Redesign of my daughters room

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networkn

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#315033 8-Jun-2024 17:48

Hi.

So, my daughters room is pretty small and a little awkward. As she gets older, a desk/bookcase might be useful.

She has an existing good bed, we'd like to keep that. Doors into the room, are awkwardly placed to access the wardrobe which is on the left as you enter.

Anyone here good with spaces and have any ideas? We are happy to get something like a desk custom made or something like that. We would like the room to be as functional and comfortable as possible.

Using Home.by.me I drew up a fairly accurate representation of the room. You can find the 3d and floor models with measurements below. To the left of the human is a set of drawers, which we intend to replace, so I have not put it in, but we will need something to put her clothing in. It's currently a tallboy. There are drawers in the base of her bed. A bedside table is desired by her.

Thanks for any tips/tricks.

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#3246261 8-Jun-2024 18:00

Great visuals. You may have implicitly ruled out this type of thing. There are a variety of designs available. My daughter was anti these until quite recently:

The average is customwood which I'm not fond of.

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#3246263 8-Jun-2024 18:06

gzt: Great visuals. You may have implicitly ruled out this type of thing. There are a variety of designs available. My daughter was anti these until quite recently:

The average is customwood which I'm not fond of.

We have looked at these a number of times but they don't fit well into this room because the only suitable wall, is the one with the angle on it and that whole space becomes hard to use/useless. Perhaps we should look again. My daugher is 12 now, I am unsure if she would be happy in something like this when she is 16 or 17, which is a factor.

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#3246283 8-Jun-2024 19:19

It's a tricky one! Like gzt, we had a loft bed in a small room to open up some space under it. There are a few different options, but I'm not sure any will work in your situation; I suspect anything raised will cover the window so you're a bit snookered!

How do you feel about beds under windows? I don't have a problem with it but am aware that some (cough, mama MDF) seem to think it is on a par with seabed mining for disrupting the Proper Order of Things. But each unto their own. If you're okay with that, FWIW, my suggestion would be:

Rotate the bed 90 degrees under the window with the foot of the bed under the heat pump (let's call this the "up" wall on the diagram)
Build a full wall of cabinets and drawers along the wall where the bed used to be (the "right" wall). That might be custom built or one of the kitset options
Put a bookshelf in the top right hand corner above the head of the bed facing "left" (probably relatively narrow to squeeze in the corner and not cover the window). She will have to stand on the bed to access the top shelves, but if she is anything like mine, she will do that anyway. Have one shelf level with her pillow. This would be the bedside ("bedabove"?) table for light, alarm clock etc. Yes, any shelves below the level of the mattress will be fairly useless.
Then down the the rest of the the "right" wall, put drawers (bottom half) and shelves (top half) down to...
Custom desk in the bottom right hand corner scribed into the weird corner. I would put the desk here rather than in the middle, since you will only need to custom scribe the desktop, not lots of shelves or drawers.

Should give a whole wall of usable space that would otherwise be mostly dead space above a bed. Just my two cents though.

If you're looking for inspiration, weirdly Youtube shorts seems to be full of design ideas that may give you some inspiration. Good luck!

gzt

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#3246286 8-Jun-2024 19:43

I like these kind of systems. I've used them a few times. They have a range of drawers shelves and desk options. Elfa is nice has become a bit pricey. There's an alt brand not as finished but it's ok when it's up. The centres required for some of the drawers and accessories are awkward for NZ and some juggling can be required. Shelves and desks are the easy part never a problem.

Edit: just remembered they have a hanger track available which skips the whole centering problem entirely unless there's crazy super heavy stuff involved.

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#3246388 9-Jun-2024 01:17

Kinda agree with mdf.

This simplified drawing is my understanding of his description.

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neb

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#3246390 9-Jun-2024 05:57

Can you move the door into the room to the right? If so what about having the foot of the bed inside where the wardrobe is now, which means the top half gets warm or cool air flow onto it from the heat pump, and then you've got the entire rest of the room to play with, e.g. to put a desk in front of the window and clothing storage on the wall to the right?

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#3246452 9-Jun-2024 12:51

mdf:

It's a tricky one! Like gzt, we had a loft bed in a small room to open up some space under it. There are a few different options, but I'm not sure any will work in your situation; I suspect anything raised will cover the window so you're a bit snookered!

