83 small room ideas for the smallest rooms in the house
There is something about small room ideas that tends to send people into a panic. Granted, a small room does require more thought in the decoration than bigger rooms tend to and finding the right solution for the space can take a little know-how and a lot of research to find that you may not have considered before. Luckily, our Decoration Editor Ruth Sleightholme is full of knowledge for small room ideas, having worked on spaces of all shapes and sizes over her career to date.
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How do you design a small room?
'Eliminate awkward gaps with purposeful joinery,' she advises as a first step. 'Furniture floats more in a small room, because any gap between it and the wall is awkward and small. Instead, think about using built-in furniture to fit everything in properly. For example, make a dining nook with banquette seating (with storage underneath) that goes the width of a room, or build a box bed into the length of the room, making space for niches and cupboards.' You might think this would cause the room to feel smaller, but as everything will then have a set place, it achieves the opposite effect and keeps it organised at the same time.
With this kind of approach – of which there are many stylish examples in the gallery below – Ruth advises you have to 'lose space to gain space. You may lose a few centimetres of floor space to create a panel behind a built-in bed but you gain space when you’re using it and have a bedside table built in, rather than one taking up floor space'. In compact bathrooms and bedrooms in particular, Ruth's advice is to keep as much off the floor as possible as a clear floor creates the idea of space. Instead, consider, for example, a wall-mounted basin and towel rail and bedside tables that are built into a headboard.
How can you maximise a small room?
'Look at all the different surfaces in the room and think about using spaces that you don’t often notice,' says Ruth. 'It's something Beata Heuman does so well, building little shelves on top of radiators, or you can consider the inside walls of a window or the inside edge of a dividing wall and sides of a chimney breast and see if there’s something you can use them for, like a little shelf all the way up the chimney breast, a shelf and cupboard underneath a windowsill, or little shelves along the inside edge of a thick wall. See things not as they look at first but in raw volumes and where you can access things from – look beyond it as it is now and be ambitious about what’s possible and where you might be able to add storage or make what you have more practical. A good example is a small Paris flat by Marianne Evennou, who installed a washing machine into a corner cupboard in the kitchen, but the door is in the hallway. That way, the corner unit is used but in an effective way, so there is no dead space. It's not something you immediately think of, so you need to take time to look at all those possibilities.'
'You have to solve the issue first and then apply your taste when you have the solution you need,' continues Ruth, who suggests building a bank of references about how to work with a chimney breast or bay window in a small space, for example, and rather than discounting something for its style, instead look past that at the tricks used to maximise space. Once you land on something that works for your small room, then go into the styling. 'One great thing is that you can fill a room with a single idea done confidently,' according to Ruth. 'For example, a small bathroom has far less space to decorate so you can afford to tile all the way up to the ceiling and it will look great.'
'Whenever you’re dividing up between different rooms, don’t interrupt the sightline from room to room - critall windows or glass doors will help both spaces feel a bit more large,' says Ruth. 'Try walls that can be moved in various different ways - curtain off areas, look at partitions that slide open and close between rooms and bifold doors that open out so can have one or two rooms. Small considerations go a long way in creating space, such as installing a sliding or pocket door that doesn't open into a room.' Ruth's final piece of advice on the structure of a room is to 'keep the woodwork the same colour as walls to dissolve the boundaries of the space.'
As for furniture, Ruth's words of wisdom extend to folding furniture and perhaps more surprisingly, antiques. Look to 'little folding chairs, stacking stools, tilt top tables and steps that fold into stools – things you can easily push out the way when you mop' for useful pieces, but don't think it just has to be mid-century and IKEA. Ruth's top tip? 'A surprising amount of antiques work well in small spaces - and a lot of antiques have folding elements so search for ‘folding’ on antiques websites. Hunt around too for slimline things; for example, Georgian sofas are generally good in small spaces as they have upright backs rather than something deep that projects further.' On that note, Ruth's last piece of advice for small rooms is to 'think about how far things project from the walls, not just with the furniture but also wall lights. No one wants to hit their head on one, so look for slimline lights as well as furniture.'
From small living rooms ideas and small dining rooms, to small bedrooms, small bathrooms, small kitchens, hallway ideas, studio flat design and kids' rooms, or even just small space storage solutions, we've delved in to the House & Garden archive to bring you clever, stylish ideas for every room of the house from the best interior designers out there.
