How To Furnish An Empty Room: Our First Interior Project

I feel like this post is long over-due. Although fitness might be in my name, I’ve been itching to write my first home interiors blog post for yonks and finally, here it is: How to furnish and decorate an empty room: Our first interior project.

After creating a personal home account on Instagram not so long ago, it finally gave me the push to start writing more freely about the things I love – beside fitness and wellness. So, with that said, here’s how we made the most of an empty and unloved room…

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Earlier this year, Doug decided to surprise me on valentines by clearing out the top bedroom and turning it into a studio room for me to photograph all of my work in. Yes, it was the cutest thing ever and yes, I nearly cried. Since then, I’ve made use of the room a lot and it’s made a massive difference to my work… hello lighting. But, with it being the second biggest bedroom in the house (and with an en-suite), we felt the room was going to waste a little when we weren’t using it.

So, after a few a lot of IKEA trips, we decided to turn it into a dressing-come-studio room with the option for guests to also stay in. Basically, we decided to make the most out of the room and squeeze all 3 rooms into one – studio, dressing and guest room.

How to furnish your empty room

First of all, we decided on exactly what we wanted from the bedroom itself. Doug was very keen to make it work as a guest room and as a dressing room for extra clothing storage, and I was keen for both (plus the option for some studio space too). With that in mind, we decided on the furniture: a sofa bed, a personalised wardrobe (what a dream) and a dressing table.

As you can see from the before photos, we had a lot of space to work with. However, keeping most of the space available for photography work was also important which is why we carefully located the wardrobe, dressing table and sofa bed on the outskirts of the room and within the edges of the wall.

My advice? Work with the awkward corners and gaps within the walls first. If, like us, you have a bit of space built purposely for storage space, then use it. As for the bed, place it in the room where you can still access it from both sides whilst bearing in mind the space around you. We decided to leave a little room on either side of the sofa bed for two reasons. 1) the height of the ceiling and 2) to balance the room.

Be smart with wardrobe space

We 100% didn’t need a personalised wardrobe, but after many IKEA visits and drooling over their glass draws, accessory drawers and the option to personalise the wardrobe from every rail and shelf, Doug decided to spoil the room (and me) with the IKEA Pax wardrobe. Ekkk.

Not only does the IKEA Pax wardrobe work for all of your needs because you get to design every little nook and cranny, but it’s a great way for you to be savvy with storage. If, like me, you’re a girl that comes with a lot of baggage (quite literally), then go crazy and figure out where you’re going to store your bags and accessories amongst your clothing. This way, you can save space elsewhere in the room.

When it came to available space: We were able to work with the wardrobe space in the room (the big gap that’s quite so clearly designed for a wardrobe) and make the most of it. Luckily enough, our measurements worked out perfectly with just a small gap left at the end (which I will 100% be using for a pull out shoe drawer).

Whether you invest in a Pax wardrobe from IKEA or not, do your research and opt for a wardrobe that can save you as much space as possible. That, or get a little DIY creative with Pinterest and build yourself some extra space within your newly brought (or current) wardrobe(s).

Have a multi-function space

For me, my muli-function space is the IKEA MALM dressing table. Whilst it may look like a dressing table (which it is), it can also be used as a desk during the day. I also like to store all of my make up in the draw under the table (which fits perfectly) and for any accessorises, I’ll sit them on top of the table.

Whilst this multi-function space doesn’t necessarily have to be a dressing table, think about how you can use your particular piece of furniture in different ways to 1) save you space and 2) make use of the room.

Budget for a sofa bed

If I could recommend anything, then it’d be to buy yourself a sofa bed for your guests. Unless you play host every month to friends and family, then save yourself some space and invest in a sofa bed. Whilst a double bed sounds like a lovely idea and looks all trim and proper, it’s a lot of room to commit to if you rarely have guests staying over.

Without hesitation, we picked IKEA’s HEMNES day bed and despite it taking a couple of hours to assemble, it’s probably the best sofa bed I’ve seen out there (at a reasonable price). The transformation from sofa to double bed is pretty easy – not to mention pretty comfortable too.

The best thing about the day bed? It comes with plenty of storage. Whether you choose to keep your duvet and pillows in the drawers (which fit very easily, by the way), or not, there’s plenty of storage for your bits and bobs.

Decorate your empty room with a theme in mind

Of course, feel free to decorate however you please to but, after you’ve furnished the room, you’re left with a blank canvas which is perfect to let your creative juices flow. So why not let your Pinterest boards come to life?

I’m all for the botanical look right now, and with the room being so bright and airy, I instantly knew that this particular style would compliment the room big time.

