Room Redesign

Over the holidays, about a month ago, I started redecorating my bedroom. It's the first time in years and years since I'd had my own room, and it was fun to pick all the decorations myself. So today I wanted to give you all a little tour of the room so you can see what it's like.

When you walk into my room, on the right is my desk (from Ikea) and chair (also from Ikea) with pictures on the wall.

Above the desk, I have a picture with Helvetica in it (from an old typography book), a clipboard covered in fabric, and some pictures in a frame.

I really like my desk. It's so nice to have a big tabletop to work at (before I had a tiny desk with an angled top). The desk was just about the cheapest one from Ikea, but the legs are sturdy and I like the way it looks.

In the corner, I have a set of stacking drawers where I keep my scrapbooking supplies, journals and papers and stuff, and extra electronic things (like cords and chargers). My beloved typewriter sits on top with a page from an Anthropologie catalog inside. That's another thing I can change whenever I want.

I found the curtain at Bed Bath and Beyond, and I love it a lot. The branch pattern (which you can't really see very well in this picture) is kind of similar to the tree branch I have in the corner of my room. I just found one from outside that I liked, but it in a vase with some rocks to keep it steady, and hung little white Christmas balls on it for decoration. I don't really mind that it's not Christmas anymore - these can be a year round thing.

Oh, and the curtain rod was from Ikea. I like the way it looks, and it was only $1.99. Score!

My bed is on the left side of the room, with pictures hanging above it like a mobile. I just used a white quilt I had already—it has a flower pattern on the other side that doesn't match, but you'd never know it since the white side is plain.

Beside the bed, I keep that Ikea trash can for some books I'm reading and journals I use regularly. Even though it's meant for trash and not books, I like it because it's tall and hides everything pretty well. I realized that of all the things in my room inspiration post a couple months ago, this trash can was the only thing I actually ended up buying!

The pillows are also from Ikea, but the color they came in didn't match, so I bought fabric at JoAnn's and made covers for them. I love both patterns of fabric—they're just exactly what I wanted.

The photo mobile was so much fun. I really love the way it looks right over the bed. The photos spin so it looks a little different each time I look up at it. And it means I can have dear friends nearby all the time!

It was actually really easy to do. I just had a bunch of black and white 3.5x5 pictures printed, and stuck one on either side of a piece of thread. It took some planning ahead to figure out how many pictures I wanted on each thread and where to hang them, but that really paid off in the end because it meant I didn't have many mistake holes in my ceiling. The one thing I learned is that it's really important to use lots of adhesive!

So I guess all that's left to show you is the wall where the door is. If you're in the room facing the door, I have a bookshelf to the left of the door. Here's where I store all my paper-covered books. Then, on top of the bookshelf, I keep my iPod alarm clock (such a wonderful invention!) and a vintage camera and pair of opera glasses and a leather @.

Above that, I have a small bulletin board. You might remember that I used to have a really huge bulletin board in my room, but in redecorating, I decided to use a smaller one. I like that it's a small, contained space in which I can put up things I like. Right now I have some magazine pictures and a few Post-It notes with Scripture verses on them. Originally the bulletin board was regular cork colored, but I painted it with the gray wall paint so it would blend in more.

To the right of the door is a tiny space between the door and the closet where I have a hook for my camera a picture frame with fabric in it, and a bin of magazines where I also stuck the other @. The fabric was going to be a temporary solution until I could put something with words in the frame, but the fabric idea has really grown on me and I think I may leave it just like this.

I do want to say that even though my room looks pretty clean and orderly, I've got my mess areas. My closet is pretty junky, as is the area behind by bed by the wall (and yes, it was intentional that I did not take pictures of those places!)

But minus the messy areas, that's my room! I'd love to know what you think, so please comment and give me your thoughts.