Boz Gagovski1/83This spare bedroom in a Notting Hill townhouse belonging to Stella Weatherall has walls covered in Phillip Jeffries' ‘Manila Hemp Pomegranate’ grasscloth. The headboard fabric is Christopher Farr Cloth's ‘Lost and Found in Indigo’. The large lumbar cushion is ‘Tansy’ fabric by Robert Kime. The bedspread is Anthropologie and the bedside lamps are Pooky.
Paul Massey2/83The dining area of this flat designed by Laura Stephens had to be able to fit the owners many grand children and extended family. In lieu of individual chairs, she opted for a banquette along the wall, upon 'because you can squash lots of little bottoms on it!'
Mark Anthony Fox3/83At the bottom of the garden of a former vicarage designed by Anna Haines sits this tiny, but wonderful outbuilding. Converted from a stableblock, the space has been ingeniously designed to house separate kitchen, dining, sitting areas, as well as a tiny bedroom upstairs. The trick, says Anna, is in ‘respecting the fabric of the building and give it a very lived-in feel’. Underneath a new staircase sits an antique bench, original paver flooring throughout the ground floor keeps the space feeling unified.
Mark Anthony Fox4/83In the main house, a pantry features cabinetry painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Cooking Apple Green’ is set off by ‘Jelly & Cake’ wallpaper in pink from Thornback & Peel.
Lucas Allen5/83A small snug behind the sitting area of this house designed by d’Erlanger and Sloan has been cleverly designed to feel cosy. Curtains and tented ceiling, all in ‘Humbug Ticking’ cotton from Howe at 36 Bourne Street, combined with the bespoke woven wicker panels are by Atelier Vime on the walls, make for an enclosed, warm space.
Dean Hearne6/83What Daisy Sims-Hilditch's kitchen lacks in lateral space, it makes up for in ceiling height. To this end, Daisy has installed floor-to-ceiling cupboards, accessed by a ladder, to make the most of the tall space. They're painted in Edward Bulmer's ‘Verdigris’, which helps to keep the space feel light.
Mark Anthony Fox7/83Even the small gaps next to a staircase can be used in a functional way, as proved by Ahmed Hassan and Atticus Branch in their maisonette. The pair have made the most of the nook next to the stairs, painting it in an orange from the Natural History Museum's collection with Farrow & Ball.
Chris Horwood8/83A small space of this shape can be very awkward to deal with, but James Shaw handled it with aplomb, creating a bespoke sofa and the ultimate relaxation area in the process.
Owen Gale9/83What was once a bathroom in this Bath house is now a bright reading room which is flooded with light. The wallpaper, from Colefax & Fowler, and woodwork painted in yellow, bring sunlight on even the rainiest of days. It is a cosy nook that showcases a novel way to use a small space.
Owen Gale10/83In the same house, another small space has been transformed into a tidy and useful pantry area, to keep the kitchen clean and simple.
Salva Lopez11/83The ceiling in the kitchen of Sergio Roger's Barcelona apartment is at a 45-degree angle, its thick rafters a particular hazard; spatial awareness is probably one of the most important skills required for anyone cooking in it. ‘It’s completely impractical, but I love it,’ Sergio says. With existing chequerboard tiles, pale painted units and marble worktops, it has a charming rustic feel.
Chris Horwood12/83Salvesen Graham have created a clever kitchen-dining layout for a long, narrow space at this London pied-à-terre by Salvesen Graham. The main cabinets and an island take up one end of the room, and immediately in front is a compact sofa, which provides seating for the dining table in front. A dresser along the left hand side of the room allows for extra storage space.
Chris Horwood13/83Daybeds with storage underneath are a brilliant solution for spare bedrooms. In the same London pied-à-terre by Salvesen Graham, this space functions as a place for the owners' daughter to relax and watch TV, but can also be a spare bed when needed.
14/83Banquette seating is the perfect way to create a kitchen-dining area in a small space, as Sézane founder Morgane Sézalory has done in her stylish apartment on the Left Bank of Paris. Building the kitchen in a U-shape helps to separate the two spaces, while the mirrored walls make the room feel larger. Morgane complemented the custom, curvy bench with a vintage travertine pedestal table, wood chairs by midcentury Swiss designer Bruno Rey, and embroidered floral cushions from Les Composantes. The pendant is an Uchiwa light by Ingo Maurer, the wallpaper is from Nobilis, and the wall paint is Laque Bleu from San Miguel Ressource.
