Makeshift Room Decor

June 1, 2013

Ha, so I’m titling this post “Makeshift Room Decor” because it’s about the kind of decorating I do when I get to a place I won’t live in for very long—like a dorm room or apartment sublet. (Story of a college student’s life, right?) Beautifying my living space—even down to my workspace and closets—is one of my very favorite things to do. In fact, in deciding what to bring in my car on the trip out here, some of my decorating supplies just might have earned higher-priority seating to other basic necessities 😉

Anyway, I just got to Utah for a summer internship, and now that my room has my own personal touch to it I’d love to show it to you!

Pictured above is the wall that my desk sits at. Sticky note art is my favorite.

…And this is my desk! It’s small and has no drawers, so I had to get a little bit creative with the space I had. Here are my favorite features of this space:

1. Handmade magazine clutch, made by following this tutorial at A Beautiful Mess. I like to keep small scraps of paper and coupons here.

2. My composition book iPad cover (tutorial coming soon!) I love this simple cover for my iPad because it tricks a lot of people. It’s kind of hilarious.

3. Birds on a wire art, made by following this tutorial at Sweet Verbena. I chose a dictionary page with the word “love” on it 🙂

4. My Moleskine. It’s where I write down everything, be it a grocery list or a to do list. I wrote “sanity” on it because it kinda helps keep me sane ha ha.

Ahhh, my jewelry and hair styling space…

1. I like to make this space look classy (and add a little school spirit) with this bow tie from the U.Va. bookstore.

2. This is actually a jewelry box made from a Mark Twain book titled The Gilded Age (appropriate, no?) Currently, I’m using it to store hair ties and clips and such that I don’t use often. Made using this tutorial from Sincerely, Kinsey.

3. A teacup to store bobby pins. Via Goodwill.

4. My umbrella ring holder.

5. A heart-shaped box from World Market—basically my favorite home goods store ever. I keep my jewelry there. (Did Nirvana just start playing in anyone’s heads?)

6. A nice little reminder to myself 🙂 When I first saw this on Pinterest, I couldn’t find where to buy it so I made a similar one myself. But now I have a link for this print!

My makeup station. I try not to keep a lot of makeup around, so that way I can display it all without things looking cluttered.

1. I keep my brushes and stick-like things (ha, I’m not sure what to label what’s in the second cup there) in two little white cups. I found them at a thrift store and spray-painted them white. They would look sweet with a bright color painted on the inside, wouldn’t they??

2. An old Coach glasses case for my concealer, makeup primer, and makeup sponge. I love this because not only does it look classy, but also I can just close it and take it with me when I need to travel!

3. This is a Kate Spade box I found at my parents’ house, and I think it’s perfect for those other oddly-shaped things. Plus you can sneak a few extra things under that lid if you need to!