Decorating A Room

[ 31 October 2007 ]

1. Vivre Bohême, 2. C Deco, 3. Flea Market Style, 4. Chinoiseries, 5. Marie Claire Maison, 6. Baroque’N‘Roll, 7. Elle Deco, 8. Elle Deco, 9. domino magazine, 10. french-lilac bedroom, 11. 17.jpg, 12. scan, 13. bed

Lots of people have written to me recently, asking for tips on decorating their bedroom or their new apartment. While I am definitely not an expert — & a lot of the time my interior design “skillz” make me cringe — I do know a little bit, which I am more than happy to share!

I love bedrooms. I think it is part of my voyeurism. They are infinitely interesting to me. It is fascinating to me to see the way people put things together — the arrangement of furniture, the colours, the knick-knacks, the atmosphere. It is equally fascinating to see how people don’t put things together — haphazard, mis-matching, strange placement, old food in the corners.

I think bedrooms say a lot about their owner. If you don’t believe me, think about your own room (or even cast a glance around it). Is it dark & messy? Do you ever make your bed? Do you keep the blinds open at all times? (I’m guilty of that. Does this correlate with the fact that I’m an exhibitionist as well as a voyeur, or is it mere coincidence?) Are all your clothes stuffed in a closet or do you take care of them? Do you have anything pretty up on the walls or is your room pure function? You get the idea. I have become much tidier as time progresses, which I think is a pretty accurate reflection of my mental state. As I get it together, my environment follows suit. It makes sense.

So, how can you create a room that makes you feel comfortable, happy & at ease?

Choose a look
The easiest way to do this is to get your hands on some interior decorating magazines or books & start flicking. Take photocopies of the things you like best & create a mood board. Tricia Royal has some great tips on doing this (hers is about a fashion mood board but it is equally applicable to interior design!) & you can see thousands here.

If you find it hard to choose — & I always do — instead make a list of adjectives that describe your dream bedroom. For example, I would probably write: warm, light, colourful, juicy, inspiring, soft, quirky, vibrant. There are no wrong answers, so write anything you can think of. “Juicy” doesn’t have to be translated into something tangible, but it definitely gives me an idea about atmosphere, so it is a valuable thing to have on the list.

Think about what you will & won’t be able to live with. I love love love that overwrought super-excessive major-colours Moroccan look, but I know that living with it would drive me crazy. All that dusting & visual noise, argh! Similarly, the Marie Antoinette look might be a bit extreme if you’re on a budget. Work out a middle-ground that you’ll be able to achieve.

Pick a colour scheme
This is entirely up to you & the colours you choose will probably depend greatly on your mood board or theme. I advise caution for those of you who instinctively go for the dark colours — you old goth, you! Royal purple & inky blue are gorgeous but do you really want your entire room that colour? Maybe it would be nicer as an accent, say, along the skirting boards or on furnishings (lamps or cushions). As an example, my last apartment had white walls, while everything inside it was either black, white or hot pink. The bedspread & half of the chairs were black, half the chairs were white & so was the Flokati rug, & the throw on my bed as well as the lamps & cushions were all hot pink. It looked great, but an entire room that was black or hot pink would have been waaaaaay too much.

You also need to consider how those colours are going to go with the carpet, walls & the furniture you already have (if you don’t want to get rid of it).

Soft furnishings
Ooh, this is where it starts to get fun! Soft furnishings include things like duvet covers, rugs, blankets, cushions & curtains. You can go totally nuts on these & they add so much to a room. I personally think that shopping for bed linen is one of life’s pleasures, but then, I am a bit kooky like that. If you can afford to splurge on amazing sheets, you definitely should. It seems indulgent but the difference is palpable!

I love the way a throw looks over the end of a bed or a couch — it just adds another layer of colour & texture & deliciousness. Ditto lots of cushions — they’re comfortable & squishy & decadent. You can get such fun cushions these days. I have a sequinned one which I adore. Cushions are great because you can get all different sizes & types in shades of one colour, which looks brilliant. Not too “perfect” looking, a little bit mad but totally chic.

A rug cannot be underestimated if you have hideous carpet. It might be the one thing that saves your room from the Bad Taste Gallery O’ Horrors. They can be great under a coffee table & chairs, because it can help hold that area together while also seperating it from the rest of the room. It may also save your carpet if your uncoordinated drunken friends spill red wine everywhere — yes, it has happened to me!

Choose a feature
In any room, there is usually a focus. For most people it’s the bed, but if your room is large & contains your entire life, you could make it about something else. Say, your collection of typewriters or a beautiful chair. Work out how you can best display these things to their advantage. If you have a long, low bookcase, maybe your typewriters could go along the top, organised by colour. Or you could put a nice lamp next to your favourite chair, & a rug underneath it. If your room is relatively plain with not a lot of furniture, you could make the emphasis one of your walls. You could hang a huge mirror, put up lots of art or just empty frames of different shapes. It’s entirely up to you!