Alexander James15/83Entrusted with the mission of bringing light to a gloomy ground floor flat, Studio Peake leant on her client's love on textiles and art to bring warmth to their London bolthole. This small bedroom is exceptionally warm and luxurious feeling, with a textured wallcovering, Mecox Straw by Colefax and Fowler, paired with joinery in Camo 7 by Papers and Paints. The curtains are by Studio Four NYC.
Boz Gagovski16/83The interior designer Lucy Mayers has wrought an impressive transformation on her tiny Kensington flat, taking it from boring ‘standard student rental fare’ to a space full of personality and packed with surprises. The tiny size of the sitting room necessitated some ingenuity in the design–what Lucy calls ‘caravan-living logic.’ “This room had to function as a library, a TV room, a dining room, and a comfortable sitting room,” she explains. She found a useful banquette at OKA that could easily function as a sofa for movie nights or as seating for dinner parties, and designed a bookshelf to provide tailored storage for, among other things, a chess set, record player, bottles of wine and a taxidermied heron. The walls are painted in ‘Oxford Blue' by Papers & Paints.
Paul Massey17/83The space under the stairs is a classic choice for carving out more storage, as Lonika Chande has done in her Queen's Park house, filled with colourful fabrics and carefully curated treasures that enhance its character and origins as a Victorian worker’s cottage. In the book-lined nook under the stairs, the bench doubles as storage space.
Elsa Young18/83This owners of this London house gave architect Maria Speake of Retrouvius the go-ahead to make structural changes to give their family and business the space needed without having to move home. A shed has been made into a little studio in the vegetable garden, with a daybed that's fitted with storage underneath. The shed sits in a vegetable patch, beyond which is a communal garden that has been a labour of love for Henrietta who is one half of the gardening duo the Land Gardeners who run a thriving flower garden based at Wardington Manor in Oxfordshire.
Christopher Horwood19/83This first-floor laundry room is painted in Paint & Paper Library's 'Rouge II'. Tongue and groove panelling combines beautifully with the units, which were made by Howdens to Natasha Howard, the interior designer's, design. Checkerboard lino lines the floor, while a frilly pendant from Retrouvius provides a pretty finishing touch.
Paul Massey20/83Panelling in ‘Glass V’ by Paint & Paper Library surrounds this sweet little nook in the former house of JM Barrie, reimagined by Sophie Ashby. The sofa is from 1stdibs and fits the space wonderfully.
STEPHAN JULLIARD21/83Take inspiration from Marianne Evennou’s creative use of colour and choice of flexible furniture to enhance the proportions and maximise space in this Paris apartment. Almost everywhere you look in this apartment, there are clever storage solutions. The hot-water tank is concealed in a cupboard in the bedroom and, elsewhere, cupboards have been integrated under windows.
Marianne often installs atelier-style windows between rooms: ‘For me, they are just as important as the windows to the outside; I don’t think they are used often enough.’ Not only do they allow light to circulate more easily, they also allow the eye and the mind to travel. ‘That way, you don’t feel imprisoned in a room. And there is something poetic about them,’ she adds. ‘Your imagination can move from one world to another.’
Tim Beddow22/83When thinking about her own house, decorator Sarah Vanrenen made the most of a small bedroom by installing a niche bed behind a curtain, in a room that also acts as a dressing room. By tucking the bed away, the rest of the room is freed up for wardrobes and a dresser.
James McDonald23/83Gallerist Tobias Vernon’s cottage in Somerset is a study in juxtaposition, with white walls throughout providing a background for his creative arrangements of art and eclectic pieces. In the tiny kitchen, units painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Dutch Orange’ contrast with ‘Circa’ industrial rubber flooring in forest green by Polymax.
Alexander James24/83This tiny box room in a south London house by Studio Peake has a severely sloping ceiling, making it difficult for anyone to stand up at one end. Sarah Peake's solution was to put in a single bed below the window, and build out a nook up to the angle of the ceiling, using the space efficiently and making the room feel more spacious. Ottoline de Vries' 'Chintamani Trellis' wallpaper lines the inside, while the red is picked up by the Habitat lamp.
Romain Laprade25/83The bedroom of Fabrizio Casiraghi’s apartment is where Fabrizio has introduced colour on the walls, choosing a Japanese lacquer technique in an olive green. It creates a cabin-like feel in the space, which has the constellations painted on the ceiling.
