(ROOM MAKEOVER!) Making my space reflect my happy place
BEfore
A blank slate, plain and neutral. We moved into this house one year ago this plain colour scheme did wonders to bring some minimalistic calm into my life. The plain walls relaxed me from the chaos outside of this room. Over time I started to bring pieces of my personality into this space, growing in it. I was looking for a different kind of comfort from this room now, I was looking for a space that would be cozy, a space that was bright and inspiring on the greyest of days. A space that could hold my whole book collection with a working nook to use all my stationary in.
my Colour
We had two kinds of yellows in our art class, a cool yellow and a warm yellow, I always knew there were different shades and tones of colours but I didn’t know how much of an effect it could have on your final piece until I started to use them myself.
My yellow is a warm, golden yellow. The kind that makes you feel like you’re wrapped up in a knit sweater in autumn, luckily I had an extra gallon of the exact colour left over from another project. I used Benjamin Moore Paint with an eggshell finish in the Yellow Rain Coat swatch.
Materials
1/2 Gallon of leftover Benjamin Moore golden paint from a previous project
1 x Roller
1 x Paint Holder
I had to lay down some green painters tape before I started this project. The paint job after that was pretty straightforward since it was a single rectangular wall with no oddities or windows and doors. I had to only layer down 2 layers of paint since my existing colour was Cloud White, which is a warmer version of white and if anything, gave the final product a warm undertone.
Panelling my bed frame
My second step was to cut off the headboard and surround the bed with wooden panelling. I didn’t like the synthetic feel of the faux leather on the frame of my bed and wanted to create a natural wood frame.
My first plan was to rip off the faux leather and use the existing base frame by just giving it a nice finish, I used an xacto knife to cut it open and see what they used underneath, unfortunately the frame wasn’t made of solid wood and they glued some foam between the frame and the leather covering. My plan B was to use wooden panels to cover the existing frame.
SomewhEre to create
It makes a lot of sense to separate your work and your rest spaces if you live on your own or if your house has dedicated areas for both, but for my case this is the only space in the house which I can dedicate for myself, so I wanted to make sure there was a space to create.
I experimented quite a bit with minimalistic furniture at the beginning and quickly came to realize that though having a sleek white study table that’s about a foot wide would not cut it for the spread of papers I wanted to lay out when I was brainstorming. when I had that table I would end up working at my dining table most of the time anyways. One day when I was working at my dining table I measured the space I took up to lay out my laptop, papers, countless coloured pens and highlighters. I noticed that the space I used up was almost double what my white table had to offer. I also really liked the hardwood design on my dining table, the natural finish made it inviting and felt organic as opposed to listless.
Materials
1 x Wooden countertop (Home Depot)
4 x Table legs (IKEA)
1 x Wood finish
I found a beautiful butcher-board style countertop at Home Depot that I wanted to transform into my workspace. I had to slather on some wood finish and let it cure for a day outside before I could attach some table legs I bought from IKEA. I bought table legs that adjusted in size because I found that all the previous tables I had used for this space had standard legs that were either too high or too short. This way I could find the best height for the table that would compliment my room and would work with any chair I brought in.
Making a space that is you
Moving houses taught me that it’s important to make your space reflect your happy place. The space that you spend time in to wind down and collect your thoughts after a long day should calm you down and bring you peace. I was so comfortable in the room in my old house but I never had to recreate that comfort, it was a room that was lived-in and that I was used to. Moving really taught me to notice the small things that I value and that bring me comfort. The things that were essential to me but that I never really thought about, like being surrounded by my favourite books or having all my colourful stationary organized in a specific way. I took this opportunity to learn about what makes me happy on the inside and reflect it in my room and can’t wait to see how this space transforms as I grow in it.