Whenever I need some design inspiration, Pinterest is my go-to website. Even though some of the stuff (okay, most) are rather on the extreme and luxurious scale, it's sometimes doesn't hurt to have a look and wish that I owned it. I like to think of it as setting myself a goal!
Recently, my bedroom has needed a bit of TLC. I came back from university and had a bit of a crisis as I realise I'm going to be entering a new decade with the same pictures on my wall as of when I left school. Also, with being a student and on a low-budget, I couldn't really afford to re-do my room entirely, just say- a bit of an 'uplift'. I'm a lover of soft-furnishings, whether that be cushions, throws etc. and of photographs, so these were all essential items in improving my room. These items are also important as you can change them as fashion changes- making your room evolve as you do.
I began to change my room by starting with the bed. As my room is quite small, I can only fit a single bed in there, so I dress it up with loads of cushions and a staple, floral bed set to give the room a bit of vibrancy. I got these cushions from Primark and Wilkinsons and they were no more than £8 each and the bedding is from Debenhams. I always feel that as long as they don't look cheap, you shouldn't break the bank on interior pieces as you can then change it whenever you want and still get your moneys worth. I chose a mixture of blue-grey and pale grey soft cushions, and fluffy pale grey cushions. I then finished it off with a fuchsia fluffy cushion. By having a accent pillow, you can really accentuate the main colour in the room which finalises the rooms theme. This colour highlights the fuchsia fairy lights, the plum lamp and curtains, and the pink in the duvet cover. I also have a light grey throw which isn't pictured. I love replacing the generic white and creams with a pale grey as it has the softness and brightness required in preventing the room feeling too dark and crowded. I also have a similar taupe colour on the walls. I find it makes the room feel more homely and cosy than a pure white, which can in some cases be quite harsh and cold.
I love having my photos on my wall like this as it reminds me of a scrapbook collage. I feel this really brightens the room and makes your bedroom feel more personal yet authentic. These photos are printed by photobox, and were sent in the post so quickly! What I love about photobox is that they allow you to connect to your Instagram and Facebook when ordering photos so you can go through and select the ones you want. If your like me and have most of your recent photos not saved on your computer, this process of doing it is amazing, let alone so fast. Photobox also tell you the quality of the photo before they print it, so you can then make any necessary adjustments to the image before ordering. I stuck these to my wall with blu-tac, which I know, is bad for the paint but who will see it with a photo on top of it anyway? The jewellery holder is nailed to the wall and some of the photos are held onto the wall by just slotting the photo behind it. I got this holder as a gift but you can get them online for only £10. They are perfect for necklaces as no-one wants tangled chains and broken clasps, and wasting time looking for that one necklace that goes with the outfit your wearing. If you don't have one of these, what are you doing with your jewellery? How are your necklaces coping?!
Some tips when decorating/makeover-ing your bedroom:
1. Think of it as an outfit- you wouldn't pair your running trainers with a patterned cocktail dress. Have one 'main' pattern in your room and then highlight the colours in this pattern with block colours in your soft furnishing and accessories. Or, if you are really interior-savvy, team patterns that fit under one theme such as geometric, floral, stripes, or paisley. If you are really brave, you can always join themes together if they completely colour-cordinated. You can be lazy too. Just walk into a shop and buy the entire bedroom display show. But if you're like me, do the cheaper option and don't do that.
2. Less is more- you don't want to overwhelm any visitors with an explosion of patterns and colours. Stick to a colour palette of 4 compatible colours. My colours are fuchsia, pale grey, blue-grey, and a small amount of navy (in the duvet). Same rule applies to your stuff. I hate clutter. I know its your room, but just think if you really need it. If you have a lot of stuff, then look at storage as there are loads of different, discreet ways you can hide your stuff away whilst still looking good. Trust me, the organisation of it all will make such a difference!
3. Cheap is not necessarily bad- as I have said before, cheap interior accessories are cheap because people's style changes rapidly and so does fashion. The key to buying interior accessories is questioning if it looks how much it is. If it does, put it down, but if it doesn't and looks expensive then you should get it as who doesn't like a bargain? I know I love the home wear in John Lewis and Zara home but I'll save myself money and wait till I'm on a salary rather than my student loan.
The next step is doing my uni bedroom. Come September, I will have a room triple the size of this one and a double bed (hooray). So expect a blog post around then!
