Sometimes you have a bedroom without a lot of space and it’s usually the bed that takes up most of it. Especially for rooms that are designed to be more than just sleeping areas (kids’ rooms, for example), this can mean that there’s not a lot of room for the rest of the things – desk, chair and other paraphernalia – that the room needs to contain. Here are some ideas on beds that maximize your space and allow the room’s space to be used to its full potential.

The Shelf Headboard:

Possibly the simplest thing you can do to combine sleeping arrangements with space-saving, the headboard that doubles as a shelf can hold books, tissues, lights and anything else imperative for bedtime. Most beds can handle an appropriately sized shelf-headboard, making it an economical option for people who already have a good bed.

Bunk beds:

The original space-saving solution, the bunk bed! These beds are generally geared towards children who have to share a room or a child who has a lot of sleepovers. Bunk beds are also an option for guest bedrooms and for storage of toys and equipment on the top bunk. For children, they can also function as an economical canopy bed with the addition of curtain rods. Take note that it is strongly recommended that children under the age of 6 not be given the top bunk.

Mezzanine/Loft beds:

At first, these appear to be bunk beds, but they generally lack a second sleeping arrangement on the bottom, leaving space for a chair, desk, or anything else that a person might desire underneath. Some come with elaborate setups that include shelves, steps and matching furniture. Others are just the bed and a ladder. These are ideal for college dorm rooms and smaller rooms that need to house an active child. The same caveat that applies to the top of bunk beds applies to lofts – no kids under 6.

Murphy beds:

A Murphy bed will flip up against a wall when it is not in use. This enables the floorspace that it would otherwise occupy to serve for other purposes. Murphy beds have come a long way from the cartoon cliches that folded up on hapless characters. Many of them today have exceptionally comfortable mattresses and are easy to take down and put away. Modifications to the Murphy style allow for a desk or other useful feature to “pop out” when the bed is put away.

Hanging beds:

Some of these beds just hang from the ceiling and don’t offer any more storage space than a regular bed with room underneath the frame. However, a few enterprising businesses and individuals have created hanging beds on a pulley system, allowing the bed to be swung to the ceiling and out of the way. This requires a fairly high ceiling relative to the room’s occupant to be truly useful and care must be taken that the pulley bed, equipment and structure it is affixed to are able to take the weight of both bed and occupant(s).

Bedup:

This French concoction puts the bed on tracks and gives it some fold-down legs so that you can raise and lower it like a hanging bed on pulleys, only it’s anchored to the wall. This makes the bed less movable and gives it some solid support from the legs as well as the tracks it runs on

Futons:

What we think of as a futon and what the Japanese, the creators of this style of bed, think of as a futon are two completely different animals. The Japanese futon refers only to a mattress that is often folded up and put away during the day, allowing for use of the bedspace. The Western “futon” tends to refer to the mattress and the frame it is placed upon, which can be laid out like a bed or folded up like a couch. Either way, these are very good beds to use for a small space. However, one should take care in the type of futon they choose; many futon mattresses are cheap copies of traditional mattresses and are not supportive of the back.

Sofa beds:

The first cousin of the futon, the sofa bed mimics an ordinary sofa, but turns into a different creature entirely when night falls. A mattress appears out of hiding and folds out to create an ample bed, the width of the original sofa seating space. If it’s space saving you’re after, this is definitely one to consider.

Trundle beds:

Another time honored tradition, the trundle bed is a bed-within-a-bed. One bed is put together the normal way, but its frame is just a giant drawer, holding another bed. Perfect for small spaces and frequent sleepovers. Most trundle beds have the mattresses at different heights, but some have pop-out mechanisms that put the trundle mattress at the same height as the main bed.

You can do a lot with a smaller living space if you find the right furniture. Check out some of these options if saving space is important to you.

Even though there has been much talk about DIY Solar there has been very little uptake of the technology in the Domestic DIY market. A big reason for this has been a common belief that lots of sunlight is needed to make the energy savings all worthwhile!

A ‘lack of sunlight’ has often been the argument of many politicians against going Solar but this argument is simply not justified. Take for example the small Danish Island of Samsoe, a place powered solely by renewable energy. On average it has about 7-8 hours of extremely weak sunlight and yet 70% of its heating requirements are met by solar energy, hay and biomass!

It is true that the amount of Solar energy falling on a square meter of earth (300 Watts per square meter) is in fact quite small requiring rather large energy collectors to meet the energy needs of a typical home. However, the roof area of a typical home far exceeds the size of solar panel required to heat a home – roughly 10% the size of living area. Also, with increasingly efficient solar panels capable of turning even the weakest of sunlight into electric power you can be sure the market is set to grow.

Thirty to Forty years ago, in colder climates, a similar situation arose with double glazing. The average householder thought the idea too expensive and pay back too long in terms of energy savings. Home owners soon realized that pay back was not the main issue. House prices increased after double glazing had been installed. The installation costs had been justified with lower heating bills as well!

Solar technology will be no different. Those people who install Solar Systems, DIY Solar or manufactured, will realize the return on investment through both energy savings and property value. It will become the norm and not the exception to have some sort of Domestic Power source.

Currently, commercial Solar power systems can be very expensive. If you are looking at a return on investment solely via energy savings you could be waiting a very long time. The alternative is to go DIY Solar. Just like in the early days of double glazing where people would install their own secondary panes, home owners are now looking to build their own Solar energy systems. The parts needed are not too expensive and the information to build such a system is readily available. A DIY Solar system can work out at one tenth the cost of a similar commercial system.

Winter energy bills can be terribly upsetting. It seems that we spend way too much on heating our homes in cold weather. Wouldn’t it be better to spend this money on something more fun? Well, there are several ways to cut your energy bill, and the simplest way is to invest in a bedroom heater.

We spend almost one third of our life in bed and there is no need to have central heating on while you sleep. It is only the bedroom that you want to be warm at night, is not it? For the bedroom you can get a separate wall heater or a portable electrical heater. Make sure you select a heater that is safe and doesn’t require constant attention. Heaters with open radian element should not be used. It can start a fire if a curtain or your cloth blows across the heating element.

Bedroom Heater Features

The best choice for a bedroom heater is oil filled radiators. They are safe, silent (which is very important while you are asleep) and they provide enough heat to comfortably warm up an average size bedroom.

It pays off to get a more expensive model that has a timer. This way you can set it to warm the room more before you have to wake up and get out of bed. But while you are actually asleep it is best to have the temperature not too warm.

Also some new models have an instant heat button that allows you to heat up your room very quickly. This is very useful if you forgot to set the timer or when you just came back home and want to warm up fast.

To find the right size heater for your bedroom, look at its specifications. Most models tell you for what heating aria they are intended. Don’t assume the bigger the better. Heater that is too big will not provide any additional benefits, but will consume more energy than necessary.

More Energy Saving Tips

Did you know that you can add timers to your central heating? There is no need to make your central heater work all day while you are at work. With the timer you can make it switch on about half an hour before you come home, this will warm up your house adequately. Of course, this won’t work if you have pets, they dread cold as much as we do.

Also check all drafts and increase insulation. If you have old windows, consider replacing them with storm windows. Having good insulation can make a huge difference, especially when it is windy outside.

In conclusion, a bedroom heater is very convenient and saves you a great deal. So if you don’t have one yet, it is time to compare different models of bedroom heaters and get one that is suitable for your room.