Nearly Finished With New Bedroom

Moving into a new home for the second time in 2 years made me determined to settle into a place where I felt cozy and nurtured. I wanted my environment to be a beautiful extension of my personal expression. I wanted to be soothed, but not depressed. Inspired, but not anxious. I really thought about color schemes and how they affect my moods, and I wanted to be surrounded by stuff that would connect me to my past, precisely because I feel so disconnected lately.

So– while it isn’t finished, the following photographs show my nearly finished bedroom. I’m rather proud of it and wanted to share!

To begin with, the bedroom I’m renting is of modest size, though it DOES have a walk-in closet. I had to fit a queen bed, 2 large dressers, a nightstand, and 3 bookcases in– and I did it!

I began with a coat of paint. The room has been off-white with beige carpets for 20+ years, and I couldn’t bear to live in yet another rental-white room. Luckily, my roomies, who own the home, were amenable to change. I choose Spring Green for the wall color. Its a very refreshing, clear-thinking, warm-but-cool kind of color. I chose Purple as the accent color, as I’ve already discovered that a mint green and lavender work really well from my last bedroom color combo. Here, with the room being so small, I reversed the main color to be the light and bright green because that opens up the room more visually and mood-wise.

From the window looking into the room, you can see 2 of the 3 bookcases– mostly my Occult Library stuff, since the theme of my bedroom is “magic” with some nature, fairies, and witchcraft thrown in! I have a lot of little knick-knacks that still don’t have a space yet and are getting stored on the shelves with the books for now, but things will be less crowded looking once I get a display shelf up on the wall. The biggest thing that is hard to find storage for is books– so I have them EVERYWHERE I can find to put them!

Coming further into the room and you see my two dressers, which are doubling as display space for some of my favorite things! I found some purple cloth I already owned from festivals and pagan rites of the past and used them to accent the mirror (to break up the green on green thing) and the highboy (to break up the wood on wood thing.)  You’ll see there’s a “dead space” between the dressers that was unusable. Well, I USED it– for storage! I had paint left over from the walls, so I painted two cardboard and wood trunks, filled them with kitchen stuff I won’t use while I live here, and stacked them atop one another. Then I put my newly painted perfume cabinet atop them and arranged some contrasting decor around it. I used the purple bag to break up green on green and the purple & blue dragon family the same way. A purple candle and two candle lanterns (green and purple) I picked up on end-of-summer sales and added them as well.

Standing next to my dressers looking towards the closet you can see the final small bookcase and the edge of a window– which I put purple lights around! I LOVE the light strings! They are LED, so cheap to light, last forever, and are cool and safe to use for long periods or next to fabric. I painted the closet doors as well, and decided that was needed in the modestly sized room.

Finally, standing at the bedroom door looking towards my bed and the window, you can see the purple accent used for the bedding. I couldn’t afford expensive comforters, so I opted for purple sheets that I can put OVER the other bedding, plus a plush purple throw (at the top of the bed). Can’t afford a new lamp, so I tossed a purple cloth over that too. You can see the lights around the window. I have head-dress/circlets at both top corners of the window. I’m saving up to buy purple gauze to go over the lights to let the light through but soften up the harsh angles of the stark look of the beige blinds, as there are no curtains.

All that’s left is the window dressing and putting some of my art up on the walls, as well as a shelf above that big dresser’s mirror. I’ll put my glass and more breakable display items there to be safe from both my cat and my own fog-induced clumsiness. I’m really liking what I’ve got done so far. I even have the entire bedroom closet organized except for 4 boxes left to unpack and put away (that are at least half books!)

I took these pics on a bright sunny autumn day, and I just LOVE how my bedroom is looking. I’m almost done creating half of my own personal sanctuary. The other half, my den, is still a work in progress, but its coming along too. When I get it mostly finished I’ll post pics of my progress there as well. My goal is to have both rooms completely done by mid-October, which is when I’ll start helping Cat with her room and downstairs den.

Cat is already calling my 2 rooms “the Nest” because they are so cozy, yet so comfortable and nice to spend time in. Her mother was impressed with what I did for so little money (it helps that I have a lot of weird stuff already to pull from!) and is going to let me decorate for both Sowin (Halloween) and Yule (Winter Solstice) this year. She’s also wanting my input in re-decorating many areas of the house! She’s “just not a decorator” she said, but she likes my sense of style and color, and will give me nearly free reign in her home as Cat and I go through it and re-organize and such over the course of the winter. (We’re doing her digs downstairs in the basement first, though, since she had to uproot herself to make room for me! I think we’re going to end up calling it “the Dragon’s Den.”)

The first time I got to have HALF the say in how things were decorated where I lived was at Windy Firs. Gerick always had veto and pretty much decorated everything almost everywhere we ever lived– and while I didn’t often even bother trying to fight him on it, a large part of my own personality was supressed to get along. This is the first time where I get almost 100% my way for a space, and I’m finding I have a natural flair for it. I mean, I DID take interior decoration in both high school and community college! Finally, I get the trust from others to show that I have some good ideas!

Also, I know that making everything pretty will help me keep things neat and organized even when I have my flare days or am feeling worn down. I don’t want to ‘ruin’ the pretty- so I’m motivated to keep it up. Also, it means I will have a place for everything so I won’t lose stuff so easily. That’s a big part of the behind the scenes stuff– how closets and dressers are organized so I can find stuff I need or want quickly and easily.

For now, I’m just showing off how well my ideas are working so far! =^D