Simon Brown26/83Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler managing director Emma Burns' London flat is the ideal pied-à-terre – richly decorated yet smart, efficient and full of clever solutions for small spaces. Sleek flat lacquered cabinets are the perfect choice for a sophisticated city kitchen, and give a clean, streamlined look. "From the sitting room, it looks more like a bar than a kitchen," explains Emma. "And the bits where the mess happens are hidden behind the wall, so you don't feel that you're sitting in the kitchen when you're on the sofa."
Martin Morrell27/83No room for an ensuite? We love this room in an Oxfordshire cabin where the bath is tucked into the same room as a traditional iron bed and an antique military chest that serves as a desk.
Paul Massey28/83‘I love entertaining and I wanted the kitchen to feel open, with all my glassware and ceramics out,’ says designer Emma Grant of the compact space in her Primrose Hill flat. Painting everything white and using a glass table helps to achieve that effect. The chairs are from Criterion Auctioneers. Bert & May supplied the marbleised cement tiles.
Michael Sinclair29/83When the son of the interior designer Rupert Charles-Jones needed a place to live, the talented pair worked together to convert a narrow outbuilding at the Cotswolds family house into a character-filled home. The one-bedroom house features an open plan kitchen that blends seamlessly into the living room.
The Modern House30/83Fee Greening's house in Islington used to be a shop, and before that a restaurant. She made the most of a tiny space upstairs with an open-plan kitchen and living room and lots of bright white paint and neutrals to help it feel airy.
Taran Wilkhu31/83In her small London bathroom, Zoë Zimmer created a sense of space with a wall of mirrors, white tiles and adding plants to a clever shelf around the top of the room. Zoë was inspired by the combination of white tiles and black grout she had seen on buildings in Tokyo. The basin is similar to Lefroy Brooks’ ‘Belle Aire’ design.
Alexander James32/83This grey panelled utility room with a Sheila Maid is the perfect example of what to do with that strange little space in your home. The smart room clad in tongue-and-groove panelling belongs to a west London house designed by Clare Stevenson and Claire Sa from architectural practice De Rosee Sa.
Find a similar traditional Sheila Maid clothes dryer at Garden Trading. Raised and lowered from the ceiling with a jute rope, it is perfectly suited to small rooms with a lack of floor space.
33/83This project, designing a shepherd's hut, was not without its challenges. 'The biggest hurdle was the special planning due to the tight dimensions,' says Top 100 designer Katharine Pooley. She decided to take on the task 'with the same approach as any other project' and created a space that would suit playing children and adults seeking a relaxing retreat alike.
Hand-printed fabric walling and selected antiques add character to the hut, which has a different design scheme to the main house. 'Complete with a sweet kitchen, wood-burning stove, artisan-fitted furniture and a bespoke bed, it has the perfect feeling of cosiness.'
Simon Brown34/83This small kitchen in an eighteenth-century cottage in the Cotswolds is tiny 'but perfectly formed', with the same floorspace as a larger kitchen with an island would have, and it adequately suits the owners' needs. They cook on an oil-fired Rayburn, which stands in an alcove - '20 minutes and you can have boiling water,' says owner Caroline.
Caroline and Fatimah's collection of pottery bowls and jugs is displayed along the stone window sill next to the Rayburn, where seating makes huddling up next to the cooker inevitable. A narrow gap beside it has been used for extra storage, while S-hooks are used to hang pans off a rail overhead - a classic way of organising a small kitchen.
Rachel Whiting35/83To open up the space in the kitchen of her Bloomsbury rented flat, Gabby Deeming replaced clunky wall cupboards above the sink and work surfaces with open shelves. The shelf brackets are made by The Good Shelf Company and the new design allows more light to flow into the compact space.
Simon Brown36/83Former House & Garden editor Susan Crewe relocated from the top floors to the bottom of her London house, and completely reassembled the space in the process. In this bedroom, the panelling behind the bed does several jobs: bedside lights are wired into it, nooks have been carved out to serve as bedside tables, and the shelf above is both decorative and useful. ‘Harvest Hare’ wallpaper in chalk white from St Jude’s sets the palette; the design came from an original linocut by Mark Hearld. An oak leaf chandelier hangs above the bed.
Michael Sinclair37/83A small space can be a great opportunity to go bold with colour. Sanderson's 'Mimosa Yellow' paint brightens this tiny bedroom in Audrey Carden's London house.
