Problem
Bedrooms make no sense.
Solution
Don’t put single beds in empty rooms called bedrooms, but instead put individual bed alcoves off rooms with other nonsleeping functions, so the bed itself becomes a tiny private haven. If you are building a very small house no more than 300 or 400 square feet—perhaps with the idea of adding to it gradually—this pattern plays an essential role. It will probably be best then to put the alcoves off the family room.
Related Patterns
… bed alcoves help to generate the form of Bed Cluster (143), Communal Sleeping (186) and Marriage Bed (187) For children, each alcove also functions as A Room of One’s Own (141), so that even in the smallest house, not only the adults, but every child can have at least a small place to call his own.
Build the ceiling low - Ceiling Height Variety (190); add some storage in the walls around the alcove - Thick Walls (197), Open Shelves (200), and a window, in a natural position - Natural Doors and Windows (221). Perhaps Half-Open Wall (193) will help to give the alcove the right enclosure. Where space is very tight, combine the bed alcove with Dressing Rooms (189). And finally, give each alcove, no matter how small, the characteristics of any indoor space - The Shape of Indoor Space (191) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 868.