How a Small Cluttered Loft Became an Oasis of Relaxation

This small loft bedroom is filled with smart storage solutions; and a decorating scheme that adds bright touches of colour and makes the most of the beautiful natural light.

But when interior designer Kia Sunda first saw the loft space of this home in Highbury, North London, it was cluttered and cramped. Out of sight from the rest of the house, it had become a bit of a dumping ground for discarded furniture and other items that had no real place anywhere else in the house.

The owners – two professionals who had lived in the house for many years – wanted to maximise the loft area and make it into a real feature of the house. But the clutter made the room look very small and it was difficult for them to visualise how it could be turned into the space they wanted it to be.

Having previously designed a living room for them, Kia was given the task of transforming the loft into a bedroom that would also serve as a place of relaxation.

The first step was to de-clutter the room and create storage solutions, that would be both stylish and and creative. Making the most of the amazing vaulted ceiling, a platform area was built out which created a zone for the bed, and contained incredibly deep drawers underneath. As well as creating a focal point for the room, the platform helped to create both extra space and storage.

In addition to this, the back wall was made into a feature, with a warm medium oak cladding, and yellow backing to create bright highlights. Like the platform area, the beautiful feature wall serves a dual-purpose: behind some of the panels hides built in units for storage.

The room is blessed with beautiful natural light. The designer thought a great deal about the light and worked with it to help transform the room into an oasis of calm and to banish the former feeling of clutter entirely. But with sunlight hitting the room early on summer mornings, she needed to find a modern way to shade the room, that wouldn’t take up too much light when not in use. The solution was of course sliding panels which take up very little space and are easy to open and close as they glide along the track attached to the ceiling.

One of the major challenges of the redesign was deciding what colours to insert into the room. The owners of the house love colour and warmth, so Kia was determined not to be too conventional. At the same time though, she wanted the room to be a sanctuary, so had to be aware of drowning the room with loud tones.

A colour scheme of vibrant greens and yellows was chosen. These colours do not allow themselves to be ignored, but were used in a very uniformed manner by way of stripes and boxes, to give the impression of order. In this way, the colours add vibrancy without trespassing on the idea that the room must also serve as a place of calm.

The result of the re-design is a loft bedroom that looks and feels spacious and is an oasis of relaxation.

Design Ideas to Take Away

• Think about creating dual purpose storage and furniture pieces in your home to maximise space
• You can use colour even in small spaces by using it in a structured way
• Work with any natural light in a room to maximise the feeling of space

What elements do you like about this room?
Please tell me in the comments below …

Tweet This