28 room challenges, each with a playbook
Most design advice assumes a bright, square, owned room of average size. Yours is small, or north-facing, or L-shaped, or rented — and that condition, not your taste, is the design brief. These pages start from the condition.
Size
Small roomsThe room is fine. The furniture catalogue was written for a different one.
Tiny roomsUnder 8 square metres, every decision is a trade against another one.
Narrow roomsEverything wants to line up against the long walls. Almost nothing should.
Long & Narrow roomsToo long to be one room, too narrow to split with a wall. Split it anyway.
Large roomsThe hard version of lucky: a big room punishes furniture arranged against its walls.
Square roomsNo long wall to lean on, no short wall to feature. The grid is the trap.
Shape & layout
L-Shaped roomsTwo rooms sharing a corner. Stop furnishing the letter and furnish them.
Awkward roomsAngled walls, odd nooks, a door too many. The flaw is the plan’s best feature.
Open-Plan roomsOne space, several rooms’ worth of jobs, and no walls to referee.
Walk-Through roomsA room that is also a route. Protect the seat from the traffic.
Under-Stairs roomsA triangle of leftover volume, and the most underrated floor area in the house.
Galley roomsTwo facing runs and a gangway. The most efficient plan in the house, if it breathes.
Ceilings
Low-Ceiling roomsYou cannot raise it. You can stop reminding everyone where it is.
High-Ceiling roomsFree grandeur, plus an echo and a heating bill. Furnish the air, not just the floor.
Sloped-Ceiling roomsThe ceiling is a diagonal. Put sitting and sleeping under the low side, and stop hitting your head.
Light
North-Facing roomsCool, even, shadowless light all day. Stop fighting it with more white paint.
Dark roomsNot enough daylight to pretend otherwise. Two honest strategies; pick one.
Windowless roomsNo daylight at all. So build a light schedule instead of mourning one.
Bright roomsSun all day. The enviable problem: glare, fading, and colours that will not sit still.
Bay-Window roomsThe best light and the best floor in the room, usually wasted on the back of a sofa.
Situations
Rental roomsNot your walls, not your floor, not forever. Design what moves and borrow what doesn’t.
Shared roomsTwo people’s stuff, tastes and hours in one room. The design is the treaty.
Multifunctional roomsOffice by day, guest room by weekend, gym at 7am. Rooms can moonlight; they cannot double-book.
Studio roomsBed, sofa, desk and dinner in one plan. Zone it like a house with invisible walls.
Basement roomsBelow grade, above expectations: the room where every failure is really a light or damp failure.
Attic roomsTop of the house: best light, worst geometry, and a temperature with opinions.
No-Storage roomsNo closet, no alcove, no cupboard. The room must wear its storage well or drown.
New-Build roomsA white box with no features, no history and no excuses. Character must be installed.