Tiny Bedrooms

Who would've thought I could build an entire mini bedroom, from scratch, and finish the job by adding a working lamp?

Definitely not me...but I did it!

Finding the Art

Scouring my city's local craft stores can be both an overwhelming and exiting experience. There are aisles full of colorful paints, eccentric fabrics, shimmering stickers, and mountains of supplies. But as someone who is neurodivergent, my brain can feel scattered when I am presented with a sea of options. Especially, when I don't have a set plan or vision in mind of the art I want to create. That is, until I found a craft that made incredibly happy: building teeny tiny rooms!

In the starting point of my craft search, I did my usual browsing around some typical shops in the area. When I went to Michaels, I found a lot of cute kits for clay painting, crocheting, and stationery supplies. They were quick solutions, but I was dying for a challenge! This drive lead me to search Etsy for a new medium, which is where I found an assortment of mini houses and bedroom kits. A little shop called "HandsCraftUS" was stocked full of intricate room models to build!

Participating in art is relieving for my anxiety symptoms, and I love using it as a form of healing. By purchasing this little bedroom, I figured that it would be a project to teach me patience, concentration, and improve my stress levels overall. Being quaratined this last year has given me more time to look for a project that fits my needs, since I wasn't leaving my room anytime soon.

Hence, why I would like to share with you my building process. What you'll find below is the long-winded, complicated, and beautiful project that I had so much fun working on: the dream room!

Etsy Link:

Putting it Together

My tiny craft kit arrived around December of 2020, and I began working on it a few days after it was delivered. After narrowing down my options on their website, I decided on building "Alice's Dreamy Bedroom." When I opened the box, there was a ton of different pieces and a large pamplet that showed you how to assemble everything! It came with paint, fabric, scissors, pliers, glue, LED bulbs, wires, and random knick-knacks that went along with the theme. The pamphlet told me everything I needed to do in order to build each individual piece, and it was definitely going to take some time. Even though I was intimidated by the bulk of supplies, I decided to put an hour of each day towards finishing the room! In all honesty, the most unique part of this project was the fact that NOTHING came pre-made for you. Everything in the tiny bedroom had to be made by hand!

To start off the project, I worked on painting the frame and cutting out the pictures for the wall paintings. The overall vibe of the room was a modern, city-life, plant- lady type of aesthetic (which is what I absolutely love). In several bags, you could find pieces of the roof, walls, books, materials for a quilted bed, items for the lamp hanging from the ceiling, a large window, decor pieces, rugs, furniture, and so much more!

I moved on from painting the walls white and gluing the frame together, to cutting out tiny books and shelf pieces by hand. The bed frame took a bit, and I stumbled over the box mattress for half an hour or so. However, when it was time to put the sheets and comforter on, I was so excited!

What I will say from this experience, was that the project was no easy feat. It was hard to see all the pieces at times, so I had to resort to using a magnifying glass. Doing intricate detail work on the mini clocks or tying knots around the cloth bags was frustrating, but very rewarding. Some parts were annoying to complete, others were mediocre, and some were absolutely awesome. It really depended on the type of work that particular item required you do to! For me, the white pillows were my favorite pieces to make since they included some cotton fluff to stuff inside!

Putting on some music during the building process actually helped me get the job done more efficiently. Even though it was very meticulous labor, it became a detoxifying hobby after a long day of classes. I felt like I was creating something extraordinary, and that made me more motivated to finish until the end!

Piece by piece, the bedroom came together in approximately 2-3 weeks. When I finally stopped working, having my end result on display was the most satisfying part of this art project for me. Seeing my progress come alive after hours of focusing, sweat, cutting material, gluing, etc. was priceless. Overall, I would definitely build one of these again!

The Amenities

What was included in the house?

• Everything was made of wood, fabric, and paper!
• Comes with glue, paint brushes, paint, tweezers, battery, and bulb.
• You will need scissors, pliers, a magnifiying tool (if necessary), and a hot glue gun.
• Bed, shelves, bedroom furniture, rug, lamps, paintings, a mirror, and plants!
• Mini accessories such as coffee cups, jars, books, and clocks.

What size was it?

• It was approximately 7.99 x 7.24 x 7.36 Inches

Did the light bulb really work?

• Yes! It comes with an LED light and battery set with wiring that will allow you to assemble the overhead lighting.

Finishing the Process:

This craft was vibrant, cozy, and just what I needed for improving my mental health over the last year. Even when I was tired or feeling heavy, I continued to work on it each day. This is something that personally helped me feel a little better, even though getting out of those emotional slumps are very hard for those who struggle with a mental disorder. Being able to let myself slip into an art coma and keep at it was suprisingly encouraging. At the end of it, I felt a new sense of accomplishment and positivity for myself.

As I previously mentioned, it is hard for me to fight the battles of mental illness every week. Even though art is one of my favorite hobbies, I can't always find myself to get up from the couch to complete something as large of a task as this was.

Regardless of how daunting it seemed, this project took me to new heights when it came to healing my anxious tendecies and depressive mood swings. It was not an easy build to stick to, but it was so much fun that I couldn't give up on it either! Not all the pieces of the room were able to be built, but I am so excited to see most of it up and displayed. What I learned from this project was that even if happiness seems far away, there are ways to obtain that feeling close to home when you find an outlet to center yourself.

I won't always be in a happy mood, and there will certainly be days in the future where I won't be able to find art projects I can immerse myself in. Finding a way to channel that energy, even when its gloomy, into something you love can make all the difference :) !

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