Nottingham’s housing is dominated by the interwar and post war suburban semi, and the bedroom in that house type has a shape that decides its furniture almost entirely. A bay to the front, a chimney breast on one flank wall, a door that opens inward and a window that limits wall height: four features that between them leave very little wall genuinely free.<\/p>\n
The furniture that succeeds in these rooms is therefore the furniture that works within an interrupted perimeter. Mirrored surfaces, low chests, blanket boxes and sliding door wardrobes all recur across the city not by coincidence but because they solve the same geometric problem.<\/p>\n
Take a main bedroom at 350 by 300cm, which is representative of this housing type. That gives a perimeter of 1300cm. Now subtract what cannot be used.<\/p>\n
The bay window occupies perhaps 200cm of the front wall and cannot take furniture above sill height. The door and its swing consume around 90cm plus clearance. The chimney breast projects into the room, typically 30 to 40cm, breaking the flank wall into a projection and two alcoves. A radiator sits under the window or on a flank wall, taking a further 100 to 150cm out of service for solid backed furniture.<\/p>\n
What remains is one usable full height wall and two alcoves. That is the space available for a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and bedside storage, and it is why the room feels tighter than its floor area suggests.<\/p>\n
The bed then takes the middle. A double at 135cm wide plus 60cm of access walkway on the entry side and ideally a second walkway on the far side needs 255cm of the room’s 300cm width. That leaves 45cm, which is not a wardrobe depth. This is why the bed almost always sits against the chimney breast wall, with the wardrobe on the opposite full height wall.<\/p>\n
The single most consequential decision in one of these bedrooms is bed size. A UK double mattress measures 190 by 135cm and a UK king measures 200 by 150cm. The bed frame adds to both dimensions, typically 5 to 10cm on each side depending on the design.<\/p>\n
In a 300cm wide room, a double bed frame at around 145cm overall leaves 155cm for walkways. Split evenly that gives 77cm each side, which is comfortable. A king frame at around 160cm leaves 140cm, giving 70cm each side, which still works.<\/p>\n
The problem arrives when a wardrobe is on one of those sides. A 60cm deep wardrobe on a flank wall reduces the available walkway on that side by its full depth, and with a king bed the remaining route can drop below the 60cm minimum, at which point the room becomes awkward to move through in the dark.<\/p>\n
Frame design matters here too. A bed with a slim upholstered surround adds less overall width than one with a substantial timber or high gloss frame, and in a tight room that difference is worth checking on the specification. Ottoman bases add nothing to the footprint while adding storage across the entire mattress area, which in a room short of drawer space is often the deciding argument. Our ottoman beds UK<\/a> are chosen in this housing type more for the storage than the appearance.<\/p>\n Hinged wardrobe doors need clear floor in front of them. A 50cm wide door needs 50cm of swing arc, and a person standing to use the wardrobe needs a further 25cm or so, giving the 75cm working figure.<\/p>\n In a bedroom where the wardrobe faces the bed across a 70cm walkway, hinged doors will strike the bed. This is an extremely common outcome in the interwar semi and it is entirely predictable at the measuring stage.<\/p>\nWardrobes, doors and the swing you cannot afford<\/h3>\n
| Room size<\/th>\n | Largest comfortable bed<\/th>\n | Wardrobe type<\/th>\n | Additional storage<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 x 300cm<\/td>\n | Single or small double at 120cm<\/td>\n | Sliding, two door<\/td>\n | Under bed drawers only<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 300 x 300cm<\/td>\n | Double at 135cm<\/td>\n | Sliding, two or three door<\/td>\n | Slim bedside cabinets<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 330 x 300cm<\/td>\n | Double, king if wardrobe is on the short wall<\/td>\n | Hinged two door or sliding three door<\/td>\n | Chest of drawers in alcove<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 350 x 320cm<\/td>\n | King at 150cm<\/td>\n | Hinged three door<\/td>\n | Chest of drawers and blanket box<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 400 x 350cm<\/td>\n | Super king at 180cm<\/td>\n | Hinged four door or fitted<\/td>\n | Chest, blanket box and dressing table<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n |