How do you feel about beds under windows? I don't have a problem with it but am aware that some (cough, mama MDF) seem to think it is on a par with seabed mining for disrupting the Proper Order of Things. But each unto their own. If you're okay with that, FWIW, my suggestion would be:

Rotate the bed 90 degrees under the window with the foot of the bed under the heat pump (let's call this the "up" wall on the diagram)
Build a full wall of cabinets and drawers along the wall where the bed used to be (the "right" wall). That might be custom built or one of the kitset options
Put a bookshelf in the top right hand corner above the head of the bed facing "left" (probably relatively narrow to squeeze in the corner and not cover the window). She will have to stand on the bed to access the top shelves, but if she is anything like mine, she will do that anyway. Have one shelf level with her pillow. This would be the bedside ("bedabove"?) table for light, alarm clock etc. Yes, any shelves below the level of the mattress will be fairly useless.
Then down the the rest of the the "right" wall, put drawers (bottom half) and shelves (top half) down to...
Custom desk in the bottom right hand corner scribed into the weird corner. I would put the desk here rather than in the middle, since you will only need to custom scribe the desktop, not lots of shelves or drawers.
Should give a whole wall of usable space that would otherwise be mostly dead space above a bed. Just my two cents though.

If you're looking for inspiration, weirdly Youtube shorts seems to be full of design ideas that may give you some inspiration. Good luck!

Thanks, they are good suggestions. I need to do some research into beds under windows. My gut says that isn't ideal, but I am not entirely sure why. I wonder if replacing it with double glazing would be a reasonable idea.

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#3246453 9-Jun-2024 12:51

neb:

Can you move the door into the room to the right? If so what about having the foot of the bed inside where the wardrobe is now, which means the top half gets warm or cool air flow onto it from the heat pump, and then you've got the entire rest of the room to play with, e.g. to put a desk in front of the window and clothing storage on the wall to the right?

Unfortunately, her door abutts the wall where our room starts and cannot be moved.

gzt

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#3246506 9-Jun-2024 13:40

networkn: My gut says that isn't ideal, but I am not entirely sure why. I wonder if replacing it with double glazing would be a reasonable idea.

Cold air from the window may flow down on to the bed as cold air does. A gap between the bed and the wall largely solves that. Imo blinds can be more effective than curtains in creating a static air gap and reducing or preventing this. Curtains to the floor probably work well. Double glazing obviously helps and will make the room more habitable anyway.

gzt

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#3246509 9-Jun-2024 13:50

Another factor might be night sleep breathing near the window increasing condensation I'm not sure. Also helped by all the methods above.

I've started using $40 25w mini humidifiers daytime on timers in problem areas instead of full resolution to some longstanding winter challenges. Cheap to run and less risk of overdrying the air compared to giant and noisy units although it does happen on a small scale. In both cases drier air tends to mean more dust mobile which is yet another problem if it goes too far. One particular problem wardrobe under a problem roof join is now a beneficial reservoir of dryness. I went as far as getting a power point installed in the wardrobe for it.

Heatpumps generally have a reverse cycle dehumidifier which tends to be both cold and expensive.

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#3246517 9-Jun-2024 15:37

I quite like this. Don't like the lack of a bedside table or even an option to put a book or anything, charge your phone etc.

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#3246537 9-Jun-2024 16:00

Really nice design. Would depend on if she minds heights and is of an age where she’s not scared at night and runs to parents. Also anyone a bit claustrophobic won’t like the ceiling so close.

What about lowering it to three steps and have all her drawers and storage underneath. There’s still enough ability to get out of bed even without using the steps and then you could have a high shelf box in the corner for books and a small light on top. Narrow desk under the window with a small return.

As for beds under windows. I also don’t like them but notice that most movies seem to have the beds under windows and it’s always puzzled me.

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#3246539 9-Jun-2024 16:19

Eva888:

Really nice design. Would depend on if she minds heights and is of an age where she’s not scared at night and runs to parents. Also anyone a bit claustrophobic won’t like the ceiling so close.

What about lowering it to three steps and have all her drawers and storage underneath. There’s still enough ability to get out of bed even without using the steps and then you could have a high shelf box in the corner for books and a small light on top. Narrow desk under the window with a small return.

As for beds under windows. I also don’t like them but notice that most movies seem to have the beds under windows and it’s always puzzled me.

Thanks for that. She doesn't mind heights, but still climbs into bed with us from time to time, though it's not that often. I don't see that being a problem. It's more of a problem for her, that her cat may not be prepared to make the trip up there.

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#3246540 9-Jun-2024 16:23

I am wondering if the solution to some of this, is to move the heat pump from the left to the right (I was trying to avoid that) then her bed could go against the left wall, bedside table, leaving that entire right wall for a chest of drawers, desk and a book shelf on the right as you enter the room.

I wonder which is worse, a heatpump above her head or a window beside her bed? With the bed under the window, her head and shoulders would largely not be under the window directly.

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#3246543 9-Jun-2024 16:53

Blimey, the head of my bed is under a window. I have never given it a thought, but you folk have got me worried, Not!

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