This 90’s bedroom decor is making your bedroom look dated

A light brown-painted bedroom with a pendant light hanging above the bedside table and rust-coloured velvet cushions placed on the bed — (Image credit: Future PLC/Mary Wadsworth)

When it comes to making a small bedroom look bigger, interior experts have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves.

However, there's one widely used design choice that interior designers say is beginning to look dated. In fact, some say this small bedroom idea went out in the 90's, even though so many of us still have this design feature in our bedrooms.

What is it? Sliding mirrored wardrobe doors, at least in the wall-to-wall format that is so common in bedrooms across the UK. But luckily, design experts say there are plenty more on-trend (and space-maxxing) options to choose from in 2026.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

When I cast my mind back through all of the properties I've lived in as an adult, three out of five have had built-in fitted wardrobes finished with sliding mirrored wardrobe doors, and, in theory at least, it's a design choice that makes a lot of sense, particularly in a small bedroom.

A bedroom painted grey, with a white wooden bed frame, fur throw blanket, crushed velvet square and round cushions, bedside unit with candle, and mirrored sliding-door wardrobe

'Mirrored wardrobe doors remain one of the most effective ways to make a small bedroom feel larger,' explains Emma Deterding, founder and creative director of interior design studio Kelling Designs. 'They double the visual depth of the room, bounce natural light into darker corners and create an immediate sense of openness without sacrificing storage.'

However, an entire wall of back-to-back mirrors can easily feel a little soulless, and in 2026, it's beginning to look increasingly dated.

Luckily, when it comes to making a small bedroom look bigger, our design experts say that other bedroom wardrobe ideas can offer similar effects, whilst looking a little more elevated.

'Mirrored wardrobe doors have had a mixed reputation over the past decade,' says Emma. In particular, 'the wall-to-wall mirrored sliding wardrobes of the late '90s and early 2000s can feel uninspired.'

However, as Emma goes on to explain, 'what dates a room isn't the mirror itself, it's the context.' In Emma's eyes, a mirrored wardrobe is only a no-go if it's 'paired with equally generic finishes.'

'As an interior designer, I love anything that amplifies light, reflects pattern and creates visual richness,' says Emma, and the *right* sort of mirrored wardrobe can do just that.

'Introduce an antique-effect mirror, bronze or smoked glass, elegant panelling or beautifully framed mirrors within bespoke joinery, and suddenly they feel intentional, luxurious and wonderfully layered,' says Emma.

A bedroom with a built-in navy wardrobe with mirror panels on the doors

The key to incorporating mirrors into a bedroom in order to maximise space and reflect light is considering where the mirrors are placed, and elevating them a little beyond the usual generic wall-to-wall look.

'I would avoid a whole long run of mirrors in a bedroom space as day to day that could be quite overwhelming,' agrees Lara Clarke, founder of interior design studio Lara Clarke Interiors. However, 'mirrored doors can work especially well in a walk-through dressing room,' says Lara.

And if you're not blessed with space for a dedicated dressing room, Lara says that 'if you use an antique mirror, it softens the look.'

Plus, mirrors aren't the only way to make a small bedroom appear more spacious.

White bedroom with white bedding, cream and white walls, and fitted wardrobes

'Floor-to-ceiling wardrobes painted exactly the same colour as the walls can almost dissolve into the architecture, particularly in cocooning shades,' says Emma.

Or, 'fluted glass doors offer a lighter, airier feel while softly obscuring what's behind, and glossy lacquered finishes subtly reflect light without the full impact of a mirror,' Emma explains.

'You could also consider building the wardrobes around the bed,' suggests Lara, 'it gives opportunity for more space in the room, especially if you add built-in cubby holes instead of bedside tables.'

And if our overall aim is to maximise the visual space in a small bedroom, Emma has some other clever tricks up her sleeve.

Bedroom with built-in wardrobe around bed - credit Lara Clarke Interiors

'I'd also consider incorporating oversized decorative mirrors elsewhere in the room, using furniture with raised legs to reveal more floor area, and full-height curtains to draw the eye upwards,' says Emma.

Cox & Cox

Oak Deep Framed Mirror

An oversized decorative mirror does the same trick in reflecting light and making a small room feel more spacious.

Habitat

Chiltern Spindle Double Wooden Bed Frame

High-legged furniture is another great trick for making a room feel bigger, as it creates the illusion of more floor space.

M&S

Cotton Linen Blend Sheer Multiway Curtains

Full-height curtains give the illusion of taller walls and can make a small bedroom feel bigger.

Ultimately, as Emma sums up, 'making a small bedroom feel bigger is less about relying on one trick and more about creating a calm, uninterrupted visual flow while layering in personality and texture.'

Amy is Ideal Home’s Sleep Editor and the Ideal Home Certified Expert on Sleep. She's spent the last five years researching and writing about what makes for the best night’s sleep during the day and testing out sleep products to find the best-in-class by night. So far she’s clocked up over 10,000 hours of pillow, duvet, and mattress testing experience.

Our go-to for all things sleep-related, she’s slept on and under bestselling products from Simba, Emma, Hypnos, Tempur, Silentnight, Panda, and many many more.

As a hot sleeper, Amy is always on the lookout for the most breathable bedding, but she also leads a wider team of testers to ensure our product testing encompasses both hot sleepers, cold sleepers, front sleepers, back sleepers, side sleepers, and everything in-between.