Help with bedroom layout

[longtompot]

We have a narrow but long bedroom, with two windows and a chimney breast. The photo is the current layout, but it just doesn't feel right. I hate sitting in bed facing the wall but we can't have our bed on that wall as the sound travels between the rooms (21 year old ds's room is next door) really well (we had it there when we first moved in, and it got harder to sleep as I was on edge waiting to hear something).
We are thinking of putting our bed into the alcove next to the chimney breast (alcove on the right of the room) with a shelf behind for the 'bedside tables'. It also means we can open up the chimney breast and put in a cast iron fireplace as a feature.
Before we do this, I just wondered if anyone had any room layout ideas we've not thought of.

Ps, the wardrobe was bought second hand to put in the alcove on the left, but the person didn't give me the measurements which included the trim. The chest of drawers are both pine, one much older than the other and the bed is a metal framed Edwardian style bed. The bedside tables are old sewing tables.

Just realised that photo doesn't have all the measurements on. This one does

Excellent diagrams!

Can you take a picture of it with the bed where you're thinking of putting it?

Is there anything stopping you just twisting it round and putting it on the opposite wall!?

Love the idea of opening up the the chimney breast.

Can’t you just put it against the right hand wall and whichever person sleeps on the left hand side of the bed has their bedside table a bit further forward than normal (ie. in front of the sticky-out wall)?

Also, if furniture doesn’t fit your space then change it! Stick it on sale and buy something that works for you. Don’t put up with an unsatisfactory layout just because of a piece of furniture.

@SuzieCarmichael

Also, if furniture doesn’t fit your space then change it! Stick it on sale and buy something that works for you. Don’t put up with an unsatisfactory layout just because of a piece of furniture.

Agree with this.

I was going to suggest moving the wardrobe to where chest of drawers 1 is after looking at your first diagram, but realise from the 2nd diagram that it won’t fit.

Can you move the bed round 180 degrees and put it against the wall with the door on it?

Sometimes you actually have to physically move the furniture around to find what works in terms of aesthetics.

Thank you @Isolatedizzy I've taken some photos of some different layout ideas. I've put the bed away from the wall as we will put a shelf there as our bedside table.

@EarlGreyT I did say in my op why it can't go against that wall, but if it could, it is the best place for it. I've done years of rearranging furniture to get a room to feel 'right' and usually find drawing a scale plan helps. Sometimes I can't picture gaps between the furniture properly and misjudge how much room is needed to walk through, so some tweaks are needed. But usually it works out ok.

@SuzieCarmichael if we could afford to, we would, but we can't. Plus we love our bed and especially one of the chest of drawers as it is an old piece with a lovely patina. The wardrobe is solid pine too, and is a really lovely piece, just annoying it's just a bit too wide. It does flat pack so when we eventually turn our attic into a bedroom it can go up there.

You could hang the door the other way, move the radiator somewhere and possibly get the wardrobe or a cod where the radiator was. Though might not be able to fully swing door wide.

@MistressMounthaven we could, but then the light switch would need to be moved. The gap behind the door is just deep enough for the smaller chest of drawers to go, but it's tight.

I think put the bed in the alcove but have a carpenter (or do an Ikea hack) to end up with something like this could look fabulous!

@Austereorange it does look nice but wouldn't quite work with our bed. This is a similar one and we were thinking of having the shelf where the straight bar is across the head end www.thesleepstation.co.uk/serene-edwardian-black-metal-bed.html

Your bedroom is so long I would be tempted to put it in front of the alcove and just lose those 38cm, probably have some shelving built in for storage or something. Then you could both have your bedside cabinets on either side of the bed and it would barely dent the space. Also I'd put the COD under the window not on the wall with the door as it may feel a bit cramped trying to get round the side into bed

Why don't you like facing the wall in the current layout? Beds always have to face walls! Make the wall nicer rather than change the layout?

@titchy I like being able to see out of windows. The wall is so close it feels a bit claustrophobic tbh.

@zaffa I will look at that idea too. Who knows, we might have to bring it out level with the chimney breast if we have to put in insulation between us and next door. The smaller chest of drawers is just slightly higher than the windowsill but I think it will work. I'll try out both ideas.

Oh I didn't appreciate there was a chimney breast there actually! Would my suggestion block it? Could you open it up and use it?

I understand your challenges about the wall being very close - we have a narrow room and our bed faces the chimney breast wall (and we put in wardrobes into the alcoves so it's made the space between the end of the bed and the wardrobes / chimney breast quite narrow) and I hit my leg on the end of the stupid footboard of the bed daily! Luckily we have a huge bay window to the left of the bed so it doesn't feel too enclosed but I would hate to just have a blank wall opposite the bed and the windows behind me. I suspect your suggestion may be the best one if you want to keep the option of putting in a fireplace and opening up the chimney breast

I agree with putting the bed on the chimney breast wall, slightly forward so you have space for bedside tables. I'd also think about a new wardrobe that fits into the alcove - no need to get rid of the existing one if you like it, just store it and use when you've moved to the attic. Then the two chests under the window.

You haven’t explicitly stated the reason why you don’t want the bed on the wall with the door, other than that it adjoins your son’s room, but I’m guessing it’s noise related. Can you soundproof the wall?

Completely different idea but how about a large mirror on the wall your bed currently faces? That way you will see out of the windows from your bed. Appreciate that’s not everyone’s cup of tea though!

If you want to move the bed onto the right hand wall, personally I would box in the alcove, at least to bed height or just above, and have the bed central on that wall. I know it goes against the grain to lose space that way, but I think otherwise the very narrow gap on one side of the bed will be annoying. You could put storage into the boxed in bit, for stuff you don’t use often, if you want to make use of that space.

I would certainly re think the wardrobe - put this one in storage for the future and get one that fits the alcove. If you got one built in or that fits the space really well, you might find it holds a lot more than your current one and you could get rid of the less lovely chest of drawers.

@SuzieCarmichael I did write this but we can't have our bed on that wall as the sound travels between the rooms (21 year old ds's room is next door) really well (we had it there when we first moved in, and it got harder to sleep as I was on edge waiting to hear something). The gap at the end of the bed is too small to take any away with soundproofing. It wouldn't work on his side as his door is right next to the wall.

@minipie A mirror could work, though I'd worry about knocking it off the wall when walking past, or carrying something past. Unless of course it was attached with the figure of eight shaped mirror and fire surround fixings.
I don't know about boxing in completely, but it might end up being something we do after we see where the opening for the fireplace is. If it's close enough to the wall then that would give us more room to play with. It would be more impactful having the bed more central in that wall too.
I think with the wardrobe, we will keep it unless I find something more suitable which we can afford. Not seen anything recently, and I don't want new.