I have been living at home for very nearly a year now and I know that a lot of you are either in the same position, or will be moving out from university very soon yourself. For that reason, I wanted to share with you how I transformed my bedroom at home using all of my old belongings and decorations from my uni days, to give it more of a reminiscent and yet up-to-date feel, that really suited me!
When I first moved home last summer I seemed to settle back in with ease, but I felt very out of touch with my bedroom. The room that I had left when I was eighteen years old no longer suited my style or taste, and it just didn't feel like my space anymore. With some money saved up from my Skills Enhancement Course (a pre-teaching course I was paid to take part in over the summer) I decided to invest a little into re-decorating my bedroom, but also used a lot of my pre-existing items from my university halls and houses! All of my belongings from uni have such huge sentimental value now, and I really wanted to be surrounded by them every day, not have them locked away in the garage.
I couldn't find many photographs of my bedroom as it was, but in the two above you can kind of get a sense of it. Deep purples, silver mirrored storage and jewelry boxes, wooden furniture. It was nice, don't get me wrong, and very mature - especially because I was only twelve when my parents decorated it like this! I think that was the issue though, it was never really my choice, more my mum and dad's, and though I did grow into it while at home, when I returned from university it wasn't even as if I was returning to my old taste, it was my parents' taste! I am definitely more of a pastel kind of girl, as you can tell from my hand painted plant pots above, and I just had to transform this room to make it more me. Let me take you through the transformation journey!
This is a photograph of my first year bedroom (boxroom), taken on the 13th September 2015 - the day I moved in!
I did really love my little bedroom at Park Court (the accomodation I lived in during first year) and I got a lot of compliments for my decor. Over the summer I had created a mood board full of pastel colours and floral prints, and then used that to buy the decorations and furniture for the room. My mum set it all up for me, though I did try to help - her vision is a lot better than mine, so she took charge. I really liked the finished product and felt that the room came together so nicely!
Bedding Set - Dunelm Tissues - Sainsbury's Fairy-Lights - Primark Lamp - Wilkos
Opposite my little bed (as seen above) was my desk. You can hopefully see that both sides of the room really tied in nicely together, and you'll probably also see that my book case was a little bit sparse... I hate to say it, but it did remain that way for the rest of the academic year! I was constantly criticised for my lack of literature, but first of all - I still got a 2:1 so HA. Secondly, I had a Kindle, so bought most of the books on there!! On a Literature Degree you need new novels every single week and that can get seriously expensive, so I used to buy them on Kindle one week ahead of the seminar, read as much of them as I could, go along to the seminar to discuss, and then refund my purchase straight after! Then if I needed any quotations from the novels I would just Google them afterwards, and the chances were I'd be able to find them online somewhere. Also, some books on Kindle (the ones that were published over a century ago) are actually free to download, which was SO convenient for my Victorian, Restoration, Renaissance, and Georgian modules!! So, moral of the story, invest in a KIndle and don't worry about having an empty looking book case.
Fake Plant - Ikea. Folders - Tesco Cream Storage Boxes - The Range Pink Storage Box - Gifted (thank you Lyd) Bunting - The Range
Flash-Forward to third year!
As you can see, I kept most of my original decor and. once again, my mum came and worked her magic on move-in day. Most new additions you can see on my shelves - the Purrmaid, elephants and photograph were all gifts from my boyfriend at the time, and the throw on my bed was Primark buy by yours truly. Other than that, there's only really the plants on my little fireplace that were new, and my mum bought me those from Tesco. Despite it being a completely different sort of space, I managed to recycle most of my first year bits and make them work! Due to this, when I moved home in summer, I felt confident that I could do the same thing once again.
I moved home in June - nearly a year ago now - and by August I had completely transformed my bedroom. Check it out below!
August 2018
From dark, to light! I pulled all of my old belongings out of the garage and brought them into my bedroom. You'll spot the bedding set, lamp, storage boxes, and quirky little bits and bobs on top of my chest of drawers from my time at university. I kept my furnishings because they actually worked just fine with this pastel/floral theme, but I did buy some wall paper (The Range, £15.00) and spent a couple of days scraping away at the old stuff to make room for the new! I also bought some new curtains (The Range), but other than that, I already owned everything to make this transformation happen.
Since August I have received some cute little potted plants (the last lot didn't make it through the move last summer), which I keep on my bedside table - these were also from Tesco and my mum bought me them for Valentines Day! They go PERFECTLY with the room and were a great little addition.
By January I had new little polaroid photo frames that I put to good use, and some gorgeous smelling candles! I'm actually STILL burning this Angel's Wings candle now, six months late, so it was definitely worth the money. Though I must admit, it was a Christmas present, not something I purchased myself. When I look at this photo, I can't wait for Winter to come around again. I remember spending my days off lounging in the house, watching crap Christmas films on the Hallmark channel, drinking left over Baileys.... and HOW cosy did my room look!?
I also moved my desk and put it where my chest of drawers had been, just to create some more space. I'm glad to say my desk is actually a little bit more organised than it was there. (This was also taken in January 2019, you can see a few of my Christmas presents sprawled out).
I'm considering getting rid of the desk now though and replacing it with a book shelf, I never really sit at it to work and I am seriously lacking storage. If I'm brave enough to do it, I'll keep you updated.
So, there you have it. How I carried through the theme of my university bedroom, even when returning home to Rawcliffe. All if really took was some new wallpaper and curtains, and a lick of paint on the walls, and I had completely updated my bedroom. If you're moving home soon and find that you don't feel so connected to the space you sleep in, really do consider making some changes and bringing back all of your belongings from uni.
I hope you have a wonderful summer, keep your eyes peeled for more posts like this one!