of the same color for some walls. Do you have further thoughts on hosting guests, does it have to be a sleeping couch or am I missing out on some obvious alternatives (futon mattress, but where to store it, …)? Where do I find airy sleeping couches? Where do I keep the guitars and amps and make them look good and easy to access?

Sorry for the wall of text. I'd love to hear about all of your ideas!

Cheers, Robert

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Comments

SNandez

You concept layout looks really good.

I think the idea of a loft bed is great, I had one in my first apartment and had to have my office in my room, so I basically had an office under my lofted bed. It looks like Ikea has some options!

I wouldn't worry too much about wood furniture matching wood floors, the rug you have will help cover a lot of the wood floor besides. But if it's really something that bothers you, could always re-stain the furniture.

As far as cluttered feeling goes, it looks like the new room has a lot more space, once you get in there you'll really get a feel for how it fits and looks. You've divided your current room so well, it may be easier in a new and larger space!

Good luck!

SarahEverett

@RobertH congrats on your new chapter and your new job! i love your existing space and how you've divided it up and definitely suggest doing similar in the new room.

—love your yellow accent wall —> can you paint a wall or an arch somewhere in the new space to help create distinct zones?
—love the way you used your TV/speakers to divide the room in half in the old setup. could you create the same setup in your new room? maybe to divide the bed from the living area a bit? depending on your dimensions, isuggest rotating the couch 90 degrees and using the TV as a divider again, like this (in yellow). that might free up some room for shelving to display your games/albums!

SarahEverett

As for specific furniture recommendations, I think a media cabinet like this would look really nice, and sleeper chairs are always an option if you don't want to go full-on sofa!

RobertH

Hi Sam and Sarah,

thanks for your warm words! I created some 3D models including some of your suggestions with white furniture, a generic couch and a generic coffee table at low detail.

@SNandez: I thought the same about the loft bed, but seeing it in 3D, I'm no longer convinced… I like how it looks but it doesn't feel like a big benefit, because I have no idea how to use the space underneath except for storage. Plus it blocks half of the window. Or am I missing something here? I don't want to put the couch under the loft bed because this would mess up the sound.
I hope you're right that mixing wood shades isn't a big deal.
When I saw the new room, I thought it was a lot more spacious. I guess I got this impression mostly due to the high ceiling. The floor area is only ~20 sqft. larger in the new room. Also the pictures of the new room were taken wide angle.

@SarahEverett: I'd be down to paint one or more walls in a different color as soon as I know more details (color of the couch is most critical)! Do you think making a division of colors on one wall for different areas would work?
I love your idea about separating the room like I did before. There are just two downsides for me: a) access to the bed is not possible from the side, b) rear panels of speakers and TV don't look nice. b) could possibly be fixed with a hanging room divider. Hm, I'll have to see…
I'm afraid the media cabinet is too big for me - I was rather looking for a shelf to put under the TV. The biggest issue here is depth - many shelves are only 12" and this is very little for the amplifier that I have. Regarding the sleeping couch, I want to have a "double bed" for my guests, so a sleeper chair isn't really what I'm looking for.

So talking about the 3D models: What looks good and what doesn't? I mentioned a room divider for the second variant, but it could also be possible in the first variant (in the middle of the window, separating sleeping and living area.
I don't want to forget my guitars and guitar amps. So I was thinking to put a shelf behind the couch on the first variant or a shelf to the right of the couch on the second variant, but again, its depth has to be 12" minimum. Could that work?

Of course I'm open to further ideas!

Cheers,
Robert

SarahEverett

ooh @RobertH those are such good points! i'm loving these layouts:

Screenshot 2024-08-01 at 10.27.51 AM.png

Screenshot 2024-08-01 at 10.27.56 AM.png

Screenshot 2024-08-01 at 10.28.07 AM.png

SarahEverett

sharing this cool lofted bed that might inspire you for option 3! and these wall murals might inspire you for painted accents to divide up the space! (i'm a big fan of just a solid square behind a frame or a tv — or an arch — to define a space. a sample-sized pot of paint will do, and you can mix and match colors and shapes.)

SNandez

Really great you were able to make these renderings! I see what you mean with the loft in the space, if you could arrange it in a way where the lofted bed would in the windowless doorless corner? But I can see how that would be tricky. The benefit of the loft would really to give you an office space, but not sure if you still need.

#1 looks like a nice layout and the most open without looking cluttered or things feeling on top of one another.

RobertH

Thanks Sarah and Sam for your further comments!

I think my decision for #1 is pretty clear, I can take my existing furniture and I could still opt for a loft bed if I feel like it. The loft bed you linked is awesome and realizing something similar could completely change the impression of the room, but since I'm renting and it's not sure for how long (may be just 1-2 years), that involves more money/work than I want to put into it at the moment. Loft bed in the windowless corner doesn't work for me either, because in that case it will be difficult to arrange the hi-fi system to my satisfaction.

Painting some geometric figures on the wall sounds like a great idea. I'll try to make up some shapes and I already saw great examples in some of the house tours.

In the meantime I refined my 3d model. I found a great idea to arrange TV and multimedia devices - a tea cart! I hope I can buy this one second hand in the next few days:

And the updated 3d model in two perspectives:

One important question is how I can set up my laptop so that I can use it while sitting on the couch, possibly connected to TV and hi-fi. I was thinking of a small table on the right side of the couch. Maybe foldable? Or something like Ikea Vittsjö, but I'd prefer wood? Something hanging from the ceiling? I'd love to hear about your ideas!

The second big unknown is the couch. In this 3D rendering I modeled an Ikea Grunnarp couch as it is a proper sleeping couch with 2 m length. I think it looks ok but it's nothing special. Karup has some good looking sleeping couches, but most of them are only 1.9 m long. Finally it's more likely that I'll buy a used couch so it'll be a spontaneous decision on what's offered anyway… Do you agree that the color scheme for the walls should be determined only after I know the couch color?

A minor topic: in my first post you can see that I currently have a bar for my laundry hanging for the ceiling, mounted above the sideboard. Do I keep it like that or is there a more beautiful solution? I don't want to have a big cupboard.