Friday 8 November 2013

A Room the Internet Would be Proud of

I am forever re-arranging, sticking, hanging, and painting things for in my room. I will probably never be completely satisfied with it. I don't know about you, but I am forever gazing at amazing bedrooms on Pinterest, and it just makes me more inspired to make my bedroom great. I had my room painted stark white last year, and used it as a blank canvas to add all my most favourite things too. I will eventually be showing you my room, but not quite yet.

If you saw my Interior Design Inspiration (Part One) post, you will easily see my decor taste. I like it very simple. Lots of white, with splashes with colour. Painted furniture, lots of artwork on the walls. Clutter-free, light, and airy. Like myself, I am sure there are tons of people who want this colourful, minimalistic look. I am young-I don't have huge sums of money to spend on getting a spotless room, and I have loads of miscellaneous rubbish which doesn't fit in with these beautiful rooms, but here are just 10 cheap things that will automatically make your room look better.


1. Paint Your Furniture

I am not a fan of the 'shabby chic' look, but I think painting furniture is a great thing to do to add colour to a room, and to use horrible old wooden things you don't like the colour of. Mustard Yellow, Orange, and Mid Green is a good idea when painting chairs, small tables, and photo-frames. Bigger items like tables, wardrobes and wooden bed frames look great in pastels like baby blue, dusty pink, or duck egg blue. When it comes to book cases, I loved this example of painting the inside on the shelves, and painting the rest white. It's a simple pop of colour that isn't too overwhelming. On cupboards and wardrobes, another nice thing to do is buy some little nice handles. You can get some really lovely ones from the store 'This Is It' which are £3.99 for a box of four, which is a bargain. If you don't want to paint your furniture that's totally fine and understandable, but avoid pine at all costs! Naff, cheap and a uncomfortable shade or orange, pine is your worst enemy in interior design!


2. Frames are Your Best friend

If you are lacking colour in your room, pick a spare wall, and let that be you canvas. Got to a charity shop, where you can buy photo frames for 20-30p and paint them in all your favourite colours. Pick circular, brocaded, small and big frames. Fill them with your favourite photos, artworks, or drawings. Put hooks all over one wall and hang them where you want. Simple and cheap; just how I like it.

3. Indoor Plants are a Good Idea

 As I've said several times, I have a crazy obsession with cacti. Not just cacti though, ivy, succulents, even herbs and tomato plants. They are perfect way to add some more earthy tones to your room. They look modern and minimalistic, and you can find some great plant pots to use. I bought a pentagonal terrarium a while ago, and that is great example of making plants look great; just make sure you water them-there's nothing worse than a manky dead plant in your room!


4. Books Actually Look Nice


Many people stick books and magazines in boxes and shove them under the bed, or under the stairs, but not only are you not using books to their full potential, you are wasting precious storage space. Books look good on shelves, bookcases, and even stacked on the floor. I especially like 'invisible shelves' which you can get from Urban Outfitters, which give the appearance of floating books!


5. Buy Some Cushions

Personally, I like plain duvet covers, and then go to town on cushions. My bedding is plain white with lace edging, which makes it look simple. That way, you can incorporate colours in cushions, throws, and pillows. Surprising, Primark has an amazing selection of simple duvet covers, and really cheap too. I definitely recommend checking the Primark Home section.

6. Leave the Carpet

Many people think to have the room they really desire, they must have the flooring they want. Whether you want floorboards, white carpet, fluffy carpet, whatever-what you have now will probably do. Unless you have black, stained, or worn carpet: ignore it. You don't have to spend all your money on getting the flooring re-done, since people don't really look at it. If it bothers you that much, invest in a colourful rug which will lift the room instead.

7. Lighter the Better


Unless you like the cosy, dark option (which nobody does), light is very important in a room. If you, like me, have a pathetic excuse for a window, the lighting is very important. Choose the white light bulbs as appose to the yellow kind. Also, choose white/thin light shades that will radiate the light instead of blocking it all out. If you are lucky enough to have a huge window (or if you have a bay window, you're even luckier) embrace it, and skip this part.

8. Storage is Valuable

I suppose this isn't about making your room look nicer, it's more about making the most of your room. I have a terrible time finding space for all my nik naks, old toys, are my eight bin liners full of stuffed animals (I know...) so I use vacuum pack cases. You can get them very cheap, £2-£3, from places such as Wilkinson's or Homebase. You put soft furnishings in a zip back, and then suck all the air out of it with a vacuum and then in shrinks to less than half the size. Pure Genius.

9. Get a Statement Piece

If you want lots of colour in your room, and you like art, then get a statement piece. Pick a wall, and put a huge bit of artwork on it. Buy it, or paint it yourself. If you're really brave, paint it directly on the wall-be careful though! If you have a blank wall behind your bed, a huge canvas would look great above, don't you think?
 10. Keep it Moving

Keep changing your room. I get bored after around, 5-6 months, so I rearrange my art wall. There is nothing wrong with that! Change it as soon as you get bored. Buy, add, take away, make, do anything you can to make your dream room.




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