Article: It's best to start with a clean palette, so hire some friends and pay them in pizza to help you clear out your bedroom if you are doing a re-design of the space. If your room has not seen a duster or a broom in awhile, give it a good clean so you can get a clear sense of the space. If you don't want to move everything out of the room, take everything off the walls and move all of the furniture to the middle of the room. This means thinking about how a person will walk around or move around in the room. Get a sense of the pathway for someone circulating around the room. The goal is to try to make it as easy as possible to access the bathroom and the closet area, and still have enough room on either side of your bed to walk around. Consider how you and/or your partner will access the closet and the bathroom. If you are an early riser but your partner isn't, you may want to make it easier for you to get to the bathroom in the dark or access the closet on your side of the bed. Make sure you can open and close your closet doors, as well as your drawers. Check that you can stand in front of your drawers while they're open so you can get your items when you need them. Depending on the size and layout of your bedroom, as well as the needs of the occupants, try to use simple circulation, or circulation based on an entry way on one side of the room. Most hotels have a simple circulation floor plan for good reason, as it allows for an open, functional layout. Circulation plans become a bit more challenging with en suite bedrooms (where the bathroom is attached to the bedroom) or bedrooms that have doors on the outside. You will need to focus on keeping a de cluttered space that is easy to move around in if your bedroom has either of these layouts. If you are designing your bedroom layout from the ground up in a new home, pay attention to where you locate the bathroom and the closet in your bedroom. Rooms with bathroom or closet access before the sleeping area require a longer hallway. But if you organize the circulation so the bathroom and closet can be accessed through the sleeping area, you don't need a separate hallway and you can save on space. A bedroom often feels more relaxing and welcoming if the first thing you experience is a pleasant view out the window, as opposed to a view looking straight at the bed. Try to come up with a layout that showcases a large window with a nice view and doesn't cover up or block any smaller windows as these are good sources of natural light that can add warmth to the room. Keep in mind you can always add in light blocking design like long curtains or blinds to allow light in during the day and maintain your privacy at night. If you must put your bed in front of a window, choose a low headboard that doesn't block the natural light from the window. Once you have a rough idea of how you want to be able to move around in the room, get out your measuring tape and write down the length and width of the room as a whole. Focus on the space between the windows and the door, as well as the closet and the bathroom. This will help you determine the size of the bed, the night stands, and any other accent furniture you are going to purchase for the room. If you are using furniture you already own, measuring the space will help you determine if all your existing furniture is going to fit in the layout you've chosen and/or if you need to get rid of some of your furniture. These measurements will also ensure you have enough space between your furniture to move around easily in the room. Working off a layout on a piece of paper before you move all your furniture in will allow you to tweak or adjust the layout without having to haul around a bed or side table. This is also useful for determining if you are going to keep all your existing furniture or get rid of any items that do not fit within the layout. As an alternative to drawing your layout, you could put tape on the floor to mark where your furniture will go. Put painter's tape down on the floor in the shape of your furniture. Keep in mind if you decide to paint the walls, you do not want to have to move all the furniture out of the room again. So hold off on moving your furniture back into your room until you have finalized the layout and the color scheme for the room. Your bed is the key piece of furniture in your bedroom, so determining where it is going to be located in the room will then help you decide where the other accent pieces are going to fit. Thinking about circulation again, you have two main possibilities for the placement of your bed: Against the wall opposite your bedroom's door. This creates a nice view when you enter the room as the bed will not be blocking any windows and there will be a very simple, open circulation to the room. Along the room's longest wall. Most bedrooms have one length of wall that isn't interrupted by windows and doors. This layout gives you plenty of room to put a nightstand on each side of the bed. If you have to push the side of your bed against the wall, you might place your pillows and throw pillows along the wall to create a daybed look. This can add more style to your room. The next largest item of furniture in the room will likely be a dresser or armor for your clothing. If you have an attached closet, you may not need to worry about this furniture item. You have several placement options for the dresser, including: In the corner of the room, across from your bed. Be aware that placing a dresser in the corner may cut off the openness of the space. Try adjusting the dresser so it is facing the bed against a wall. If you are using a wide chest or credenza, it can serve a double function as a television stand. If this is the case, you may want to place the chest or credenza directly across from the bed against the opposite wall for easy viewing of the TV. If you are using a low dresser or chest, you may also want to place it at the end of your bed for easy access and to keep the walls open and not cluttered. Now that the largest furniture items have been situated in the room, check if you have space for side tables on either side of the bed, accent chairs, and standing lamps. Depending on how much space you have, you may be able to also include a small desk and chairs in the room. You may also want to include an ottoman at the end of your bed or by your closet for extra seating.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Remove everything from the room, if necessary. Think about the circulation of the room. Consider where the windows in the room are or the view. Measure the space. Draw a layout. Decide where your bed is going to go. Determine if you are going to have a dresser in the room. Choose your accent furniture.