I Need Help

Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap  —  August 6, 2013 — 20 Comments

Our bedroom has been arranged in the same basic format since we moved in three years ago, but it’s never felt right to me.

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When I moved the green wing chair to the downstairs guest room recently the left side of the room was left feeling really empty. I didn’t really care to hunt down another large chair to go there but I didn’t know what else would work. It felt silly to be looking for some piece of furniture just to fill the space. So after thinking it over for a few weeks I had Nick help me rearrange the furniture a bit, just to see. Here’s the first arrangement we tried:

Excuse the unmade bed. It stays pretty warm up here in the summer even with the window air conditioner so we’ve been sleeping with just a sheet. The closet is to the left in the photo above and on the other side of the closet is a little nook that leads to another small closet. I’ve got a crappy Target mirror hanging on the door so I can check my outfits. I’d love to get a nicer full-length mirror because this one is not all that flattering.

You can see in this photo that the bedroom is a loft style and open to the stairs. The windows on this side of the room are pretty private thanks to the oak tree out front so I never got around to making curtains for them. Add that to the to-do list.

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My big reservation regarding this layout is the way that the bed is only halfway in front of the window, but you can see in this photo that if I moved it over so it was centered between the windows there would be no room to open the closet doors.

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So then while Nick was at work yesterday I tried this arrangement. When he got home he said that he liked it much better and I think I agree.

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This nightstand situation is bugging me though. It’s so far down from the head of the bed! Is that normal?

And now there’s this big stretch of blank wall to the left of the dressing table. Maybe this would be a good place for a tall leaning mirror? I’ll obviously be taking down the stuff on the wall if we keep things this way.

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I’m still not so sure about the placement of the armoire and chest of drawers. It’s awkward to have two large pieces that are roughly the same shape and size but not quite symmetrical. I’m tempted to craigslist them and just get a traditional low, wide dresser but they are really old and really well made and I hate to see them go. I just feel like this room is so big and the furniture doesn’t quite work with it. I’d love any suggestions you all might have. I know it’s so bratty to whine about how large my bedroom is. Maybe a gander at my “master” bathroom will help bring me back to earth. It’s so weird that the bathroom is so tiny and the bedroom is so large, but I can’t complain. Despite the odd proportions and the sweltering heat in the summertime, I love the natural light and airy feel of this space. I’m a lucky gal.

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Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap

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20 responses to I Need Help

  1. I’m terrible at this, so I probably won’t be much help. But I definitely vote “NO” on getting rid of the dresser or armoire! I love them! Maybe you could sketch yourself a relatively-to-scale floor plan and play around with the furniture arrangement on paper a bit? Sometimes that helps — easier than sliding all those big pieces around. And I feel like a rug might help ground the bed (since money grows on trees and all…).

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap August 7, 2013 at 10:23 am

      Ah, I really do need to break out the graph paper. I usually love that kind of thing but I guess with all the windows in here I’m dreading measuring it all out.

  2. If you create the floor plan that Val mentions above, could you share it with us? I feel like that would give readers a better idea of the entire space.

    I honestly prefer your bed in the original position. I think that makes the most sense for the room, with the window & closet placement. What if you mix up the placement of the other furniture in the room to freshen things up a bit?

    If you replaced the small blue bedside table with a larger option, like how the desk is larger, that might create more balance? I might also recommend adding more art to the wall on the other side of the bed to create more balance with the amount of art on the desk-side of the bed.

    A rug is an interesting suggestion and might be worth a try. Something colorful with blue tones to be compatible with your other color choices. However, you have GORGEOUS wood floors. I would cover them up as little as possible. :)

    Another relatively inexpensive suggestion might be to add some colorful accent pillows to your bed? I recently changed up my pillow situation, and it is a really small change that made a huge impact.

    Best of luck!

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap August 7, 2013 at 10:25 am

      I think you’re right that if I move the bed back to where it was I definitely need to get a wider/taller bedside table for the far side and switch up the art. I used to have more colorful throw pillows on the bed but they always just ended up on the floor!

