Show me your cosy box rooms

[Pollypolspol]

This follows on from a previous thread I had but can’t be bothered to change user name back. Immmaking my small single into a spare single which my DC will use when back from
uni. It’s tiny so thinking just lovely rug, lovely bedding and maybe dark colours to make it feel nice and cosy and a fabulous lamp and textiles. Show me yours if you don’t mind. Or any lovely pins you know of if working on your own little teeny room? Thank you 🙏

We have a small 3 bed semi-detached.

This is our nursery in our box room. It’s actually a nice size for the set up we have it organised in!

There’s a laundry basket and a nappy bin in the back left had corner.

The bookcase is next to the door on the right of the door.

This is gorgeous, and exactly as I imagine the OP meant both in size and coziness.

My bedroom when I lived at home in our very ordinary 1930s semi in a good area was this size, my two DBs shared the big room, I had a very happy upbringing.

Half the population grew up in a small bedroom, it's fine. I grew up in a big farmhouse but my sister's room was still tiny and she had a custom made cabin bed with drawers underneath, shelves above and a very small built in wardrobe at the end of her bed.

Your ideas sound lovely, I completely agree giving a small room lots of personality is the way to go, I'm sure your DC will love it. Bed above the bulkhead sounds like a good idea, or you could turn the bed the other way and put in a double bed and build storage above the bulkhead. Wall lights will free up space as well and a made to measure roman blind will look cleaner than curtains at the window but still look luxurious (particularly if you get it interlined for warmth). I'd paint at least the radiator the same colour as the walls and maybe colour drench with the walls, ceiling and woodwork all painted the same colour. And a small shelf instead of a bedside table might work, and/or a bed pocket. I used cork tiles to cover an entire wall in DS's boxroom with a corkboard and he loves the flexibility of being able to pin up whatever he wants and the texture adds lots of warmth to the room. He's also got a printer's drawer for treasures on the wall, it doesn't take up a lot of depth but allows him to personalise the room.

Will your DC have somewhere else to study when they're back from Uni or does she need a desk? You can get fold down ones that attach to a wall if that's needed. Might be handy as a dressing table as well?

My siblings and I took it in turns to have the box room, we loved it as it was the only private space in the house. When we were small there was a built in high bed with a ladder, wardrobe and tiny desk beneath, which left a patch of floor space. When I had the room as a teen I had a futon bed which folded up when I had mates over, and a small single wardrobe. The chest of drawers was wall hung so the bottom of the futon would slot underneath when it was down as the bed. it was a squeeze but was so cozy. We all loved that room.

I love these ideas and thank those who posted them. I feel terrible that there’s one v small ro but am not alone in living in such a house and with some perspective I can just ignore the suggestions that my uni child will need counselling for being made to sleep in a small room. We have office space and a dining table and built in big cupboard in the room which will be emptied and can be used as storage and I love the floating bedside table idea plus maybe a small set of drawers for storage while home but there’s plenty of wardrobe space in the other 2 rooms. I love the cosiness of the pics I have seen. And a blind is a good idea instead of curtains too.

This isn’t a box room

Have you just moved to the house? If not, presumably she’s been living in the room before now quite comfortably?

Your dd is lucky to have a room waiting for her. I came from a large family in a tiny house and was the first to go to university. My parents whole idea from when the eldest 2 were early teens was to get us out to make room for the 3 below. There was never any welcome home.

This off topic I know but has anyone got a link or diagram that would help me understand why bulkheads exist.
I read that they are to give headroom but somehow I just can't visualise the concept .
I've googled (and found loads of tips to disguise and /or dismantle ) but I just can't get my head round it .
It's really bugging me .

It very much is, the length is 2.95m and the width is 2.20m making the overall size 6.49𝑚2.

I knew people who slept in box rooms without windows in their student flats back in the 90s. No window is a bit much (and probably illegal these days) but a small bedroom is absolutely fine and charming and cozy if thoughtfully decorated which yours clearly will be.

OP I had the tiny box room growing up and I'm not traumatized by it at all! In fact, parents later moved to another house when I was mid-teens and I ended up sharing a room with elder sibling (who was at uni most of the time) and felt more annoyed by that set-up and missed my personal tiny little box room!

My youngest has the box room in our house. It's similar in that it's very small plus has the stair bulkhead built in which takes up more floor space. We had a large, deep wardrobe built over the stair box which has hanging space, plus very deep shelving for old toys etc. Manage to fit a single bed along the back wall against the window (with tiny space at the foot of the bed), and a chest of drawers which doubles as his bedside table. When he's older we plan to build a long low shelf along the wall at the foot of his bed which will work as both a shelf and a small desk area with a stool tucked beneath. He'll also get some shelving higher up on that wall to house a TV (when he's older!) and school books etc. It's really difficult to make it look sleek and uncluttered whilst also cosy, and I do feel bad that his older bro has a big double bed room - but that's how most houses here are built. We do have a spare room downstairs (currently a gym/gaming room) and perhaps older bro will move his bedroom down there eventually so youngest can move into his bedroom... but that's very much undecided so for the next 7-8yrs we will make do!