Lucas Allen38/83Furniture designer Matthew King's houseboat on the Thames is a two-bedroom dwelling that feels so much bigger than the sum of its parts. As much as anything, it is a testament to the power of well-designed joinery. In terms of storage – there are drawers under beds and stair treads, concealed cupboards behind most walls and wave-proof shelving for life’s bits and bobs – it is a Tardis. An alcove in the spare room frames a sculpture by Matthew in Carrara marble.
Simon Upton39/83The vertical lines of the panelling in this Welsh farmhouse by Hackett Holland add height to the awkwardly shaped bathroom, while the window gives bathers a view of the sky. A sink curtain emphasises the country feel of the scheme and hides any unsightly pipes.
Davide Lovatti40/83One of our favourite small room ideas. Known for their restoration of historic buildings in Scotland, conservation architects Nick Groves-Raines and Kristin Hannesdottir relished the challenge of saving Lamb's House in Leith, where they now live and work. In an attic room, the box bed is painted in Farrow & Ball's 'India Yellow'.
Simon Bevan41/83The living room belongs to designer and H&G contributor Ben Pentreath, it can be found in his Georgian flat on Great Ormond Street. Ben has chosen a soft pink, 'Calamine' from Farrow & Ball, for the walls. An inbuit bookcase - which emphasises the height of this small room - holds a colourful array of fiction.
Sarah Hogan42/83Interior designer Jane Taylor has taken an awkwardly shaped little corner of the dining room in her London home, and hidden it behind a bookshelf, turning it in to a miniature study for her husband Simon containing a desk and shelves. Height has been utilized with shelves all the way to the ceiling, accessed by a fold-away step ladder.
43/83'Make the city guest room a place where people can have an escape of sorts,' suggests designer Veere Grenney, the creator of this jewel of a room. 'The fabric-covered walls and tented ceiling feel luxurious and exotic; it is hard to remember you are in the middle of London. A shelf full of good books is an imperative; here it is built in to the wall at the foot of the bed as there was no room for a standing shelf. It is the easiest way to give a room life and character.'
Davide Lovatti44/83A corner of the sitting room in Tara Craig's small London flat is taken up by the kitchen designed by Tara with Marcus Ayshford Sanford of Archidrum. The apricot tone – which is bespoke by Papers and Paints – works seamlessly with the blue of the living room area and helps to create a sense of separate spaces in the flat.
Davide Lovatti45/83Walls in a bespoke khaki gloss by Papers and Paints establish a Georgian feel in the hallway, which connects the living area to the bedroom. The large window helps make it feel airy and wider.
Lucas Allen46/83A great small bathroom design idea for a studio flat or a guest annex. Interior designer Suzy Hoodless has added a bath and sink to a bedroom in this Notting Hill House. Geometric tiles create a division between the bathing area and the main bedroom. Graphic curtains made with fabric from Madeline Weinrib add colour to the white walls by the bed, while a Fifties Swedish chair upholstered in sheepskin sets the tone by the free-standing 'Vieques' bath from Agape.
David Oliver47/83Interior designer Virginia Howard had no intention of moving from Knightsbridge to Pimlico, until a balcony flat in a nineteenth-century garden square changed her mind. In the dining area, Virginia created a workspace cleverly tucked inside a wall cupboard.
Michael Sinclair48/83This living room is really a paradise for book lovers. The bespoke shelving, designed and built in around the large windows, houses architectural designer Charles Rutherfoord extensive book collection. Rutherfoord says he designs rooms for living in rather than showing off, but that seems like he's doing a disservice to his own impeccable taste.
Paul Massey49/83A masterclass in making a small living room feel spacious yet warm and cosy with the use of colourful decoration - pinks and yellows - in a west London town house featuring plenty of antique treasures. The plaster and marble fireplace was designed by owner Giles Vincent, who was inspired by the work of artist Oliver Messel. Giles also designed the bronze wall lights to echo the shape of the gourds in the still life painting by Louis Valtat.
50/83Light streams in at the front of a tiny Paddington flat designed by Beata Heuman, opening up this clever dining area. Wall lights from Clippings provide light to eat (or work) by, while not taking up any space.
Paul Massey51/83Designer and furniture maker Jeremy Pitts has built a one-room cabin the woodland near his house in Sussex. ‘I wanted to demonstrate how many functions could be accommodated in a small volume,’ says Jeremy. A bunk bed doubles as a sofa, and there is a wall-mounted folding table made using a single board of oak from the same tree as the floor. Of course, it is also an example of what the designer can create for a client.
