Room Redo

Soooo, I've decided to update my bedroom. I know I only moved in to this room at the end of last summer and there isn’t anything technically wrong with it. It just doesn’t feel quite like me at this stage in my life. When I moved, I had just left grad school and was moving halfway across the country back to my home city of Halifax. I didn't have a job lined up yet and I had student debt to contend with. As such, I didn't want to spend any more money than necessary. 

Really, the only new aspects of my space were the curtains (from Wicker Emporium, on sale) and the headboard I made last fall. The rest were bits and pieces from my last apartment that I cobbled together into a bright and cheery room. The problem was - it was a bit too bright and cheery and colourful and girly for a 28-year-old who was living with her parents again. It felt a bit teenagerish. And when you're temporarily living with your parents because you’re trying to be financially responsible, the last thing you want to feel is teenagerish. Living at home is enough of a challenge.

So, I'm making a few changes. I don't want to spend a ton of money, but instead, make a few key updates so that the room more accurately reflects who I am right now, and not who I've been in the past. I'm feeling something a little more monochromatic and a little less cluttered. It's not a big room and having so many things on display can feel overwhelming.

The impetus for this change was my recently redone dresser. I LOVE the way it turned out. I think it’s so in keeping with my current style (at least in my head). But it didn’t go at all with my current bedroom. Given that I won’t be in this room forever, I didn’t let the room stop me from redoing the dresser the way I envisioned. After all, styles change and evolve and you should always stay true to what feels right to you, rather than trying to force something to fit a style that isn’t you. So with that in mind, here’s my plan:

1.     Paint the walls. I’m leaning towards a light grey. Something neutral but not boring. While I’m at it, I’m going to remove the corner shelves and the ill-placed mirror.

2.     Stain the desk to match the dresser. I’ll add some fun pulls and maybe a few other tweaks, but I LOVE the rich colour of the dresser’s stain, so I’m going to apply that to the desk as well.

3.     Pick up a new throw for the end of the bed – I love this dark mint one from Chapters.

4.     A new throw pillow to add to my existing black & white striped pillows (from IKEA a few years ago). This one is from Furbish. The rest of the pillows will be put in storage for later.

5.     A square or rectangular mirror for above the dresser. (One pictured is just an example.) This will replace the flower painting that is currently on the wall. Although I love the flower, it’s not quite right in this space – so off to storage it goes. Plus, a mirror will help with the symmetry of the window on the other side of the bed, reflecting more light. And a mirror above the dresser will be much more functional than the off-center full-length mirror that is currently screwed into the wall.

6.     White geometric table lamps, as featured in my Home Sense eye candy post a few weeks ago. I love these lamps and kept daydreaming about them – so I popped back to pick them up. I think they’re unique but versatile (because they’re all white) and will be the perfect addition to my space. I still love my green lamps, but again – they’re not working for me in this space. I’m craving some symmetry. I’m definitely keeping them for my next apartment though. (Lamps pictured are actually from Lamps Plus, but are almost identical to mine.)

7.     My ballet pink desk chair has been swapped out for a wicker IKEA chair that I had in storage. It's not a perfect desk chair but will work for now, as a new chair isn't currently in the budget.

8.     Art will be switched up. I’ll be removing the metal bulletin board and calendar (and maybe bringing them into my office), and changing around some of the prints (I have loads of art in the basement that I haven’t had the space to display).

9.     My headboard, sheets, duvet, black & white striped pillows, curtains, computer, jewelry hooks, and mint julep cup will be staying as is.

10. I also plan to declutter significantly and put a bunch of stuff in storage. There’s just too much on display right now and it can feel chaotic. It’s not all necessary so I will be doing some tchotchke purging. I'm thinking the gorgeous white lacquer box might be an attractive place to stow away makeup on my dresser and reduce visual clutter.  

11. I also would like to switch out the curtain rod. It’s not very attractive (function over form), so if I can find a good alternative within my budget, I’ll replace it with something more polished.

12. And, if there's room in the budget - I'll add in a sweet smelling candle or two.

*Note that the dresser and small candle holder look yellowy/cream on the mood board - they're pure white in real life. Weirdo lighting.

So what do you think about my new plan? My overall budget for these changes is $350. Think I can do it?