Organise your room according to feng shui
I wrote an article on it, you know! Click here!

Make a plan on paper
Draw an outline of your room, measure up your existing furniture & have a think about how you could rearrange your room to make the most of the space. Maybe you could swap the position of the bed & the couch, or the stereo & the computer. If you are really anal, you could make little cut-out pictures of the items (to scale) & then move them around your paper room to see what works. Moving furniture around can COMPLETELY transform a room, so spend a little time thinking about it!

Hit up IKEA
If you need a new bed, couch, rug or closet, IKEA is your best friend. (I had never been to IKEA before I moved to Melbourne, & it blew my mind!) Get one of their catalogues & use your room plan to see whether things would fit. I did this obsessively when we first moved into our apartment, because we had — literally — NO furniture. All we brought over were two beds & a stereo cabinet! We now have two couches, two armchairs, three desks, two chests of drawers, two bedside tables… & that’s just the large items! One thing I would advise, however, is that you go to IKEA with a list & a budget! It’s so easy to spend more than you were expecting.

Little things make all the difference
Beautiful candles, stacks of magazines, sequinned cushions & framed pictures all help to make the space more individual to you. I really believe you can never have enough of these things.

Scented candles, incense & essential oils are really important in a bedroom, seriously! The place where you sleep & dress & daydream should always smell fantastic — not like sweat or mould or stale air! How depressing! Candles are my favourite of these three things, because they look beautiful at the same time as diffusing a fabulous scent. I definitely have a soft spot for Nag Champa incense, though! Essential oils have different properties & effects on the mind, so find something that works for you. Even if you are using all of these things, I still recommend opening your windows & letting the place air out regularly!

If you’re after lovely vintage prints, there are people on Ebay who sell really gorgeous ones at reasonable prices. Have a gander at ImageSelect Framed Art & First Art Source. I am a sucker for old Vogue covers & they both have lots on offer. AllPosters.com is another one worth checking out. Remember to look at the size of what you’re buying, though!

Other little things that can spice up a room include: fairy lights (I like the clear ones), flowers & plants, antique bottles, paper crane mobiles, blackboards, decorative boxes for holding trinkets, aquariums, mosquito nets, beaded curtains, cookie jars full of sparkly treasures, pretty squabs for sitting on, folding screens, a nice tablecloth, hanging crystals (dancing rainbows, yay!), lanterns…

To avoid looking too cluttered, only display the things you really love.

Come up with innovative ways to display (or hide) things
If you’re an obsessive Polaroid fan, don’t just hide them in a drawer! Hang them from a mobile or cover a wall with them. Just think a little bit differently. Use pretty dresses you never wear hooked over the curtain rail to block the light. Similarly, when it comes to things that aren’t so attractive, work out a way to minimise their effect on the room. Hide your television in a cupboard or put your laptop in a fold-down writing desk. This will make your environment look much cleaner & more pleasant.

Other ideas:
If you’re allowed to (landlords/parents/grumpy partners), use a lick of paint to tart things up. You don’t have to live with hideous wood panelling — paint it white (or eggshell)! You can also use paint to counter a lack of natural light. If you have tiny windows & a dark purple room, it will look like Lord Gothyck’s Über Dark Chamber Ov Dark Gothyckness, no matter how many stuffed toys you have on your bed! If you suffer from dark furniture, you can paint that too.

It’s nice to have things in pairs if you can manage it. On either side of your bed, have a bedside table & a lamp. It looks very polished & balanced.

If you have a couch which you love but is starting to look a little worse for wear, consider having it reupholstered.

The one thing I think every bedroom needs is a great stereo. I would choose music over chairs every time (if I had to, though I’d rather not). Without my sub, I’m nothing!

If your room is little or dark, hang a mirror — other than the full-length one you use to look at your outfits in! They help create the illusion of space & bounce any light which comes into the room, so it will look much brighter.

Flea markets are a fantastic place to pick up furniture. You can get all sorts of things to suit your taste & budget. Remember to go early, wear sunscreen & comfortable shoes, & take cash!

Seek inspiration online. There are some great groups on Flickr — try Bedrooms, Domino Magazine, Interior, Interior Inspirations & Eclectic Interiors!

My number one tip for anyone who wants to dress up their living quarters is to experiment & not take it too seriously! If you approach it with a light heart & the attitude of a mad scientist, you’ll have so much fun as well as learning boatloads about what works & what doesn’t.

Making a space your own is something that develops over time, & seldom comes together in a day. Visit homeware shops & flea markets & browse Ebay regularly. Add to it continually & it will really start to feel like home.

Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala

Tags: advice, aesthetic, consumption, how to, inspiration, life

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ahhh I love this n_n I’m a interior design nerd, and I’m always looking for fresh new ideas.
Right now my bedroom is where I want it to be….a soft green and aubergine twenties style room, with an ammaaaazzinnnggg old fashioned desk and pearl chandelier.
I will take a picture!
...when I figure out where I put my camera
D=
Zainab · Oct 31, 12:29 PM · #
Thanks Gala!

My room is so far from where I want it to be….shakes head Zainab, yours sounds amazing!
Roo · Oct 31, 12:40 PM · #
“Lord Gothyck’s Über Dark Chamber Ov Dark Gothyckness” – this made me fall over I was laughing so hard!!

I’m definitely going to hit up Ikea in the coming months. I’ve been perusing their catalogue and making a wishlist, because my house is completely disorganised! I’m going to buy lots of snazzy storage things so I can de-clutter everything.

My room unfortunately still reflects my old headspace – everything is dark, messy, dusty and disorganised. I’m ready for the new room to reflect my better mindframe!
Nadia · Oct 31, 12:44 PM · #
Wonderful article! and some great links. I will definately be trying some of these ideas out next semester in my dorm. Dorm rooms can be so hard to make look good.
Mandy · Oct 31, 12:48 PM · #
Zainab — Me too, & I am always trying to come up with ways to make my space look more inviting & comfortable. Your room sounds pretty fab, though!

Roo — Just make little changes & you’ll see a difference!

Nadia — Hee. Glad you liked it :D & yay IKEA! What an amazing place.

Mandy — Yeah, I’ve noticed! Every dorm room I’ve ever seen a picture of looks awful. All that cinderblock, bleh! Why is it that EVERY dorm in America looks the same? o_O Creepy!
Gala · Oct 31, 12:54 PM · #
Wow.. I’m just moving into my new apartment! What a timely blog!
K · Oct 31, 12:56 PM · #
I hate my room xD; is a mess, I’m not sure about the colors…though, I have it only since last year (my sister got married and left it for me), and my mom bought tons of stuff for it without asking! I felt ashame of asking her to buy other things; just recently she told me “your room is a mess, we have to change it!” (yaaay :D :D), but I have to go shopping yet! I have some ideas, but this really helps! Thanks a lot again Gala :)
fran · Oct 31, 01:57 PM · #
Whoa! You are total mind reader. I am just embarking upon a spring clean in my room. It’s part of me being more French. Thanks for the tips Gala! xxx
P.S I saw your cake necklace in your outfit yesterday and there is a wonderful seller on Etsy called Robin’s Jewellery box and she has funky cupcake rings.
Link is http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5082883
Thought it would be right up your alley!
LadySmaggle · Oct 31, 02:09 PM · #
great advice—I’m totally adding this to my del.i.cious!! :D I especially love your mantra of not taking things too seriously! the only wrong thing, in my opinion, that you can do in interior decorating is not trying something! ;)

and, must ask: does “junque shop” count as a theme? lol. everyone jokes that my room looks more like an antique store (loads of vintage clothes, antique photos, old mags, etc. piled about!) than a bedroom. rofl.
Casey · Oct 31, 03:23 PM · #
ZOMG!!!! this article comes at the most perfect time :D

we moved into our new rental a month ago & ive really been wondering what i can do to make it more me… and we went to ikea! my partner had 2 drag me outta there and made me stick to my list (tho i did by tonnes of strawbery scented candles YUM)

now im completely inspired and cant wait to get stuck into decorating!!

oh and moving furniture around really does make a huge diff..i moved my bedroom around and ive been sleeping sooo much better!

xx strawberry kisses
EmmaRose · Oct 31, 03:57 PM · #
Wow, I’ve been planning to go to Ikea this week, to pick up some storage units and things to spruce up my room, and this came (as per usual) at the right time!
By the way, those pictures are marvy. I adore the things you find on Flickr!

My dream home would be a nice little flat in some very French/Parisien quartier, where it would be open concept, and the bed-room would be the central focus of the place. My design scheme would be Ikea clean-lines, with Urban Outfitter’s funky touches, and a little European hobo chic.
(Again, still very organized.)
Retro.Bunny · Oct 31, 03:58 PM · #
oh, I have a suggestion! Paint a mural on an old sheet. I needed something to cover the backside of my shelving unit, so I got an old pink sheet and painted a tree on it :). It’s great if you want to give off the feeling of a painted wall but aren’t allowed to paint it.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v33/taraholenmyheart/room1-1.jpg)
Tara · Oct 31, 04:26 PM · #
i’ve been working on decorating my room.. with hardly any money. it’s a challenge!

for great inspiration there’s two LJ communities that i frequent often, and lord i love them! you must check them out if you haven’t already :D

