After last week’s post (400 Square Feet is the New Black), I received quite a number of emails and comments requesting more photos of our tiny apartment.
Today, I thought I’d give you a sneak peak into the bedroom. I feel a little shy inviting thousands of people into this space, but what the heck – here goes.
To be honest, there’s really not much to see. It measures only 9.75 x 9.25 feet, for a grand total of 91 square feet. Suffice it to say, photographing it was somewhat of a challenge!
A few notes:
* I know a mattress on the floor is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it works for us. It also makes the high ceilings seem even higher. :-)
* We have no built-in closets, so all our clothes are in these two wardrobes (mine on the left, DH’s on the right). Above each wardrobe, we’ve corralled out-of-season items (sweaters, scarves, gloves) and other extras in white nylon Ikea storage cubes. I like the way they blend into the wardrobes and the walls, and give us a little extra storage space.
* I’m not a huge fan of the carpeting, but when you’re in rented accommodations, you learn to live with less-than-ideal finishes. If it were our own place, I’d choose either dark, wide-plank, weathered wooden floors, or white painted wooden floors.
* Yes, there’s a distinct lack of color here; but as most long-term readers know, I *love* white (see my posts Minimalist Home: White Walls and Minimalist Design: White Floors). I particularly like white linens in the summer – so cool, crisp, and refreshing! I’m considering adding a pop of color with a throw pillow; perhaps something in aqua or lavender, with a botanical print. Of course, I welcome suggestions from more décor-savvy readers.
* This bedroom was made for a minimalist – there’s not enough room for a dresser, nightstand, or any other piece of furniture. I love the way it requires one to boil things down to the essentials: a place to sleep, and a place to store clothes.
As I say in my book, I think the bedroom should be the most uncluttered room in the house. It should be a place of peace and serenity, a haven from our hectic lives. But it doesn’t have to be BIG to serve these needs. By keeping things simple, a small space can provide just as wonderful an oasis for our weary souls!
{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
my bed is a super thick futon mattress on the floor also with a milk crate for a bedside stand and a reading lamp for it company on the upside down milk crate ..some people who know me asked me at 51 years old are not a little old to be liveing like a teenager out on there own for the first time..
I have also slept on a mattress on the floor but was told also that it’s very unhygienic (air needs to circulate underneath the mattress to absorb the moisture).
Now sleep on a super-duper horribly expensive bed specifically for people with back trouble, easy to get out of, easy to read in, free from back pain, but oh – how I long for a simple mattress on the floor…
Will sell my s-dhe bed shortly. Interested, anyone?
sleeping on floor is not unhygienic at all ,unless your floor is dirty
I love your space here! I have a futon on the floor for sleeping and have lived like this for about 2 years now. In the past I also used a futon as well but that was before I embraced the harmony of less. Thanks for sharing!
Very nice.
I’ve been reading this blog a while, and just felt I wanted to start commenting as I’ve really been getting into the whole minimalist thing.
I couldn’t live with the whole ‘100 Things or Less’, but I am doing pretty good from my ‘couple of thousand things to less’ lol.
I used to have a matress on the floor years ago. Not because I liked it, but because I couldn’t afford a bed. I was rather cool, and didn’t bother us after a while.
I should imagine the less furnishings, the easier it is to clean right ;)
Keep up the great posts ;)
Ben.
Your room is so pretty! I want a room like that!!
Am gazing at your photos with wistful longing. Reading about your international perspective on minimalism, your move from Trinidad makes me recall my childhood, it was much like life in Trinidad. I got no allowance and the only money I had was from some babysitting (not whining just analyzing) so I hoarded everything because I really might need it, this became a way of life for me. Now I’m digging out from under the overwhelm of abundance. I’m doing good but want to do better. I found my decluttering recently stalled, which is why I’m here seeking inspiration. Your articles and the input from the readers is getting me revved up! Thank you!
How are you doing now? Have been going through the same thing. I am doing well! Just gave away a sofa and loveseat to have a sleighbed futon for the living room. Love it, love it, love it!
I was just wondering if you had considered not using a mattress at all? Currently we also use a mattress on the floor. We started doing this when I was pregnant (boy was it hard getting up) in prep for co-sleeping with my son. I really like the mattress on the floor now …but have considered going even more minimalist and using something that is easier to get about with like when moving. I have seen some really cool sleepign bags with memory foam of padded cotton on the bottom to give some cushion. Not sure if I will try it though!
Ah, my dream room! I have a very similiar setup with white bedspread and a white burlap-upholstered (homemade of course) headboard. The pop of color comes from the bright green (yes, green) sheets. I love them! I tied it together with a white pillow with a simple silhoute and the whole things look serene and fun at the same time.
