DIY Small Bedroom Organization Ideas and Tips

Small bedroom organization ideas to help you keep your small room peaceful and uncluttered.

When you have a small house and not a lot of storage space, it can be difficult to figure out how to best use the space you have.

It’s easy to end up with a cluttered bedroom when you’re low on square footage.

Today I’m sharing some of the best organization ideas I’ve used in my master bedroom to maximize the small space.

Small Bedroom Organization Ideas

Our house is small, and all of the bedrooms and closets are also small. This makes it difficult to keep things looking neat and orderly.

In addition, I don’t have a large budget to work with when looking for workable storage solutions.

I’m more likely to be looking at thrift stores than a Container Store (as much as I would love to be able to shop there!).

Through the years, I’ve come up with some ways that have really helped me keep our tiny bedroom clutter free and organized.

I’m going to start with a few ideas to help your bedroom look less cluttered and more streamlined, and then we’ll go into some more specific small bedroom organization ideas.

Keep in mind that not all of these ideas will work for every bedroom design or every decor style, so take what works for you and leave the rest.

1. Declutter and Simplify Your Small Bedroom

One of the best things to do when you don’t have a lot of space is to consider downsizing your possessions.

There is so much wisdom in choosing to own less in order to have time for what really matters in your life. Paring back on the amount of things you own can create so much peace.

I’m not a true minimalist (yet), but I can see how helpful it can be. Especially if you don’t have much space to store a lot of stuff.

I’m considering embracing minimalism out of necessity.

Many books have been written about minimizing and decluttering.

Years ago I learned about the konmari method, and it really helped me think through how to declutter effectively and not keep too much stuff for our space.

Our master bedroom has really benefited from keeping the clutter to a minimum and embracing minimalism.

If you need a quick way to declutter your bedroom, try this 30 Bags in 30 Days Declutter challenge.

2. Keep the Walls Simple in a Small Bedroom

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This advice will be a matter of personal preference, but it can really help when you have a small bedroom to minimize visual clutter.

Also, it has sometimes been said that painting a small room a darker color may make the room seem smaller. If you’re going for a super cozy room, this may be what you want!

Our master bedroom was painted a dark navy blue when we bought this house. It was cozy, but it wasn’t the look I was going for with this room.

For me personally, I wanted my room to look larger and lighter, so I painted our bedroom a creamy white (Benjamin Moore Sugar Cookie). I love how bright and cheerful it looks now.

I spend a lot of time in this room during the day, and the light walls with sunlight bouncing off of them really brighten my day.

Also, I try not to have too many items hanging on the walls. I have a lot of big furniture in this room (breaking one of the small bedroom “rules,” but it can’t be helped)!

Keeping the walls more bare gives this room a neater, more streamlined look.

I do use wall space to hang things like my favorite straw hat and some flowers in a hanging basket that I dried from a friend’s wedding.

These are items that I wanted to keep, but I didn’t have a great place to store them. Then I decided to hang them on the wall, and I love them as part of the décor.

3. Keep the Bedroom Furniture Simple

As I mentioned above, my bedroom doesn’t follow this traditional advice for decorating a small bedroom.

When my husband and I got married, he bought this beautiful handmade canopy bed as a wedding gift for me. It was a surprise, and I love it.

However, we have always lived in smaller houses, and this huge bed frame has always filled up our small master bedroom! If I could choose furniture for this room, I would pick a smaller bed.

But we have to work with what we have sometimes, right? And this is the furniture we have, so we work with it and make the best of a smaller room with larger furniture!

Pick a Bed That Will Increase Your Storage Space

If I were to advise someone on the “correct” or best furniture for a small bedroom, I would recommend getting pieces that can do double duty, containing plenty of extra storage space.

The bed is the largest piece of furniture in your room, so getting the right bed can make a huge difference.

A platform bed like this one with under bed drawers is genius for creating more storage. Or, if your room is really small, you could also consider a murphy bed.

Or, you could get a bed like this with a simple metal (or wood) frame and use under-bed storage containers to utilize the space under the bed.

I have plastic organizers that I bought years ago under our bed. They were inexpensive and they’re a great way to store things like seasonal clothes or other seasonal items.

There are so many under bed storage containers available to help organize your stuff.

Keep Bedding Simple in a Small Bedroom

As part of the small bedroom organization ideas, I would like to suggest simplifying and organizing bedding as well.

I love natural linen bedding, and I have been so happy with this linen duvet cover set I received as a gift from April Notes. I have the beige duvet cover set, and I love that it comes with matching pillowcases.

This set helps my bedroom look even more beautiful and streamlined.

They also have other neutral colors available, and a gorgeous striped option. In addition to the linen duvet sets, they also have sheets, blankets, and curtains. I highly recommend checking them out.

If you also have space constraints, consider streamlining your bedding. This can make such a difference in how simple and clutter-free your room feels.

4. Use a Night Stand for Hidden Storage

One great thing about using a bedside table with drawers is that it’s an easy way to gain quite a bit of extra storage space pretty easily!

We used to have matching night stands that also doubled as filing cabinets in our small master bedroom (you can see them in this post). While I didn’t love the look of those, they served a useful purpose for quite a few years, first in our small living room, and then in our bedroom.