We decided to leave the room completley white and instead, decorate with accessorises. Not only does this save you a few pennies (if the room is already decorated), but it also makes it 10x easier to change when a re-do is in order. So, as I like to say, this room is our monochrome botanical sanctuary. And I bloody love it.

My advice for decorating an empty room…

• First things first: Decide on a theme.
• If you’re going to have a feature wall, know exactly what you want.
• Be a little daring. If you fancy a dark moody wall, then go for it. Just know how to work with it.
• Create a focal point in the room. What’s going to be the first thing people look at?
• Compliment the walls with art/prints if you’ve left them blank. This is your time to really let your theme come to life.
• Finish the room with some gorgeous lighting. Believe it or not, lighting can be one of the main aspects of a room. Don’t just hideaway with a boring lampshade. Instead, compliment the decor with something that gives your guests something to really talk about. For light inspo, check out Matalan’s light section.
• Pick out accessories while avoiding to overcrowd the room with ‘bits and bobs’. Unless that’s your ‘thing’, of course.
• To create a soft and cosy look, opt for curtains if possible. Terry’s Fabrics have a wide variety of curtain fabric for sale if you need a little inspo.

Ideally, this is your chance to do what you want to do with an empty room. But my number one tip? Know your theme. Once you know your theme, you’ll find that everything else will come pretty easy. You’ll know what accessories you want, what colour/style cushions you’ll need and what wall prints you’d like to compliment the room with… the list goes on.

Create a focal point

It goes without saying that our focal point of the room is the sofa bed. It’s one of the first things you see when you walk into the room and, thanks to its accessories, it’s pretty complimentary. Which is why I really went to town on the decor here…

Bedding

We decided to go for plain yet elegant sheets for the sofa bed. As the bed consists of two single mattresses, the best way to dress it was to purchase a double flat sheet and scoop it under the mattress during the day. That way, when used as a double bed, it fitted perfectly. In a nut shell, here’s what we dressed the bed with…

Flat sheet: We picked out the Riva Paoletti 100% Egyptian Cotton Sateen Flat Sheet from Linens Limited. With a 400 thread count, it makes for the perfect (and most comfortable) flat sheet. You can grab it here.

Duvet cover: My love for white sheets continues. However, this cover from Terry’s Fabrics comes with a gorgeous grey trim which compliments the sofa bed perfectly without being too overpowering. Not only does it boast elegance and simplicity, but it’s 100% cotton and feels just as good as it looks. You can grab it here.

Pillows

If I haven’t expressed my love for my cushions enough on Instagram, then I’m about to now. I love, love, love these little finds. To other budding IKEA enthusiasts, these cushions may not be big news to you, but to those casting their eyes on them for the first time, they will be. Believe me.

I managed to grab the black and white geometric cushions for £4 each. £4! They truly complete the look of the room and when paired with the other cushions, the style completes itself.

Black velvet cushion: Next, £12
Light grey cushion: Terry’s Fabrics, £6.99 (on offer – grab it here!)
White cushions: Dunelm, £10
Single leaf cushion: IKEA, £4.50
Botanical cushion: Sue Ryder, £8

Wall prints

Who doesn’t appreciate a good ol‘ piece of wall art, huh? I’ve had my eyes on these two types of wall prints since I started my botanical Pinterest board, and after browsing Desenio’s huge range of art, we both settled on two prints. I think both complement each other well and I love how something so simple can bring a room together (at very little cost too).

How to decorate an empty room

I’d be lying if I said that we were completely finished with this room. In fact, I don’t think you can ever be ‘finished’ when it comes to interior decorating, esepically accessories.

I decided to keep things quite simple when it came to the dressing table as I wanted the IKEA wall lamps and TK Maxx mirror to do the talking. After all, it’s the focal point of that area so why not? To keep things simple, I accessorised the table with a gorgeous grey vase and flowers from – yes, you guessed it – IKEA. I’ve also been trying to slowly add other accessories (such as perfume bottles, etc) but for this space, I think simplicity works best.

For the unfurnished part of the room – the area we purposely kept empty for photography work, etc – we decided that a large (almost giant) leaning mirror would work best here. 1) because I’m a selfie’holic and 2) large mirrors are fabulous for opening up rooms and creating an illusion of extra space. Shock horror: This mirror was also purchased as part of our HEMNES IKEA haul for £60. Not too shabby.

I decided to get a little creative with this area and accessorise the best way I know how: with plants and storage. The plant itself is a hand me down from my dad and the storage trunk is a bargain find from Home Sense. Both accessories fit perfectly well within the room and I even added a few extra touches.

So there you have it. My first interior project post and how we furnished and transformed an empty and unloved room to something a lot more special. I hope it helps you with a lil‘ inspiration!

PS, this post contains gifted items.