Paul Massey52/83In Irene Gunter's cleverly designed flat, the bed in the main bedroom sits against a false wall, behind which is a useful area, and there are floor-to-ceiling wardrobes and window seats with integrated drawers
Paul Massey53/83The architect and designer Giles Vincent has reconfigured the rooms of his west London town house to set off a rich mix of inherited and collected antiques. The smaller of the two spare rooms has a day bed upholstered in a discontinued Galbraith & Paul fabric. The bed's headboard wraps beneath the window, padding the whole side of the bed, and making a deliciously cosy nook.
Michael Sinclair54/83A small bedroom in an Oxfordshire cottage is decorated in shades of green with a patterned wallpaper that draws the eye down and creates the allusion of a larger room. Furniture is kept to a minimum to allow maximum use of the space. A geometric rug from Graham & Green contrasts with 'Mr Men' wallpaper in clover from the Thimble Prints range by Howe at 36 Bourne Street. A bolster in toning linen adds to the fresh green and white scheme.
55/83In Rachel Chudley's East London home, an Aston Matthews bath is set off by an iroko-wood surround that centres it in the narrow space. Her wardrobe also lives in the bathroom so as not to overcrowd the small bedroom.
Ngoc Minh Ngo56/83Situated on a leafy street in Manhattan's West Village, Jos and Annabel White's six-storey town house has been extended, gutted and completely renovated to create open-plan interiors tailored for family living. Underneath the main entertaining floor on the ground floor is the heart of the house, a huge basement family room devoted to eating, playing and lounging that opens on to the garden. 'We have lunch in the nook,' says Annabel. 'Which gives a nod to old-fashioned American diners with its curved green banquette and neon sign - and dinner at the table. 'For the kitchen, Jos and Annabel were inspired by the fittings in their friends' New York restaurant The Fat Radish. This dining set up uses the space between the wall and cupboard to increase the seating capacity around the small round table.
Simon Brown57/83Hannah Cecil Gurney's west London pattern-filled flat is a feast of luxurious colour, texture and pattern - little surprise given that her father founded the handmade wallpaper company de Gournay.
'Lining the kitchen walls with gold leaf and painting the woodwork turquoise has made the tiny cooking space feel like the inside of a delicious chocolate box.' The room was designed with cosiness in mind; it is the only space where the celing was not restored to double height and the wenge worktop was chosen specifically to be 'more cosy and warm than stone'.
Sharyn Cairns58/83The spare bedroom of Ben Pentreath's home in Dorset is housed in the attic. The apex is clad in tongue and groove panelling and the walls have been painted a creamy white - a shrewd choice for a small country bedroom. The twin beds are covered in a blue and white Indian block printed cotton.
59/83A concealed wardrobe with a sliding door is the perfect solution for smaller bedrooms, where traditional hinged doors can cause an obstruction. The lights here are from Emery et Cie.
Jake Curtis60/83If you have a small bedroom matchy-matchy can work a treat. In architect and designer Ben Pentreath's Bloomsbury flat, Soane's delicate 'Seaweed Lace' wallpaper has been paired with a roman bilnd in the fabric iteration. The bold striped blanket is from Pendleton.
Simon Brown61/83Edo Mapelli Mozzi downsized to a flat housed within one spacious room of a Victorian house in west London. Every inch of the space is used - the inbuilt dining nook has banquette seating upholstered in Linwood's 'Moleskin Velvet'. On the wall behind the seat Edo has empolyed the oldest trick in the book for making small spaces feel more spacious - mirror. The entire back wall of the banquette houses an enormous mirror that reflects the living area beyond. A trio of Michael Anastassiades pendants hang from the ceiling, past a mezzanine of bookshelves.
Rachel Whiting62/83In Gabby Deeming's Bloomsbury flat, the bed takes up the width of the room. The window has a linen half-curtain made from a vintage tablecloth as a concession to privacy. The lack of other curtains or blinds mean that the attractive curved tops of the windows are still visible. Of the canopy bed she says "it feels so self-contained, a bit like a ship that's going to set sail with me in it, which I love. It's a very good bed for daydreaming."
