The One Bed Hack That Can Make Any Room Look Bigger

Small bedrooms can feel cramped, says Martin King, a sales manager at Mattress Time. You want space to move, but the bed takes up nearly all of it. You push furniture around, try mirrors on the walls, even change the paint colour. Still, the room feels tight.

Here’s the truth: most of the space problem isn’t the room. It’s the bed. Change your approach to the bed and you’ll change the way the whole room looks and feels.

So, what’s the hack?

A divan bed with storage.

It may not sound exciting at first, but once you see how it transforms a small room, you’ll understand why it’s the simplest way to make any bedroom look bigger.

Why Storage Beds Work

The biggest problem with small rooms is clutter. Clothes on the floor, boxes stacked in corners, bedding stuffed in wardrobes. All of this makes the room feel smaller.

A divan bed with drawers or an ottoman lift-up base like those sold at cheapbedsale.co.uk takes the wasted space under your mattress and turns it into storage. Suddenly, everything that clutters the room has a place to go. Shoes, spare blankets, even bulky items like suitcases can vanish under the bed.

With the floor clear, the room feels more open. You haven’t made the walls wider, but it looks as if you have.

Visual Space vs. Physical Space

There’s a difference between how big a room is and how big it feels. Physical space is fixed—you can’t stretch your walls. But visual space is flexible.

When the eye sees clear floors and fewer bulky cupboards, the brain reads the room as larger. A divan bed helps achieve this by cutting down on visible storage furniture. You can often replace a chest of drawers or even a wardrobe with a storage bed, instantly freeing up space.

Choosing the Right Bed for the Effect

Not all beds will make a small room look bigger. The wrong choice can do the opposite. Here’s what works best:

• Divan bases with drawers – great for folded clothes, bedding, and smaller items.
• Ottoman beds – the mattress lifts to reveal a large compartment, perfect for bulkier items.
• Low headboards – avoid tall, heavy designs that make the bed look oversized. A slim or fabric headboard keeps things neat.
• Neutral colours – lighter shades blend with the walls and stop the bed dominating the room.

The Illusion of Space

Think of a hotel room. Often the space is small, yet it feels neat and uncluttered. The bed is usually the centrepiece, but the clever design keeps the rest of the room free. That’s the same principle you can bring into your home.

By hiding storage in the base of the bed, you reduce the need for extra furniture. Less furniture means more visible floor, which tricks the eye into thinking the room is larger than it is.

More Than Just Storage

There’s another bonus. A bed with built-in storage doesn’t just make the room look bigger—it makes it easier to keep tidy. When everything has a place, you spend less time battling clutter. The room not only looks larger but feels calmer.

And calm is exactly what you want in a bedroom.

Styling Tips to Boost the Effect

The bed hack is the main trick, but you can go a step further with a few styling choices:

• Keep bedding simple. Plain colours or light patterns avoid overwhelming the room.
• Lift with mirrors. A well-placed mirror doubles the sense of space, especially opposite a window.
• Use vertical storage. If you still need shelves, go up rather than out.
• Stick to one main colour. Matching walls, bedding, and curtains in a light tone adds flow and space.

Combined with a storage bed, these touches create a room that feels almost twice its size.

What About Small Beds?

You might think the answer to a small room is a smaller bed. That can work, but often it just makes the room look awkward. A single in a double room leaves too much empty wall space and can look out of place.

The smarter option is to keep a full-sized bed that fits the scale of the room but use the space inside it wisely. That way, you keep comfort and still gain room to move.

How Long Will It Last?

Some worry that a storage bed won’t be as strong as a standard base. In reality, a well-built divan or ottoman is as sturdy as any other frame. The storage compartments are built into the base, not added on, so they last for years with normal use.

The Best Part

You don’t need to knock down walls or hire builders to make a small bedroom feel bigger. The one simple hack is swapping your current bed for one with storage. Clear the floor, cut the clutter, and free up space you never thought you had.

It’s the quickest way to change a cramped room into one that feels open, fresh, and calm. And the best part? You still get a bed that’s just as comfortable as before—only smarter.