Help me sort dd's bedroom - am at a loss at lack of wall space...

[Millionprammiles]

Dd's (4) room is a fair size (12ft by 8ft ish) but only has one wall that isn't taken up with fitted wardrobes, a fireplace, a square bay window, a radiator and a door. And even part of that wall is behind the door when it opens so not great for accessing cupboards.
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Am really struggling to work out how we fit a bigger bed, a book shelf she can reach and accessible toy storage (let alone a desk and chair in the future) without blocking the door, wardrobe doors, the window etc.

Has anyone sorted a similar problem or know a good online tool?

how big are these fitted wardrobes?

How many clothes does a 4yo have?

They're floor to ceiling though fairly narrow. We only put in drawers to a height dd could reach, so 3-4 not very deep drawers in each of the two wardrobes. The hanging rails are out of reach for now though still used. The upper shelves will never be easily in reach for any of us!

So for clothes (inc school uniform, coats, sports kits, nightwear etc) we only need the drawers from one wardrobe and 1.5 hanging rails. At the moment dd's bedsheets are also in the drawers but we could move those out easily.
Am finding lots of her toys are too bulky to store efficiently in the drawers. Eg maybe 3 or 4 boxes of lego or jigsaws fit in one drawer with gaps not big enough for anything much. Would also prefer that stuff was easy for dd to find to minimise everything being taken out of drawers for that one elusive toy...

It just doesn't feel like a good use of space for a decent sized room.

are the wardrobes big enough to put shelves in?

Piglet - if we sacrificed the hanging space in one of the wardrobes we could put in shelves though dd won't be able to reach them.

Or we'd have to have the drawers taken out which I'm unsure about as I think as dd gets older she'll need more clothes space and less toy space. The drawers aren't very deep, as her clothes get bigger she won't be able to fit much in one drawer.

Its like a Krypton factor exercise

We have the ikea hemnes day bed for dd- would it fit along the long wall?

www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/beds/guest-beds-day-beds/hemnes-day-bed-frame-with-3-drawers-white-art-50080315/

The drawers are huge and she (could in theory) puts away all her toys here.

GLTC do loads of accessible book cases. We have this one which can fit anywhere in a room

www.gltc.co.uk/product/greenaway-gallery-bookcase-skinny/10002935#fo_c=1028&fo_k=09d3f0e693b2a7742fdb066eea35e52d&fo_s=slisys

I also use these in DS room for storing clothes he doesn't need to reach on the hanging rails which he currently doesn't use

www.habitat.co.uk/firth-grey-printed-fabric-6-hanging-clothes-storage-340134

shelves with baskets?

Many clothes can be folded and put on shelves, or rolled and put in baskets.

Better to have them fairly shallow so things don't get lost or crumpled at the bottom.

If the wardrobes are 500mm, 600mm or 1000mm wide, kitchen cabinet accessories will fit, including baskets and drawer kits (sold on fleabay).

Thanks both.

Piglet - I think you're right that we might have to sacrifice the drawers to get some accessible shelf space for toys etc. Then use a hanging storage gizmo like User suggests when dd needs more clothes storage. The wardrobes were custom made by the previous owners and aren't a standard size (as we've found...) so might need to get a carpenter in.

user - we looked at that bed (along with many others in IKEA) and were a bit worried about the width - its no wider than dd's cot bed but we really want something she'll use comfortably a for a few years. The big drawers look ideal though.
Love the GLTC bookshelves but there isn't enough wall space for them in dd's room.

take out the fitted wardrobes and start from scratch

My 10yr old sleeps quite happily in an ikea hemnes daybed, and I have slept in it too and been quite comfy.

User is right, the drawers are huge and you can cram loads in them.

Make sure you buy a decent mattress though, we replaced his after just a few months because it felt all lumpy.

Or a cabin bed or mid-sleeper with space underneath? You get all sorts of combinations of those. And they usually have a rail if you're worried about her falling out.

My DS1 had a Ikea Kura bed at that age. We put it so that it had the space underneath, and then we shoved in some cushions and a big Ikea Stuva toy drawer. The drawer is huge and easily takes loads of bulky toys and jigsaws and things. The bed is a full size single bed, so can work for as long as you want to use it, and it's only a mid-sleeper, so isn't really very high. DS1 had no trouble with it at age 4 and DS2 was able to climb up and down it at age 2!

A cabin bed with drawers underneath or if you are getting a carpenter in have them build a platform you can put a mattress on.

You can get mid sleepers with a pull out desk. - scroll down for drawers. ideasforstorage.co.uk/childrens-room/storage-beds

You could possibly fit a shelf in the wardrobe and make it a desk/office in a cupboard.

You could also do things the other way round and put a Murphy bed in the wardrobe.