Rachel Whiting63/83When the architects of the Barbican, the Grade II-listed Seventies London landmark, drew up the kitchens, they had the clever idea of bringing in Brooke Marine, a firm of yacht designers. They figured the one place where space for a kitchen was always at a premium was on board a boat. It wasn't the only ground-breaking idea: Chamberlin, Powell & Bon also decided the kitchens should be placed at the rear of the flats and be windowless, so that the living area and bedrooms could enjoy the available window space instead. However, the design ran afoul of council bylaws requiring a window or ventilation in the kitchen. The solution? The kitchens were named 'cooking areas' that were considered part of the living room and the designs were approved. Canny.
64/83In our columnist Rita Konig's London flat, a feeling of space has been created by removing any barriers between the kitchen and the open-plan dining/living room around the corner. From the living room the kitchen is neatly out of sight, but still within easy reach.
'I find the kitchen - and where people choose to position it in a house - very interesting,' Rita muses. 'Women, having spent years fighting their way out of them, are now manacling themselves to these enormous kitchen islands, while their children sit in the drawing room playing computer games. I still have a sense of open plan without ever having to look at the kitchen sink.' Every inch of space is utilised for storage, with the walls between the rooms fitted with shelves. Friendly and remarkably practical.
Paul Massey65/83Masses of walk-in storage space, plus an enviable laundry and additional bathroom in the basement, make Rita Konig's London flat a highly functional, enviably modern family home. 'If you don't have good storage, your life is a mess. It is expensive, and people don't like to put it into their budgets, but it's crucial,' says Rita. When asked how she did it all, she reels off a long list, which includes losing 12cm off the length of the sitting area to make room for the full-length bath in the bathroom.
Playing on the lack of natural light in the bathroom, Rita had the bath area covered in horizontal and vertical boards, painted in a high-gloss 'Deep Brunswick Green' from Papers and Paints.
Rachel Whiting66/83This iconic wallpaper is Scalamandré's 'Zebra' in masai red, famously used in Wes Anderson's film The Royal Tenenbaums. A great small room idea, it creates an intimate feeling in this small bathroom, which was boldly designed by Beata Heuman. The decorator has perfectly demonstrated how to choose one bold colour for a tiny space. Mirrors also help - they encourage light to bounce around, making the small space seem larger.
The interior of this fun, colourful home is a highly original space, unapologetically theatrical and oozing energy. 'The owners are both artists. They have quite wild tastes and they love strong colours,' says designer Beata. 'I was told by the wife that her childhood dream was to have a house with a series of rooms each with its own distinct personality - Chinese, Japanese, American and so on. That would have been too much, but I did want to give the house variation and changes of mood.'
Gaelle Le Boulicaut67/83A pair of Robert Longo lithographs, bought from the Brooke Alexander Gallery, anchor the compact living room of this Manhattan apartment, made to feel more spacious with a white ceiling and white walls and furniture. A Dee Briggs sculpture is suspended from the ceiling in front.
Gaelle Le Boulicaut68/83The bedroom is large enough to just fit the owner's bed in this Manhattan apartment. ‘It is the size of the original bedroom – literally the size of a mattress,’ he says. It does not feel confining, however. ‘I have a huge window in here, so it’s like a beautiful cocoon.’ An artwork by El Anatsui hangs above the bed, with built-in storage under it.
69/83In this small bedroom, a wrap-around headboard takes on the appearence of luxurious wall panelling and makes the small space look bigger. Naomi Paul was commissioned by Studio Ashby to make the beautiful hand-woven, offset wall and table lights.
This modern city flat that has been transformed from a stark new-build to a characterful home. The use of a natural palette full of texture and earthy tones continues in this bedroom, creating a calm and peaceful space.
70/83Small spaces don't have to be white and minimal. Instead, embrace the diminutive size of a room and even emphasise it by creating a cosy nook (see how to create 'hygge' in your home).
The small bedroom in Patrick Williams' Victorian flat is entirely painted in Farrow & Ball's 'Lamp Room Grey'. It is a haven of calm watched over by a stone statue of the Virgin Mary.
Patrick enclosed the bed, hiding the original chimney breast and cleverly making use of the voids either side for a bedside shelf and walk-in cupboard. The patchwork quilt on the bed was made by Patrick's grandmother, while the painting is by his mother.
71/83A muted colour scheme was chosen by Top 100 designer Katharine Pooley for her stylish shepherd's hut due to its limited space. Metallic accents were added with bronze- and copper-toned accessories. 'To finish the look, I used sisal carpet that was seamless and had a country feeling, complementing the choice of fabrics throughout the hut.'