  3. I like the original layout the best for the room and think you could do some tweaking to make it more to your liking. What exactly about it made it never fell “right” to you? There might be a solution to that.

    If you want to keep the bed-in-corner layout, I would strongly consider moving the desk set-up to the empty space further down the wall and getting a similar-sized night table to the one you have on the other side of the bed. If the distance of those from the head of the bed is still bothersome, though, maybe consider doing a small shelf attached to the wall (Little Green Notebook did something like this once) in lieu of nightstands OR consider putting a narrow console table behind the head of the bed to store things on without it being seen?

    Hi, btw. I’ve been wanting to comment here for ages but always felt too shy about it. Finally coming out of the woodwork, since you asked for help! :)

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap August 7, 2013 at 10:27 am

      Hi Nan! Thanks for commenting! I think you’ve got some good ideas. It’s definitely food for thought!

  4. I am, by no means, an expert on this. But I have an opinion. :)

    To me, the caddy cornered doesn’t look good because of the 4 posters (isn’t that what they’re called?). I also like the orignial the best. I think I would move the desk on the other side of the bed, against the window, facing the bed and get a side table to replace it on the side of the bed. I get confused looking at pictures as far as layouts though. A floor plan probably would help.

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap August 7, 2013 at 10:27 am

      Bleh, I guess I really do just need to do a floor plan! And maybe get some new nightstands.

  5. I agree with the other readers…the original layout makes the most sense for the room. I also agree with Sara that moving the desk against the window and getting a new side table would help make things more symmetrical. And instead of replacing the chair with another piece of pricey furniture that won’t get used, you could try a nice, tall houseplant in its place. I think that would bring a nice freshness and texture to the room. And urbanbarn.com has a decent room planner for experimenting, though pencil and paper are sometimes easier with stuff like this! :)

  6. Our upstairs was sweltering (probably not for as many months as yours) and we installed a solar powered attic exhaust fan. (I can’t tell if you have a cathedral ceiling in the room?) That might make a big difference. Ours cost about $600 to install, but you get a tax credit for alot of it because of the solar.

    Good luck with the rearranging…..

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap August 7, 2013 at 10:30 am

      Now there’s an idea! We don’t have a cathedral ceiling but maybe it would still help? I’ll have to look into it! Thanks for the suggestion.

  7. I like the caddy-corner! I think it could work. Try putting the short blue dresser under the rabbit, and put the desk back where it was, but pushed to the corner on the right. I would ditch the blue nightstand and get two round tables for either side of the bed for bedstands. Round will work with a caddy-corner. They don’t have to be expensive, try plant stands. Essentially, swap the short blue and the desk and shop your house for taller round bedside tables, the height of the blue one you’re using is better suited for a couch end table, it’s a little low for that bed. And most of all: pay no attention to the mob mentality that takes place on a “certain website”; please don’t let snarky strangers dictate your taste.

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap August 7, 2013 at 10:33 am

      I think you might be onto something, Mary! I love that idea! And thanks for your kind words-some feedback can be helpful and at the same time you can’t please everyone!

  8. I like it caddy cornered. You may want to change it back in the winter because of cold from the windows. But it looks really summery with the curtains behind the bed.

    I think a rug under the bed would look nice. Not centered under the bed, but like 1/3 of the way from the top and coming out of the bottom… If that makes sense. And move the bench from the end of the bed.

    I was also going to suggest a round table for night stands. Or one on the side in the corner, then on the other side move the desk over onto the wall more and put an ottoman or garden stool there -or anything from somewhere else in your house. Even just a simple chair. Like a dining room/antique chair. Not an arm chair.

    Good luck!

  9. I may be in the minority liking the bed in the corner, but I’m biased because we’ve had beds in corners for 12 years.  We don’t have a four-poster, so maybe it looks different in person. Our end tables are also square-shaped and not that long so we didn’t have the problem with them being in an awkward place. Okay, after typing all this I guess I have to say there must be a better way that will work better with your furniture, LOL.

  10. Why not try floating the bed in the middle of the room? You have the space for it. You want to be looking out at your best view from the bed, not at the closet doors.

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