* http://community.livejournal.com/iheartmyroom

* http://community.livejournal.com/ourbedrooms

lubb!
kakeline · Oct 31, 04:39 PM · #
I’m in the middle of a caravan renovation D:
That sounds weird, but I have this 40-foot caravan that I’ve split up into three themes.
I’ve got the front end which is the “entertainment” end which is all going to be black and white, with black & white check faux fur on the war along with posters of 50’s starlets like Marylin and James Dean.
Then the middle conversing area which we just finished painting this amazing deep blood red that’s will have gold stenciling and my favourite Shakespeare verse on it, and then my bedroom end that I desperately want to paint silver, just so I can pretend I’m Andy Warhol.

plus I’m sticking my favourite PostSecrets on a wall, and a print I’ve bought from deviantart and all kinds of beautiful fashion shoot pictures.
I’m excited :D

xx
Jazra · Oct 31, 08:27 PM · #
My room is a huge mess all the time because I don’t have enouh storage so all my shoes and most of my clothes end up on the floor. I have a bedroom suite that I love – chunky and wooden, but I really need to get a storage unit to stretch across one wall – I have no wardrobe and my tv is balanced precariously on top of my stereo – no hard bass for me!

I also need lamps and a new doona and to keep my pets off my bed so they stop shedding all over it! This is very inspirational. I think I’ll have to hit houseworks and Ikea pretty soon.

I also have Luis Royo posters on every wall – a tribute to my old goth days. They are such lovely works though, even if they are a little dark.

PS: Have you seen http://clothingexchange.com.au/ ?? I wish I was in Melbourne so I could go to these, especially the shoes one. Click on the buy tickets link to see when the next one is on.
Song · Oct 31, 09:33 PM · #
Oh Gala thank you sooooo sooooo much for writting this. I have been trying to redo my room for over a year now, but its just so hard to know where to begin sometimes
Moni · Oct 31, 11:33 PM · #
great tips!! but it sucks coz i share a room with a family member and i doubt he will approve of my ever “disturbing” ideas. bleh.

i always dreamed for my room to like like it’s in space!!
Cruella · Nov 1, 01:27 AM · #
I like the idea that a bedroom takes time to take shape just the way you like it and also that things are consistantly changing in order to suit your moods.

My room is just plain white, white drapes and white wall because I rest so other than my bed which is cast iron, everything else is white too and I have added things to it. Like I change throws, photos and even art work since I am a visual art student just to suit my moods.

Alot of the looks that seem collective just take sometime to be put together and look layered. I hate it when people go into target and buy all home decor stuff that matches and is supose to make it look personal. I have a thing for the grandma glass in op shops and old photoframes.
Christy · Nov 1, 01:57 AM · #
thank you so much for this! I love my room to bits and pieces and everyone that comes into it always seem to say the same thing “I could just look at everything all day!” or “How do you sleep with so much cool stuff to look at?” But lately I’ve been thinking.. mainly because im getting older and because i now share my bedroom with My Partner and My chihuahua that I should change it to suit all of our tastes!
This Article is Perfect for me at the moment so thanks Gala! xxx
Haels · Nov 1, 02:39 AM · #
hello gala. i was just wondering how you did the photo montage at the top of this entry(you’ve done several for different entries as well). is there a program one could use? thanks hun. (:
R. · Nov 1, 04:20 AM · #
“If you are really anal, you could make little cut-out pictures of the items (to scale) & then move them around your paper room to see what works.”

Guilty! Thanks very much for this article, Gala- I’m sure it will come in very useful.
Alice · Nov 1, 05:47 AM · #
Thanks for another great article! I’m always looking for ways to change/fix up my room!
Sarah · Nov 2, 12:30 AM · #
Ah Gala your advice on things is just way too amazing.
I’m just about to decorate my room as I haven’t done so yet and it’s past occupant had dark gloomy blue walls and a horrible red carpet with green and yellow….pattern…type..bits.
Add my unmatching furnature and hot pink bed throw and it just makes a scary dark little room with mixed colours that kind of make me uncomfortable. I can’t even find the energy to keep it tidy. What’s the point?

But I’ve now got the money to be re-doing it and I’m thinking lots of white with just the occational thing pale green. I’m taking loads of your adice and I now have some fab ideas and the whole plan sounds just amazing!

I’m so excited now!

stormexx
Storme · Nov 26, 02:35 PM · #
Brilliant article!
I had a dresser and a chest of draws that were made of pine and quite hideous to the eye. I decided to cover them both using a wallpaper paste and photocopies of pages from Alice in Wonderland and then applied shellac over the top to give it an aged colour… definatly better than before!

Another great idea ive found is to get samples of wallpaper that are interesting and frame them and then hang them on a plain wall… you can change them around when you get sick of them

Check out Florence Broadhurst’s designs!
http://www.signatureprints.com.au/
Erin · Dec 13, 09:25 PM · #

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Decorating A Room

[ 31 October 2007 ]

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