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How to make best of box room bedroom for DD

16 replies

INeedNewShoes · 12/01/2022 14:04

At the moment DD's bedroom is very simply furnished with a toddler bed, chest of drawers and small bookcase. Clothes hang in the inbuilt cupboard which goes over the stairs but she can only get them down herself by getting a chair and actually climbing into the cupboard!

It feels it's about time that I made the room work better. She's nearly 5.

I'm going around in circles because the room is an awkward layout (the long wall is obstructed by the window and radiator on one side and the door on the other, and the short wall isn't quite long enough to fit a single bedframe). I can't settle on a plan. Ideally I'd like to get bunkbeds or a highsleeper but feel like I can't put these across the window/radiator so I'd need to get a short bed.

What would others do?

OP posts:
INeedNewShoes · 12/01/2022 14:06

Almost legible diagram...

How to make best of box room bedroom for DD
OP posts:
tattychicken · 12/01/2022 14:06

When I had a house with a box room we build a frame within the space by the boxing in that a single mattress could sit upon. No headboard or footboard but it fit in fine.

TrashyPanda · 12/01/2022 14:09

Could you move the radiator?

Then have Billy bookcases from ikea with solid doors for storage on the short wall, as they have less depth than normal bedroom furniture. Or you can get half glass doors, and put fabric or wallpaper behind the glass. That’s what I did in our boxroom,although our short alcove wall fitted a hemnes daybed perfectly, so I have the Billy bookcases on the long wall.

BrieAndChilli · 12/01/2022 14:14

DS has the box room and he has (wa shere when we moved in but looks easy enough for someone to knock up)
a smalll wooden frame that fits in the space between the box and the wall with the window. We than got a divan base and mattress that sits on top of the frame and the part of the box.
means more space in the rest of the room. He has a pull out storage box under the fram and the divan base has 2 drawers in also so lots of storage

Flitter123 · 12/01/2022 14:20

Could you move the door so it opens outwards rather than inwards or have a sliding door? Or replace with a curtain while she’s still young?

TheCraicDealer · 12/01/2022 14:27

I would get or build a narrow cabin bed like https://www.scallywagkids.co.uk/product/cabin-beds/scallywag-kids-exclusive-cabin-bed-straight-ladder-8-colour-options/ and put it along the wall as per the diagram. Leave the cupboard as is for now- you'd still not get a standard bed in that width even if you placed it over the box for the stairs given the internal measurements, and it saves wasting floor space on a wardrobe.

Yes a small single is narrow but still much bigger than her toddler bed. I had a mattress this size until I was early teens, also a box room baby! It'll be a good solution until she's in her teens at which stage she's less likely to need as much floor space for toys etc.

How to make best of box room bedroom for DD
ditalini · 12/01/2022 14:43

I wonder if this bed would let you get to almost a full length (you'd need to drill additional holes). It wouldn't give you the storage you want, but as it's got cabin bed type side protectors, if you were handy you could saw the legs off it and screw it to a mid rise platform with space underneath for cupboards or drawers - a joiner might be able to build a sturdy frame quite easily that you could slide a chest of drawers etc underneath.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/sundvik-ext-bed-frame-with-slatted-bed-base-white-s49046068/

Africa2go · 12/01/2022 15:21

We've had this and have done various things over the years. Essentially all of them involve incorporating the bulk head into the furniture - so building a bed over it as the pic (similar one found on the internet) or building a wardrobe over it which is what we have now.

How to make best of box room bedroom for DD
Zandathepanda · 12/01/2022 15:33

We have the same room! Even the wardrobe over the stairs ‘box’.

Take out the wardrobe
Get a midi sleeper bed. Cut the legs off the head side which will go over the box (bed in red in diagram).
Under the bed, put a cupboard/drawers for toys/underwear etc.
Also a bookcase facing outwards at the end. This means the bed ladder will be along the side of the bookcase.
At the end of the bed you may have enough room for a cosy beanbag to sit in whilst reading a book from the handy bookshelf.
Put a small wardrobe behind the door facing the bed, maybe with a curtain instead of a door.
Desk and desk chair along the same wall. In reality the chair (in green in diagram) will be next to the radiator and have the light and views from the window.
We used Flexa furniture in whitewash. Expensive and chips but fitted well. We actually bought the basic bed and fitted the extension legs to the foot end. It also gave a little slot between the bed and the stairs box where the book bag went.

How to make best of box room bedroom for DD
Africa2go · 12/01/2022 15:35

We have also swapped the radiator for a vertical one which is only 23cm wide freeing up wall space.

Zandathepanda · 12/01/2022 15:38

Edit: the 78cm may cause a problem. I was going on the 99cm width.

Talipesmum · 12/01/2022 17:04

If you look for divan beds - ie ones without frames - you can get a bed that will fit the 193cm length. There are places selling shorter beds. And a normal single mattress is 190cm long so it ought to be possible. Small singles are 75cm wide - or if you rehang the door to go outwards you could probably fit a proper width mattress.

I like the “bed over bulk head” ideas - depends on the dimensions though.

Talipesmum · 12/01/2022 17:13

This cabin bed, for instance, can be got in a 181cm long x 83cm wide version:

www.scallywagkids.co.uk/product/cabin-beds/scallywag-kids-exclusive-cabin-bed-including-3-drawer-chest-8-colour-options/

Qwertykeys · 12/01/2022 17:46

Son has the box room , we took the door off the built in wardrobe and replaced it with a curtain. The bed then fit along that wall

MyCatHatesPCRTests · 12/01/2022 18:00

We have a shorty mid sleeper in a box room that’s too small for a single. From Argos. I think it’s this one (though wasn’t branded as Habitat when we bought it).

www.argos.co.uk/product/9158874?clickSR=slp:term:shorty%20mid%20sleeper:6:52:1

tryingtocatchthewind · 12/01/2022 18:07

Another one here who built a cabin bed along the wall and into the bulk head. You’ll still have space for some shelves in the bulk head as well.
Or this company will modify a mid sleeper to fit www.boxroombed.co.uk/nordic-white-midsleeper-grey-headboard-frame-only-p-120.html?osCsid=6593a15677565872392d98c5ca3a9043

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