Your childhood room is a pretty cool space. It's like a time capsule or a physical scrapbook of your life. If you're like me and you've had the same room for most of your life, then it's probably a little crowded with mementos and objects you've accumulated over the years. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can make the whole room look a little out dated (especially if your furniture was picked out by your 6 year old self). So if you feel like you've outgrown your room, here is an easy guide to fix it.
1. Make a plan
Get a piece of paper, sit down and look around your room, jot down what you want to change, or get rid of. This shouldn't be difficult or stressful, after all this is all about you and your ideas.
Don't just start moving things around or taking things off your shelves. Otherwise you will end up with a very messy room and a bed covered in things that you won't be able to sleep on. I speak from experience, don't be impulsive like I was.
2. Get a couple trash bags
Time for some real work. Get a few trash bags and label them: Give Away, Keep, and Trash. Then pick one shelf or drawer and go through everything in it. Like me you probably have some plain old junk that you can get rid of, as well as old clothes that don't fit you or you don't want anymore. Sort everything
.Then throw away the trash bag and move the give away bag out of your room. If you've never done anything like this before you probably had a lot of stuff to sort through so be proud of what you accomplished. If you just wanted to overhaul your possessions, congratulations, you're pretty much done! For the rest of you, keep reading, and you'll have a brand new room in no time.
3. Don't lose focus
Spending this much time in your room can be a little daunting, make sure you have music playing or someone to keep you company. Remember your goals, put that piece of paper somewhere you can see it, so you don't get distracted like this guy.
4. Let your imagination run wild
This is your room, you can do whatever you want to it (with parent's permission of course), so have at it. Do you want new furniture? To move your bed to the other wall? Want to get rid of all your posters? Or add even more?
5. Take a short walk down memory lane
Childhood bedrooms are pretty cool. A time capsule of your life ought to have some awesome stuff in it right? Eh, not always. More often you'll find a random thing you made when you were younger that makes you do this:
What is this? When did I make it and why? These are some questions you may end up with while stumbling down memory lane. But you might also find some great memories, like a trophy from a game you won, or a test with an A+ on it, those you'll want to keep.6. What time is it?
If there isn't a clock in your room, keep your phone with you. I left my phone in another room and didn't notice until several hours later. Organizing and sorting can get make you lose track of time. Set an alarm for yourself to take a break and relax, then get back to business.
7. Ask for help
Remember that you can recruit friends or family for your project. Maybe you need help moving furniture or you want to repaint the walls. Get some extra hands to get the job done faster, and make it easier for you.
8. Your clothes can be part of this
You keep your clothing in your room right? Okay, then sort that too, see what you don't want or don't need. Can you donate any of it? If you want to update your style, here's a perfect opportunity. If you're revamping your room, why not revamp yourself too?
You might even find some things you forgot you had...
9. Let Go
Completely redecorating your room can be a scary and difficult task. Your childhood room is full of so many memories and tokens of your past, it can be hard to throw some of it away. Just remember that everything changes at some time, and you aren't erasing your childhood.
Your memories are always with you, but there's no reason to have physical reminders of every single one. Your room should reflect who you are now, and you should enjoy the space. (Sorry to bring Toy Story 3 into this)
10. Be proud
Whew! If you got through all these steps, I'm proud of you too. Revamping, changing, picking apart the room you've had forever can be an exhausting task. I'm still doing it myself. Now look at your masterpiece, your room is your canvas and I hope you love the painting.
(yeah that was super cheesy I know)