You can also get ottoman beds where the mattress lifts op so you can store things underneath - not sure how practical that would be on a daily basis though.

Thanks all - we did look at the mid-sleepers in IKEA - dd had a go on them but wasn't keen and I think would struggle with midnight toilet trips...

I think we'll try for a bed with big drawers on runners underneath so its easy to open even if full.
We might give up on the desk idea for now as we have a study with a desk dd can use.
We'll also try to put a narrow bookshelf in the awkward space behind the door as its not much good for anything else.
And some storage hanging from the wardrobe rail will be good for clothes not used so much.

cestlavie - am very tempted to take them out - along with the (admittedly lovely) mantelpiece!

Just reread that she's only 4. I've seen plans for beds made with pallets and drawers. The thing with them is they can be as high or as low as you want, so you could have one set of drawers under, put in the future raise the bed and add other set.

The hemnes day bed is a double bed. DS1 is currently sleeping on ours in the playroom since his bedroom is having work done to it. It would be big enough for two adults so plenty big enough for a four year old (even with growing room)

My DD2 is 4 and has just moved into a Stompa midsleeper that she inherited from her big sis. She doesn't have any problems getting in or out. The underneath is a den and toy storage. There's a unit under there with baskets instead of drawers, a few bigger toys (dolls house, etc.) just sat on the floor and a big bean bag so she can sit under there to play with them.

Would something like that solve your problem?

The Hemnes day bed is popular amongst teenagers and young adults! There's loads of space in it. I've frequently slept in one at a friend's house, and I never pull it out to double if it's just me.

mrsmortis - we did look at those in IKEA and it would solve the storage issue but wondered if dd would quickly outgrow it as the underside bit is relatively low.
We need to get ourselves back to IKEA I think and take another look (oh joy). At least dd is short so still has a few inches before she outgrows her cot bed.

This weekends job is sorting her drawers out...

We had a Kura bed for one of our boys. It will be harder for your DD to properly make her own bed, so it will take a bit longer to grasp it than with a normal height bed. They learn to get out of them at night very quickly though.

We put a little bookcase under it, with space for SmallChildShit on the top. All DCs enjoyed being under the bed! Especially hiding behind a curtain (which can be as simple & temporary as stuffing a sheet under mattress on upper bed).

If you look on pinterest there are loads of fantastic Kura hacks.

Kura is pretty much a full size single. Ikea sizes are different, but I certainly spent plenty of nights in it with that child when it was lower down!

DD is 4 and has the ikea kura, we have put a mattress on the floor underneath so it is like a low bunk bed and have put the trofast stepped shelves at one end and she uses them to climb in and out. If you google for kura trofast you'll see loads of images of how this works.

Millionprammiles - My DD1 (7) still plays under the midsleeper and there is no sign of it stopping. Remember that they don't actually need to be able to stand up under there. As long as they can sit they'll use it as a den.

The only reason we moved the DD1 out of the midsleeper was we wanted to move DD2 out of the cot bed. So we bought DD1 a high sleeper (with a desk and single futon under it) and swapped them.

My 12 year old DD still has her midsleeper and uses the den part - she has pillows and stuff in there and plays on her laptop. So I wouldn't worry about your DC growing out of it.

We are just about to move Ds2 out of his Ikea Kura bed, he is 10 and we have a mattress underneath that we use to bunk his brother in on weekends as they like to share.

He does still use the den bit underneath, I have added curtains and LED fairy lights underneath so he can read under there too.

The only reason we are moving him out of it is because I need to set up his desk properly for secondary school so this involves a move round of the room and I don't want the Kura overlapping the window.

I do agree though, sometimes you have to start from scratch, look at taking the fitted wardrobes out and re-work the room. Does it help at all?

Draw the room to scale and cut out paper templates to represent items you want to install. We went with Ikea desks with adjustable legs so Ds1 has had the same desk for 10 years from 3 years old to 13 years old.

Thanks all - I'm now wondering whether we go for the mid sleeper...how much space do the steps take? Dd wasn't keen on the ladder.

So far we've decided to make better use of the wardrobe space, put in a bookshelf and get rid of an IKEA chair that dd doesn't use. All of which will help reduce clutter.
Now all we need to decide is whether we get a bed with drawers under or a mid sleeper. Or one of those adjustable length beds from IKEA - does anyone have one of those? Storage space under that bed isn't great from what I recall but would mean less room space wasted while dd is still little...

Flamingo - we were looking at those adjustable desks in IKEA, they're a great idea.

Don't do the adjustable bed at her age - it's for starting from 18 months really.
You can put Kura low to start with, and put a canopy over the top, and in a couple of years turn it into a mid sleeper with fun underneath.
The ikea beds with drawers underneath are good too (hemnes, brimnes) and likewise pretty much a full size single.