A Creative Weirdo and the Room Redo

I didn't think I would end up here. I don't know what exactly led me to believe it, but I thought I would be able to move out after graduating from college. I wanted to leave home and to start a life on my own, but I was presented with two insurmountable brick walls, the first in the form of student loans and the second in the form of the COVID economy. I spent hours everyday on the LinkedIn job board with little luck. I know I'm not alone in this struggle. I didn't think I would end up here, but here I am. Living at home.

I didn't feel like the same kid who used to sleep in the white bunk bed. I was in a whole different stage of life. I was a young professional now, if working a part time virtual job and picking up the odd freelancing job while running an Etsy shop counts as being a young professional. I felt that I had grown up quite a bit since I hung a blue ship steering wheel decoration on my wall with thumb tacks. I had experienced a whole lot of life since I put the hand me down green desk in the corner so I could have a place to do homework. Simply put, I was an adult still living in my childhood room, and something felt off.

I though about redoing my room. It was a fleeting thought at first, but it would come to fruition sooner than I had originally anticipated... thanks to Mr. Kate! Speaking of a return to my childhood, I had watched Mr. Kate's videos as an eighth grader discovering the world of YouTube through DIY and hair tutorial videos. I rediscovered her amazing content at an ideal time, and her videos inspired me to take on my room redo with creativity and a little weirdness.

Mr. Kate is an interior designer with an enthusiastic upbeat attitude. Her subscribers are known as creative weirdos, a label I embrace with pride! In her room transformation videos, she scores deals at the thrift store, repurposes old furniture, and makes plenty of DIY projects. This was exactly the inspiration I needed! I set out with a tiny budget but an extensive knowledge of how to be thrifty, thanks to the hours of Mr. Kate I had watched. Here are a few ways I incorporated the lessons I learned into my project:

Being thrifty

In one of Mr. Kate's videos, she visited a thrift store and picked up a rug, a bed frame, a lamp, a chair, throw blankets, curtains, artwork, and a whole lot of accessories to decorate the room with for about $150. That's a lot of stuff!

I've always been a big thrifter as well, so I took this inspiration and ran with it. I found a brand new bookshelf, still in the box, for $15. I also picked up a few storage baskets for about $4 each. And I even got thrifty with the paint! I didn't have a specific color in mind, so I picked a color from the mistint section. This is paint that they sell at a steep discount because it wasn't quite the right color. I was lucky enough to find two cans of a beautiful yellow.

Repurposing

Mr. Kate can always take an old dresser breath new life into it. She finds new creative uses for a pieces of furniture instead of getting rid of them.

I took a page out of her book and dug up this beautiful rattan shelf. This was sitting in my basement for years! I'm so glad I was able to find a use for it because it's so pretty. I also took my old dresser with lion's head knobs (which were pretty freaking cool, but not the vibe I was going for) and painted it white. And, this one might be the weirdest yet; I sawed the legs off of an old dresser then pushed it against the window to create a window seat. Now, it's a lovely space to sit and stare out the window and contemplate life.

Getting creative

And a little bit weird. For example, I made a light fixture out of an old basket. Weird but fun! I don't think I would have had the motivation to take on this room redo project without Mr. Kate's content teaching me and validating my creative weirdness. I love the positivity in her videos and the way she recognizes the importance of having a place that feels like home. For me, it was important to have a space that felt like my own, a space that reflecting the season of life I was in now. Redoing my room helped me feel like it is my own space. So, big thank you to Mr. Kate!

And now, a few photos of my room project:

Before:

After:

Thanks for reading! You can read more about my interior design journey here: https://peachypresses.weebly.com