The next most challenging room to design and plan after the kitchen was the bedroom. At the small size of 14 feet by 9 feet, a queen bed was all that would fit at 7 feet long and 5 feet wide. If you use simple math, you will see that the foot of the bed only has 2 feet to squeeze past it!
Since we had a few “absolutes” in the bedroom, I based all of our planning designs around these. A queen bed was a must, and where it would fit was dictated by the windows on either of the 9 foot long side walls. Next were the washer and dryer – vital appliances that were missing in the original house. A sandy beach lifestyle demands frequent washing and drying of bathing suits and towels! we found this sleek steel washer and dryer that are stackable, very efficient and quiet. And, their metal sides are perfect for more of my favorite magnetic hooks for jewelry, coats and purses to hang. They are located in the corner with baskets on top of them for all of our towels and linens.
My fashion-conscious daughter was worried about our ability to store all of our clothes in our tiny bedroom. we had space along one wall for an open closet with room for many baskets for our folded items like socks and shirts. I bought these white hangars *to use so that the hanging clothes were visually appealing.
Next we use under-the-bed storage boxes and more baskets for off-season clothes and fancier clothes like suits and dresses that we wear less often. I will admit that I organized my clothes and donated about half before we moved. I try to keep only 3 versions of each item- for example 3 different fancy sweaters and 3 casual sweatshirts for the winter. I favor ones that bring me joy (thanks Marie Kondo) and are in good shape. When we finished out 10 foot by 20 foot shed, I put another closet and more baskets and bins in there to double our storage of clothes. My husband jokes that he already was a clothing minimalist and did not have to pare down at all!
I also have wonderful pegs and hooks on our walls to hold wet towels and my fluffy bathrobes. Even my daughter now begrudgingly admits that we can store clothes well in our little space. We are very conscious of our limits and only buy new items if we donate or throw away another. One in and one out!
A simple IKEA shoe rack is a necessity in the bedroom and we can store boots and heels in the open closet in the shed.
Overall we seem to be fairly well-dressed with no chaos in our clean and simple bedroom. More details to come about the rest of the bedroom and den in my next few blogs. TO BE CONTINUED…