These
days it's all about style and money. Everyone wants to hire an interior
designer to design their homes so that they have homes that beg to be
featured in Dwell or House. Your house is beautiful no doubt, but have
you put your stamp on it? Or is it no different from the other houses
that your interior decorator has designed? Here are a few tips to help
you personalize your private space.
Your private room is your own
territory where you can be yourself without feeling like you have to
stick to the rules, step out of line, and put your feet up and relax.
This is the place where you don't have to belong to anything - no social
groups, no work groups, no nothing. You belong to you, and that is how
it should be. Why not let your room reflect you? Your personality? Your
tastes and moods? This is the one place where you can do what you like,
experiment, be creative, open up and stamp your style. So step outside
the boundaries of convention if you want, get up and get going. Here are
a few ideas on personalizing your most private space - your bedroom.
Making Your Room About YOU
Here are a few ideas for adding your personal touch to your bedroom. Hope you find a few that you like and can implement.
Welcoming Note
How
about welcoming people to your room with a message recorded in your own
voice? Sounds cool huh! You can do just that. Let people know they are
entering your territory. Make the message suitable. If you are a people
person, welcome them warmly, if you have a great sense of humor record a
funny message, if you do not want people to enter your personal space,
then record a 'stay out of my space' message! You can even choose who
you want to allow in your room! Set it up in a way that this message
plays whenever anyone opens the door to your room. You can also put up
hand made signs on the door as regards your 'policy' about who should
enter when! Great way to start off!
Theme for Your Bedroom
Instead
of just randomly starting off with decorating your room, sit and plan
it out in your mind or on paper first. If you are interested in any
particular area say sports, music, books, planes, nature, etc., plan
your room to reflect your interests and hobbies. You can also have a
random theme if you want! Choose a theme that you can implement.
Nautical themes, country themes, music themes, sports themes, sea
themes, military themes, jungle themes, color themes, cockpit themes,
pirate themes, and animal themes work great! You can get any theme that
you can think of. Let your imagination run wild.
Painting Expression
You
do not have to stick to tried and tested color themes, or limit
yourself to a few colors. Try bold and cheerful colors. Colors affect
our mood, so pick a color that you like, one that makes you happy and
cheerful, and color your room with that. Let one wall be offset, to
break the monotony. Pick a contrasting color for the offset wall, and
try out different textures and patterns on that wall to give a little
personality. Mix and match and create combinations.
Lighting it Right
Lighting
can do wonders to enhance the ambiance of any place. The correct
lighting will make you never feel like leaving your room, whereas the
wrong type, boring and bad lighting will make you never want to enter!
It all depends on which areas you want to focus on. If you have wall
paintings, highlight them by placing sconces next to them, or by hanging
up lanterns, and stringing fairy lights. Try different shapes and sizes
of quirky lampshades, try hidden lighting or torn lighting concepts to
get some amazing effects. Besides, you do not have to stick to normal
white lights. Mood lighting is another concept that will add character
to your room. Try out new things, rather than the same ol' boring
lights.
Posters and Photographs
This is your room, so let it
be all about 'I, Me and Myself' without any apologies! Put up your
photographs, the pictures you have clicked, ones with your family and
friends that are close to your heart. Put up a collage of such pictures
on a wall, and make it stand out by framing them in dark frames and
putting them against a light background. Put up posters of all the
places that you have visited and let your room tell of your adventurous
and exciting self. Else put up posters of your idols, or favorite bike,
car, musical instrument, and whatever else you can think of.
Wall Paintings and Drapes
Wall
paintings are good, but if you have paintings that you have painted
yourself, better still. Put them up, display your talent. Drapes and
curtains that go with your theme and color scheme can add a lot to the
ambiance of your room. Make your room different from the rest of the
house, so that it will stand out, because that is the point of this
exercise! Add shimmery curtains around your bed framing it, or simply
create a visual partition to separate the study area and relaxing area,
if you have both in the same room.
Graffiti Wall
This is one
of my favorite ideas. On one wall in your room, have a considerable part
of the wall painted in oil paint, so that if you scribble on it with
crayons or markers the marks can be wiped off easily. Now use this area
to write whatever is on your mind! Daily. Add your current favorite
book, song, thought, emotion, etc., paint on it, and if you so wish have
your friends scribble on it too. It's a lot of fun, and you can have
new graffiti everyday. Just your space on your wall!
Furniture and Bookshelves
Get
funky furniture for your room, but also keep in mid to stick to your
theme if you have picked one. Wicker or wood furniture looks great, and
you can add beanbags, small stools or squats, or throw pillows. The
wicker furniture you can paint, if you are feeling extra creative! And
if you think you can, then try your hand at designing the furniture you
want and get it custom made specially for your room! Book shelves are an
important part and they come in so many creative designs that you will
be spoilt for choice. Floating bookshelves, or the ones that double up
as a bed or table are great, and they also save a lot of space. Also,
rugs - area rugs, shag rugs - whichever, work great in breaking up the
room into areas without actually having any partitions. Get a beautiful
and bright rug for your room, and see the difference it makes. An open
wardrobe will look smashing, as long as it is kept tidy and dust free!
Decorate It
Decorate
your room, hang up your favorite stuff, put up quilted wall hangings,
dream catchers, wind chimes, and instead of keeping your CDs in boxes,
put them in plastic covers and string them above your music system,
stick up posters of the college you want to go to, a country you want to
visit, the car that you want to buy, and express your wishes and
desires. Think of as many decorating ideas for your bedroom as you can
and let go. Let your room talk, without you having to say a word!
Comfort, Style and Budget
Whatever
you do, comfort comes first. Make sure that the furniture you have
picked is comfortable for you. Keep it stylish and minimalist. And
before you go and blitzkrieg your room, decide the budget and of course,
stick to it!
Your room is the place where you are going to relax
after a hard day, so make it warm, inviting and homely. And when people
come to your room, all they should say is, "This is so... You!",
because that is what we are aiming for! Have fun
