After being sent home from college in March, I spent an unexpected amount of months in my childhood room. (You’ll notice the lovely card table that served as my desk for 2 months.) When I was seven, we finished the basement to our home and my twin and I chose our paint colors for our own rooms. I chose pink for the walls and yellow for the trim. It was awesome!! …for a while. Halfway through high school I really wanted to paint, but the project was daunting and soon enough, I assumed, I wouldn’t be spending that much time in the room anyways!
So, like many wonderful folks, I painted my room during this pandemic. 😉
AND, like many people, I went to my grandpa for Level 1 of Grandpa Camp: painting and building shelves. I loaded up on some supplies from Grandpa’s collection, and he gave me some tips about painting the trim and doors. He also helped me reinstall my closet doors on their sliding tracks and even repaired one. The job is easiest with the right tools, he says. And he sure does have a lot of the right tools!
I had to start painting after I finished finals, otherwise I would have been much too distracted by the exciting changes. This gray color warms nicely in the morning light, and cools to blue tones. 😍 The fresh white trim, door, shelves, curtains, and closet doors have added so much light and compliment the curtains and bed frame I already had! The painting made way for lots of bonding time with my youngest sister as I practiced patience over perfection; with my mom as we had conversations about racial issues that came to the forefront in June; and with my twin as we had sleepovers in her room and we listened to Ben Platt’s Radio City concert and Married At First Sight while painting the trim on our hands and knees. I loved sending progress photos to my encouraging friends, and now, I’m ready to share them with you all!!
Decorating was soooo much fun! Some of my family and I have been rewatching old episodes of Fixer Upper, so naturally, I asked the question: WWJGD? (JG: Joanna Gaines) I didn’t want to spend money buying Target/IKEA junk (which I say most affectionately), but luckily, I already own a lot of thrifted and collected things! As a middle schooler, when the local thrift store had their fill-a-bag for a dollar deals, I was the kid that filled that bag with random glass bowls. It’s now come in handy! My family just hopes I don’t end up like JG, with rented storage units of thrifted finds!
One important thing about this room makeover are the new shelves! I carefully watched and listened to Grandpa as he built the shelves with me. Home projects are not as easy as Chip and Joanna make them look… but there’s nobody else that knows the walls of this basement better than Grandpa, because, well, he built a lot of it! And he continues to graciously come all the way across his yard to come fix things and make my JG dreams happen. So, thank you, Grandpa.
The other tricky thing about decorating my room at home is that every August, I have to decide what I’m going to take to college to decorate my dorm room. So, I tried to decorate with things that couldn’t or wouldn’t take to college. For example, my school prohibits dried flowers, and I love drying and pressing flowers, so I used them for my room at home. It’s hard to be consistently packing up and moving back and forth, but at least I know when I come home now, my shelves and walls won’t be entirely bare.
The room overall was inspired by the canvas of my boyfriend of two years and me. I love the muted greens and grays and the peaceful energy coming from the piece. Hannah did a fantastic job capturing young love, and it makes me oh so happy! So, we got it printed very large! Pro tip: Command Canvas Hangers. I listed some sources below because I pretend I’m a really cool blogger or something.
I truly hope you liked the transformation. And thank you, Grandpa, for Level 1.
Love,
What I used:
- Gray woven wall hangings: gift from Swedish couple
- Lamp: T.J Maxx
- Print on night stand: Goose & Gemma (no longer available)
- All glass jars/bowls: thrifted/gifts
- Most frames: thrifted
- Black and white bedspread: NEW from Target (jersey knit!)
- Black and White floral and geometric colors: old IKEA
- Gray Sherpa Pillow: Target
- Bicycle Pillow: yours truly
- Quilted Pi Pillow: Grandma
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