Simon Brown72/83Interior designer Beata Heuman has worked hard to achieve visual unity throughout her west-London flat by replacing mismatched flooring with engineered boards, and picking fabrics in large scale prints but soft toning shades. 'Less is more when it comes to colour,' she adds. Farrow & Ball's 'Pavillion Gray' on the walls gives a sophisticated evening mood. Above the doorframe she has used mirrors to reflect the light, and create an illusion of space and increased ceiling height.
Simon Brown73/83Mirror is a vital tool in the armoury of anyone designing a small room. Use it to reflect light and create an illusion of space. Here mirrored Ikea 'Pax' wardrobe flanking the window emphasise the view on to leafy Brompton Cemetery in interior designer Beata Heuman's flat. The blinds are in 'Serafina' (white) by Marvic.
Rachel Whiting74/83'I planned this room around some old silk ikat I found in Istanbul,' says designer Jane Churchill of the two-bedroomed terrace house in London to which she downsized. 'I designed two chairs for it - without armrests but with curved backs for comfort, as there is no space for armchairs.'
Paul Raeside75/83A cupboard kitchen takes the place of exposed kitchen units - a practical and good-looking alternative (you can see the kitchen when it's all folded up here). A drop leaf dining table can be discreetly folded against a wall when not in use.
Paul Massey76/83The design of this small attic bathroom by Todhunter Earle for a chalet in Chamonix, is practically perfect (see the rest of the room here). A panel of mirror-glass that works with the shape of the room, makes the sloped ceiling feel higher and the room bigger.
77/83Make the most of the space under the stairs by turning it in to a walk-in larder like this designed by Plain English. Luxurious touches like a honed Carrara marble worktop, a wine rack and linen-lined baskets for holding fruit and bread make it a joy to use.
Sarah Hogan78/83'The proportions of these houses are not particularly good, they are a little too tall and a little too narrow' says interior designer Cindy Leveson of the hallway of this nineteenth-century house designed in collaboration with Holloways of Ludlow. The rooms have been opened up and the hall wall removed and replaced by almost invisible sliding doors, which disappear into deep reveals. The elegant, painted corner cupboard opens to reveal a practical space for coat and boot storage - simple but brilliant.
Simon Brown79/83'This cottage is now a part of us, an effortless comfort blanket,' says designer Caroline Holdaway of the adorable Cotswolds cottage she shares with her photographer partner, Fatimah Namdar, on weekends. The wall shelves in the spare room - along with providing storage - draw the eye up, making the cosy ceilings appear higher, while a chair provides double duty as a bedside table. An olive-stripe flatweave rug from Sinclair Till contrasts with a vibrant tartan rug from Toast used as a bedspread and cushions made from fabric pieces left over from projects.
Simon Upton Veranda Magazine80/83'In the main bedroom, there is only room for a bed, but one way to make a room like this seem bigger is to select a compact four-poster. It creates a feeling of grandeur and makes the proportions of the room seem larger,' says designer Veere Grenney of this bedroom in his Sussex folly.
The elegant bed (painted 'Slate I: Stark Paint' by David Oliver's Paint Library, with curtains in a muted Veere Grenney fabric) and demilune table are both antique Swedish; while his crisp white bed linens are from The White Company, with sconces sourced from Soane.
Paul Massey81/83Paolo Moschino chose a cabin-style bed to make the most of the limited space in this spare room. The designer has transformed this small, humble fisherman's cottage in north Cornwall into a light-filled home. A blue-and-white colour scheme is used throughout the property, inspired by colours of the sea, as well as giving continuity that adds to the sense of spaciousness.
Rachel Whiting82/83This built-in niche bed with shelves and a curtain was designed by Beata Heuman, who was asked to create a spare bedroom that was dark and cosseting. To achieve this, Beata designed a built-in bed complete with curtain and 'Fretwork' bedcover from Oka. The small space is made even more inviting by the contrast between the rust-red interior, which is painted in 'Drummond' by Little Greene, and the dark blue exterior in Dulux '90BG 10067'.
David Oliver83/83Bed curtains and a pocket of patterned wallpaper give the feeling of a cosy room-within-a-room in a small bedroom at a modern country home designed by Veere Greeney. The bed curtains are in a wool felt from Holland & Sherry.
