Seven Storage Fixes for a Bedroom With No Closet
A 9 square metre room, one chimney breast, and nowhere to put anything. Seven fixes, $115, and the room ended up looking bigger rather than smaller.
[ADD IMAGE HERE] — Small bedroom with a dark headboard and rolling storage drawers under the bed. Vertical shot, 1000x1500px.
1. Raise the bed before you buy anything
Bed risers cost about twelve dollars and buy you 13 cm of storage across the entire footprint of the bed — more usable space than any piece of furniture you could fit in the room. Do this first, then measure what fits underneath. Buying storage boxes before you raise the bed is how people end up with boxes that do not fit.
2. Drawers on castors, not boxes
Boxes have to be dragged out and lifted. Screw four castors to the base of a shallow crate and it rolls out with one finger, which is the whole difference between storage you use and storage you forget about.
3. A rail on the back of the door
Over-door hooks hold about four items before they sag and start scraping the frame. A proper rail, screwed into the door itself, holds a week of clothes. Two screws, ten minutes.
4. Shelves high, not wide
A single shelf running the full width of the wall, 40 cm below the ceiling, adds a metre of storage and pulls the eye upward. A bookcase holding the same amount eats floor space and makes the walls feel closer.
The height rule. Anything above 180 cm reads as architecture rather than furniture. That is why a high shelf makes a room feel taller and a waist-height unit makes it feel cramped, even when the two hold exactly the same amount.
5. One hook rail behind the bedroom door
Bags, dressing gowns and tomorrow’s clothes end up on a chair otherwise — and a chair covered in clothes is a chair you have lost.
6. Under-window bench with a lid
Two crates and a cushioned board give you seating, storage, and a surface that is not the bed. Ours holds spare bedding and cost $34.
7. Take the bedside table out
A shallow floating shelf beside the bed does the same job in a fifth of the floor area. Deep enough for a lamp, a glass and a book — 18 cm — and no deeper.
What it cost
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Bed risers, set of four | $12 |
| Two crates plus castors | $28 |
| Door rail and hook rail | $19 |
| High shelf, timber and brackets | $22 |
| Window bench crates and cushion | $34 |
| Total | $115 |
Project at a glance
- Cost — $115
- Time — Two evenings
- Skill — Easy
- Room size — 9 m²
Questions people asked
How do you store clothes without a closet?
A freestanding rail plus under-bed drawers covers most wardrobes. Hang what creases, fold what does not, and keep out-of-season clothes in the highest storage so you are not moving them weekly.
Does under-bed storage make a room look messy?
Only if it is visible. A bed skirt or a fitted valance hides risers and drawers completely, and costs less than the drawers do.
Next project
Pair this with the peelable arch wall behind the bed, or add a thrifted gallery wall above the new shelf.