One day I was looking around our house and decided to move these two coordinating dressers over by the bed, one on either side, to use them as bedside tables.

I’ve had these two dressers for about thirty years (I found them at a yard sale when I was in my teens), and I still love their antique wood.

Even though they don’t match, they do go together, and I think they look better than the night stand/file cabinets we had before. And I love the matching table lamps that I found at the dollar store!

And as you can see, each of these dressers add plenty of space to store things. On my husband’s side, he actually keeps clothes in his.

I have a dresser in the closet that I use for my folded clothes, so I use my bedside table/dresser to store other things, like favorite books and small items I use regularly.

I think bedside tables are a great idea when you don’t have much room to store things.

5. Get a Storage Bench

For years we had a hope chest that we kept at the foot of the bed to store small items and extra blankets. This provided yet another storage area to keep things organized.

If you have the space at the end of your bed, consider adding a storage bench there (or somewhere else it might fit). It provides so much hidden extra space.

You can use the storage bench as additional seating, as décor, or simply for the added storage it provides.

This is a perfect example of double duty furniture!

6. Put the Dresser in the Closet

If your bedroom closet is tiny, this may not work. Our small bedroom actually has two closets. And even though they’re both very small, I’m very thankful for them!

My husband has a small closet with a little door on it in a corner of the room.

My closet is also small, but it’s wider than my husband’s even though it isn’t as deep. I decided it was the perfect place to put our tall dresser!

Now my husband keeps his folded clothes in the dresser with the mirror next to the bed, and my clothes and sweaters are folded in the dresser in my closet.

This doesn’t leave a lot of closet space for hanging clothes, but I like not having the dresser out in the room, taking up even more space.

The removal of the dresser gave me enough space to add a small desk to the wall that previously housed the tall dresser.

If you have the space to put a dresser in the closet, it can really eliminate the visual clutter in the room. I would especially consider this if you have a walk-in closet.

However, you may need or want more vertical space or floor space in the closet, so in that case it might not be the best idea.

More Small Bedroom Organization Ideas for the Closet

In my closet, I also use a hanging shoe organizer to store shoes.

In the top of the closet, I use plastic bins to store seasonal clothing.

Another idea for closets in a small bedroom is to remove the closet door. You can then use tension rods to put up a curtain in place of the door.

We removed the closet door in one of our children’s bedrooms because the room is very small. The closet door opened up into the middle of the room.

Removing the door gave the room more open space and a cleaner feeling.

You can also find many organizers that hang from the clothing rod in the closet.

Use plastic bins, plastic shoe boxes, and baskets to organize items in the top of the closet.

These white plastic bins with bamboo lids are one of my favorite organization tools, and they’re great for small closet organization.

7. Use Baskets to Organize Everything

I love baskets, and I have them all over the house! Every time I go to a thrift store or discount store, I look for reasonably-priced baskets.

My husband once asked me if I didn’t think I had enough baskets. But you can never have too many baskets! (I guess I wouldn’t be very good at being a true minimalist!).

But seriously, baskets are such a simple way to add so much storage to every room in your home. And I love the way they look!

I have a row of baskets in the top of my closet to store hats, bags, and my camera/photography supplies. I also like to use the French market basket to store things.

Baskets provide easy access to whatever you need to store. They also give you that little bit of extra space you’re looking for.

What I store in baskets:

• Books (I use these large rectangular baskets and slide them under other furniture)
• Throw pillows
• Blankets
• Smaller items like office supplies
• In the pantry to hold a variety of food
• In drawers to hold pens and pencils

The possibilities are endless, and they’re a good use of something many of us already have in our homes.

If you don’t love the look of traditional baskets, there are more modern options available. I especially love the look of these market baskets. And these large ones are great for storing throw pillows and blankets.

Find More Organization Inspiration:

• 29 Dollar Store Organization Ideas
• Farmhouse Style Organization and Storage Solutions
• Minimalist Bedroom Ideas on a Budget
• The Konmari Method for Organizing Clothing
• 30 Bags in 30 Days Declutter Challenge
• How to Declutter When You’re Overwhelmed

More Small Bedroom Organization Ideas

Here are a few more small bedroom organization ideas and storage ideas to help you find the best way to organize your room.

• Use a rolling cart to store items in the closet (rolling carts are also a good idea if you don’t have enough space for a vanity table or a desk, as they can house your makeup or office supplies and then be rolled out of sight when not in use).
• Look for a closet storage system if you can afford it (I would totally do this if I could!).
• Repurpose an old entertainment center to use as a storage unit in the bedroom (this could add a ton of space!).
• In the closet, use hooks on the back of the door to hang things like purses, scarves, aprons, or robes. You can also just use a nail as I have done for these bags and hats hanging in a tiny corner in my closet.

• Hooks can also be used on the back of the bedroom door (like these) to store many things and keep them off of the floor.
• If you or your husband have a lot of hats, try this hat rack on the back of a door.

I hope these small bedroom storage ideas are helpful! There are so many other possibilities and creative organization ideas.

Share any tips you have in the comments below. I’m always looking for more creative organization ideas!