If I did that, the rats would sleep on me at night.
I love ur concept of ‘100 or less’. I liv out of my rented room n i feel it suffocates me @ times. Wil try n throw what I don’t need.
Yes, the bedroom should be as dust free as possible. I have our bed where a window’s light shines on it-I heard that dust mites don’t like light. It may look better in a different place in the room, but I like knowing that where the bed is it’s the healthiest place in the room for it to be. We don’t have a dusty tv in the bedroom or a dusty bookcase in the bedroom. When our children were younger they were allowed to have one stuffed animal each. I don’t buy them for the grandchildren. I don’t like carpet in the bedroom. We don’t have pets/pet clutter/vet bills anymore. I’m glad our sons don’t let their dogs in their families’ bedrooms.
I recently found this blog and I love it! It has inspired my current and total annihlation of clutter. Thank you!
I am curious about your mattress and where you got it. My matress and boxspring are on the floor as well, but come time to move, I much rather have one like yours. [=
My bedroom just became much more minimalist. I finally gave away my Queen size bed (mattresse, frame and head/foot board). For the last 4 years I have been sleeping in a hammock strung up kiteeconer in the room. No more morning stiff back. It is the coziest sleeping arrangement I have ever been in, except for the nights I take a sleeping bag outside and sleep in my backyard hammock. My hammocks do not have the stretcher bars, I actually find those more difficult to get into and out of! They are close woven cotton. (Might need reconsideration if someone else were to ever ‘join me’ but so far that is not an issue.
After a life of acquisition getting rid of things is a constant conscious effort. I am rewarded with a feeling of lightness whenever I do ‘de clutter’ an area.
Can you have sex in your hammock?
Wow! Just wow! I completely agree with you on mattress on floor, minimalist living style AND WHITE!! When you are in such a house, you can make yourself so calm with the minimal distractions (face it, there is nothing there to distract you) and its the best way to immerse yourself in an activity that requires full attention and not lose ourselves in frivolous excitements about buying and possessing cheap trinkets.
And – its not about cheap living – i wouldnt mind the if the IKEA chairs you got costed 500$ to be made out of a better wood or a better cushion – its the kind of living where for the money you put in, you get quality and not an unnecessary quantity.
What do you think about having a sofa couch? Before I read your post about not having a couch, I didn’t really want a couch myself. I felt i didn’t really need a couch and that it was almost a waste of space, a lot of unnessacary money, and needless effort to move it from place to place when moving. So my descision pointed to just having a mattress pad on the floor that could fold up easily for transportability, space saving, etc. But when I thought about a sofa bed, it combines a bed with the functionality of a couch. So it a two-in-one. However i am unsure as to whether or not it would be a better descion to go upon that route versus not having a couch and just having a mattress pad on the floor. What are your thoughts on this matter???
Mattress on the floor might get mouldy. Just a consideration/devils advocate thing (my mom’s a little skeptical of minimalism.)
I was re-reading some of these posts and wanted to comment. We moved in the summer and now have a smallish bedroom that only works as a bedroom. Yay! It has built-in closets and otherwise enough room for our futon on the floor, our mismatch ‘night tables’ and the dogs’ beds. I’ve finally convinced my husband of sleeping on the mattress without the bed frame and while I love it, he also seems happy with it.
I live in equator line/tropic, it’s humid and hot, has only 2 seasons: dry and rainy. It also means more insects at all seasons than other region, mattress without bed can be mouldy, dusty, invites termite and insects, and we can’t clean the floor easily. It’s not practical nor healthy in tropic. Also kitchenware without closed door cupboard/cabinet is very vulnerable to dust, domestic lizard, spider, and some insects/flies. But here in tropic, we don’t use carpet, and barefoot at home is the basic/common thing.
Thanks IdleHomemaker for your point of view.
Really agree bedroom should be the simplest, clutter-free room in the house.
I love my books though. My exception to the rule, even if I only keep the ones I love or are useful.
OK mattress on floor its big in east Asian then again so is wooden pillows, I have to have a bed frame to just my tool box under.
You should at least get a thin box spring/bedframe.. I’ve seen very elegant setups that were designed to make a futon/mattress look low and classy, but still keep it a bit off the ground to allow for air circulation. That way you can keep that look, but make it look deliberate and stylish instead of just “a futon on the floor”, with the added bonus of being healthier.
We have 2 twin beds. I use my night table drawers as my dresser which makes my husband crazy but I don’t need more space. I still have more to get rid of as all my hobby materials are in my bedroom. I also have a lot of houseplants. Striving for less.