When I was younger, I had to share a room with my older sister. She was older by ten years, and her and I had a much different idea about what it was like to decorate and “nest” in a room. I remembered my room having unfinished wall murals, unevenly painted coats, and something that was “simple” but never felt like me. It was not until I discovered HGTV, the power of art, and how walking into a well-decorated room made me feel that I took any interested in collecting decor pieces. I saw the photos on Pinterest, but never felt like I could attain the style that I saw. However, that is where I went wrong. I did not need to attain that specific “pinboards” style, I needed to find my own.
I asked myself with every piece of furniture I bought and with every color I incorporated into my room, “how will this make me feel?” “what will this do when I go to bed/wake up and see it?” “does it inspire me, make me feel peace, or create a safe place?” To me, a room is all about feeling. I spend at least forty percent of the time I am at home lounging in my room, so why should I feel uneasy to be in it? Decorating a room was an introspective, life-giving process… and I know it is a privilege. It is a privilege to go to a Home Depot for more paint, charge the Ikea furniture price to my credit card, and return items multiple times until I found the right one.
In college, I started taking “risks” with my decor. You may laugh when I say that command hooks and wall decals were my number one go to for risk-taking. However, it was what I could do with the housing laws that were imposed on me. Similar to the previous eighteen years of my life, nothing felt permanent. The wall decals turned into stringed lights, fancy rugs, and finally some wall art. Through college, I was able to put some of my heart and soul into decorating but in the back of my mind I knew it would be removed. I wrestled with this idea of lacking permanence when I recently moved into my new house that we rent. I did not like the colors of the wall, but should I paint? Can I put nails in the wall? Will command strips hold up my favorite artwork? It took me a little over a month to actually put everything up, and I am still in the process of acquiring some final finishing touches.
My room currently makes me feel expressed, even when I am in a quiet mood. It makes me feel blessed, even when I have received no gifts that day. And lastly, it makes me feel safe. I combined my love for edgy design, welcoming farmhouse, dark accents, scented candles, and a peaceful color palette together to create my little abode. The most unique part of my room is that I have three different color curtains in it, which makes it feel like I have three different areas that all seem to make sense. I do have a bathroom attached to my room so I used a white curtain from Ikea to block that area off, a black curtain currently resides over my bed, and a grey curtain is in front of the window by my desk. Each transition well into different areas of the room and provide enough blockage to keep out the dense morning light. My least favorite part of my room is that I cannot decide where I want to put my bed/desk. All in all, from the faux textured brick wall decal wallpaper to my small accents on my desk, I am pleased with my room and hope to continue filling it with things that represent me. If you are in the position where you are looking to decorate a new room or redecorate your current room, here are a few helpful questions I asked myself.
1. What do I want my room to make me feel like? Restful? Energetic? Creative? Calm?
2. What colors do I want to incorporate in my room? (Use these colors for things like furniture, bedding, and curtains - the small things you can use any color as an “accent piece”)
3. What furniture do I want to prioritize the most? My desk? Bed? Dresser?
4. Do I want more wall space or floor space?
5. Do I want my room to be able to entertain, or just have it for myself?
6. How much am I willing to spend?
All of these questions will help you come up with a layout for how to decorate and reinvent your living space. You can have a very stylish room for very cheap. I moved into my room with ZERO furniture: no mattress, no bed frame, no desk, no dresser, no nightstand, no lightning, no paint, NOTHING. All I owned was clothing, bathroom supplies, my computer, and my decor. I even had to buy a comforter. Even though this price may sound high, I fully furnished my room for roughly $1200-1500. That is including a mattress, bed frame, and all of my furniture… which I will now have for YEARS. I made sure they were products/colors I would not get tired of.
I hope this post was at least somewhat helpful or enjoyable for you to read. I would love to see what you are currently doing or have done with your room. I will post a link to all of my furniture pieces/room pieces that I can find online so maybe we can be twins. Comment below what your future plans are for your room or what your favorite part of your room is!
Most of the stuff listed below I price-matched, waited days to buy, waited until it went on sale, and shopped as smart as possible. If you have any questions, let me know!
Curtains:
White: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30111978/
Faux Brick Wallpaper: https://www.target.com/p/devine-color-textured-brick-peel-stick-wallpaper-white/-/A-23967982
Hektar Lamp: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90301254/
Nightstand: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50242619/
Dresser: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90318607/
Desk: https://www.target.com/p/windham-desk-threshold-153/-/A-14500157?preselect=14373264#lnk=sametab
Bathroom Etagere: https://www.target.com/p/target-home-oil-rubbed-metal-over-toilet-space-saver-201-tag-232-re-bronze-threshold-153/-/A-14431771