The Ikea hacks fb group is really useful for this sort of thing!

My guest room is 2.06 x 2.00m. It has a single bed, small chest of drawers, built in wardrobe, bookshelf, foldable table, and chair in it. It’s fine. Only complaint is it gets rather warm.

I was moved to create my cosy box room when we had the house valued and the estate agent dismissed it as a cupboard. Twat. So I drenched it in a moody green, put in a single bed and a desk, and the rest is cushions, fabrics and homemade shelves. There is usually a tiny wardrobe that sits just inside the (bi-fold
) door opposite the bed. It’s a bit of a squeeze to get in but guests love it and I often stay in it when we have a house full,

The bulkhead will be found in a bedroom over the stairs, so in certain houses where you cannot get enough headroom coming up the stairs, the headroom is built into the bedroom above, giving you a box like structure that seems to have no value, I had one in my first old terrace house. Sometimes people build cupboard or wardrobe space above the bulk head to make the best use of the space.

The slope picture below should help you visualise how the staircase would run underneath to give headroom, but in practice most are built flat on the top, the staircase slope would be within that box.

Note - images won’t upload until checked by MN.

Op, I just wanted to say the suggestions are lovely. Ignore the naysayers. I had to share a small bedroom WITH MY MOTHER until I left home at 18. I’ve had a successful life and am not in therapy. My friend had a tiny box room, we spent hours in there as teenagers and I remember being so jealous that she had her own space.

Shocking comments on here, you should be ashamed of yourselves for being so judgy. Op came on for opinions of how to decorate a room for her child, not an attack about how she should be doing better, how ridiculous. OP, we have a dinky box room too, currently home to DD who is 3, im watching with interest as although it suits her now with a toddler bed she's obviously going to grow and with the economy the way it is (hold your breath judgy ones) i may not be able to afford to move when the time comes. I like the cosy darker colours myself, im inclined to embrace the smaller room and make it cosy, as you said. Goodluck OP, and ignore the weirdos on here.

This is my 5.17 m² box room (it’s tiny!!!). Kids are getting older so I’m thinking of making it into an office/snug or a bedroom with a small single bed.

Thank you @TimeForATerf for taking pity on someone challenged in the visualisation area of understanding.

That image of the bulkhead was so interesting thank you !
So- to answer some questions - DC had the double room and sibling had the box room but had moved in to the big room before my tears were dry from the drop off at uni !
Dc1 can’t expect to move back to big bedroom but if I redecorate and make it like a bijou little cosy space I’ll enjoy sleeping there when DH snores, when we have the occasional guest and also when DC comes home.
I was having a terrible day when I read the original naysayer messages about my ill treated children for being forced into such a small space. Great ideas here. The carpet is ok but I feel like a nice offcut (bonus of it being the size of a cell is that I can always get an offcut !) might be nice. Plus a rug, new wall paint and luxurious bedding. I might move out of my own room with the warthog husband

100%

I find the comment you quoted very very strange. Some people even - gasp - share bedrooms, they would be horrified to note!

@Pollypolspol I had exactly the same size room, and that too is above stairs partly. I extended the wall above the stairs (Where your cupboard is). Below, the 'slope' of the ceiling above the stairs just continues above your head for longer. I then built in a bed, which extends into the new space created above the stairs with storage below. This has allowed a full length bed with a good amount of storage below (Ikea kitchen cabinets!) and a narrow (I think Ikea 30cm larder) at the foot end near the window. Then a tiny desk the other side of the window, but it is a triangular desk into the corner. A high level bookshelf all around the room.

Effectively my lad was sleeping above the stairs.

I don't have any pictures I can share unfortunately, but could try and sketch if needed.

@outdooryone extending over the stairs is a brilliantly inventive solution; I think you must have been a ship's architect in a former life. The high bookshelf is also particularly clever.

@PapardelleFitzgerald funnily enough the idea came about after some sailing experiences in my younger years on rather snug yachts...

I forgot to say - it is a bit of geometry about how high the bed is vs the ceiling slope. My son had a ladder snugged against the wall and a couple of climbing holds on the sloping 'intrusion' from the stairs.

I did suggest a hole in the wall and a bubble like the local playpark, but for some reason my son said no...
www.playlsi.com/en/commercial-playground-equipment/playground-components/bubble-panel1/

@outdooryone but could try and sketch if needed.

ooh ,yes pretty please 🙏