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'Everyone forgets about plug sockets': 6 common bedroom layout mistakes - and how to fix them

Do you really need two bedside tables? Caroline Foran shares some common errors and solutions.

WE MAY NOT typically think of the bedroom as a multi-functional space, but it’s more hard-working than we give it credit for.

Ours bedroom have to function as spaces for us to sleep, relax and get dressed, as well as being a store for clothes and shoes. On top of that, they often become work areas, study areas, exercise zones or somewhere to escape and get some peace in a busy house.

If you share your bedroom with a partner, the space has double the work to do, double the needs to fulfil, and double the clothes to store.

Unless you have the luxury of ample bedroom space, you’ll have to do some hard work yourself to get the most out of your square footage. Think multi-functional furniture and a thoughtful layout that means everything is exactly where you need it, when you need it.

There’s a lot to get right – and there’s plenty that people commonly get wrong. Read on for some common bedroom layout and furniture mistakes, and how best to avoid them.

shutterstock_1331783273 Shutterstock / bmphotographer Shutterstock / bmphotographer / bmphotographer

Mistake #1: There are no plug points near your bed

Unfortunately the room where we could really do with the most floor space requires the largest piece of furniture in the house: the bed. Location is vital here. First things first: is there a socket nearby? A commonly made mistake is overlooking the need for nearby electricity.

Solution: If you can’t change the bed location to better suit the space, can you run (and conceal) an extension lead to reach your bedside instead? This way, your bed stays where you want it, but you can still plug a charger or bedside lamp in without hassle.

Mistake #2: Your bedside table is taking up too much space

Often we buy two bedside tables without thinking about their usefulness as this is what we visualise when we imagine a bed. Are they really necessary? Remember, you’ll spend a third of your life in your bedroom, so it’s important to get the layout right.

Solution: If the room is on the small side, you have two options: one, invest in a headboard that comes with its own shelving or hidden storage with space a for bedside lamp, doing away with the need for bedside tables entirely.  Or, two, consider pushing your bed into a corner, so it’s accessed from one side but you save space on the other side. Ideal for those sleeping solo (or with a partner who doesn’t mind sacrificing their ‘side’).

shutterstock_1140943013 Shutterstock / Photographee.eu Shutterstock / Photographee.eu / Photographee.eu

Mistake #3: You have too much furniture

Failing to consider furniture that serves more than one purpose is one common mistake, as is overfilling your bedroom with furniture. Two bedside tables plus a chest of drawers plus a dresser/desk plus a wardrobe… all of the above may feel essential, but are they eating up floor space?

Solution: Think multi-functional. Can a chest of drawers double up as a bedside table? Can that same chest of drawers also function as a dresser with a mirror on top? Can your dresser double up as a desk with a quick swap from free-standing mirror to laptop? Dressers are wildly under-used pieces of furniture. If you use yours mainly for the mirror that sits on top of it, and you can’t think of another use for it, consider whether a full-length mirror attached to the wall would do the same job while taking up far less space.

Mistake #4: You have too much clutter

You might technically have the space for it all, but when sleep and relaxation is the main goal, you want to avoid overcrowding. Filling space is a common mistake throughout the house. Yes, the piece of furniture, the shelf, the side table or the free-standing mirror you have your eye on might physically fit when you take out the measuring tape, but is it going to crowd out the room?

Solution: When choosing your key items, try to always leave a little room for clean wall space or floor space. Even one or two square feet without any clutter or furniture will make a huge difference to your experience of the room.

shutterstock_1421368229 Shutterstock / Photographee.eu Shutterstock / Photographee.eu / Photographee.eu

Mistake #5: Your art faces the doorway rather than the bed

When we look at decor inspiration for beautiful bedrooms we are often looking at the bed, but you’re not going to spend your time standing in the doorway, are you? And while getting a nice Instagram pic is always a bonus, it’s your experience of the room, when you’re in it, that really matters. Often we prioritise wall art in and around the bed, but when you’re lying on it, what are you looking at? An overflowing laundry basket?

Solution: Take a few minutes to sit on your bed, and have a look around the room, while thinking what would suit you best visually. Would your favourite wall prints be better off on another wall where you can see and enjoy them? Do they settle you down for a good night’s rest? Function is important, but so too is how you feel in the room. It’s your safe space. It’s your ‘get away from it all’ space.

Mistake #6: Your bedroom is filled with tech

Nothing ruins a beautiful bedroom decor like a clunky TV (sticking out from the wall, messing entirely with your sense of balance) complete with wires hanging here there and everywhere. For a start, the more screens we have in the bedroom the more we’re contributing to a poor night’s sleep. So it’s never advisable if sound sleep is the goal. 

Solution: Scale things down a bit. If you do want a cheeky Netflix indulgence from time to time, would a laptop or small tablet do the trick? Tablets or small laptops can be quite reasonably priced, depending on the brand you go for, so you’ll be able to pick one up for less than a TV would set you back. This will give you back that wall space too, perhaps for a nice shelf with some trailing greenery. Far nicer on the eye… and the mind.

More: ‘The rocket mural is wonky but he loves it’: 5 design fans share their kids’ bedrooms>

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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
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    Nov 20th 2011, 4:13 PM

    Best of Luck to all and do not give up keep the pressure on even when yea feel like giving up this government are going away the people are not Best wishes

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    Mute John Woods
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    Nov 21st 2011, 2:13 AM

    If they are looking to close down a “house” to save money, I can think of one or two places which could be shut instead of this nursing home. Senate, Farmleigh, even Aras an Uachtarain for god sake.

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    Mute iWmTN8uK
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    Nov 20th 2011, 7:05 PM

    To those of you against this and other cuts, where do you propose money is going to majestically fall from? The trees?

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    Mute elaine
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    Nov 20th 2011, 8:47 PM

    Cut management who are clearly failing at their jobs, cut back office nobodies, do not take the homes out from under innocent vulnerable people!!

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    Mute John McHugh
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    Nov 20th 2011, 11:29 PM

    I would hate to burst your bubble Micheal but the Euro is a fiat currency.
    So although it doesnt grow on trees, it is made from trees and holds as much value as there is nothing backing it.

    So ironically enough value wise it may as well grow on trees.

    But hey, karma’s a bitch.
    When you grow old and have your pension used as collateral for greedy gamblers so that they don’t have to put their hands into their own pockets, maybe your mark on society will leave you high and dry and out in the cold to die.

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    Mute Declan Carroll
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    Nov 21st 2011, 12:29 AM

    Meanwhile our last Minister for Health, Mary Harney, is in receipt of E130,000 a year pension. Not bad for someone who’s very political philosophy lead to the ruination of an entire nation. What does that work out a week ? FFS !!!

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    Mute John
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    Nov 21st 2011, 12:44 AM

    So…in your world, we all just lie down and let the establishment cut us back to a third-world society. I guess the “those of you” you refer to don’t come from the Banking World?

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    Mute Niall Mulligan
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    Nov 21st 2011, 1:15 AM

    Attaboy, Declan.

    The biggest problem I see at the moment is that cuts and taxpayer pain seems like a soft option to our leaders, only way to make them change course is to have them fear the electorate. We need to seem more protests, hopefully this is only the start.

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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
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    Nov 21st 2011, 3:54 AM

    There is money going out on HUGE SALARIES TO TD’s Ministers Senators county Councillors an Tanaiste Bankers and top Civil Servants management teams etc etc etc it is time that their wage be cut with a very sharp cut and now they are way overpaid

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    Mute Carr Barnes
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    Nov 21st 2011, 8:11 AM

    What if the government told you you had to move out of your home to another area? And while imagining that take into account u.at you can’t just hop onto a bus or into a car to go see friends or family meaning you would be isolated in a place you don’t know with people you don’t know. These are people not boxes of junk.

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    Mute Daniel Dunne
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    Nov 21st 2011, 2:41 AM

    I attended this march today and it is sickening to see what those in power are willing to do to very elderly citizens. But reading between the lines, there is planning permission granted for a private nursing home within 100m of the current public hospital. It seems the “brown envelope” culture is still strong in our nation.

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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
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    Nov 21st 2011, 3:58 AM

    Is the private nursing home connect to James Reilly by any chance in abbeyleix

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    Mute John Ryan
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    Nov 21st 2011, 1:11 AM

    Michael, where did the money come from to pay back the bond holders? Seems there was no bother there. Let’s get our priorities straight and look after our own first instead of accepting our politicians arse-licking the fat cats in Europe who are effectively running the show now and it’s people like this who get left in the shit. Good Luck to them, I hope justice prevails!

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    Mute CMD
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    Nov 21st 2011, 5:46 AM

    Bernadette you have probably near enough hit the nail on the head. There is some vested interest involved – some fat cat will benefit from this closure. And the frightening thing is that ordinary people really have no power against this sort of thing for another 4 and half years till we get a chance to vote this shower out. I’d bet the next government will be made up of a lot of independents. People just won’t trust any party from now on.

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    Mute Dave O'Doherty
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    Nov 21st 2011, 6:37 AM

    CMD, it’s a pity that some people think that the people only have power once every five years. We have it all the time, 24/7.

    Problem is, we have such a short memory that our next government will probably be a coalition of FF and FG who will both still (amazingly) have enough support to get in after Labour are butchered like the Greens.

    We’re a country of lambs and lambs get slaughtered. Simples!

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    Mute John
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    Nov 21st 2011, 2:34 AM

    Current Government Minister with an ‘Overwhelming Mandate’ in a rare moment of humble contemplation: “Hmmm…Imagine if the referendum on Oireachtas inquiries had passed and then we could have made an example of these obstinate protest march organisers (in matters of general public interest of course, and with little or no recourse to the Courts) for defying this Governments’ agenda on the Privatisation of Everything.”…Maybe in the next Referendum?!

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    Mute Frank McMahon
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    Nov 20th 2011, 10:25 PM

    the sign wouldve been more effective if it said “im NOT a celebrity, you cant get me out of here..”

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    Mute CMD
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    Nov 21st 2011, 11:20 AM

    Dave I agree with you about the “sheep” who will still vote FF or FG regardless of what either party do while in office. My point is that we really have no power at this moment to stop the closure of nursing homes, barracks or hospitals. They will be forced on us, we will be told it’s for the good of the economy or health and safety and in 4 years time a lot of these actions will be forgotten and the same merry-go-round of promises, speeches and bulls….t will start again. And most people will fall for it all over again. I’m long enough around to have seen it all many times. I just despair of this country. Then we have so many young people who won’t even vote – ach sin sceal eile!

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