Hello, Reading Nook

I thought it was about time to formally introduce my new-to-me chair and reading nook.

It’s too big for the space but it was free and comfortable, so we’re working with it. The wall is filled with art from my trip abroad, art from my grandma, some I made, and some I repurposed from my before room. All the art was sitting on my floor for months while I thought about how I wanted to arrange it and what other pieces I wanted to get/make for it. 

Finally, enough was enough. I got the hammer out and got to putting some holes in the walls.

It’s not perfect by any means, some of it’s crooked and the spacing is uneven. If you get close enough you can see holes I made before realizing I wanted something else there. But the art is off my floor and displayed. The feel of it is still new. The way the light reflects off of it still catches my eye. I’m trying to tell myself the option to change it remains. 

Redoing my room has been so interesting to me. I’ve had to think about what I like aesthetically versus what will work within the confines of both the space and storage I need. 

The mushroom lamp, as I call it, sits pink and bulbous on my nightstand. It’s something I loved in photos. I ordered it after weeks of thinking about it and when it arrived I hated it. I felt like it was too expensive for a lamp (much to my chagrin lamps in general are pricey), and I wasn’t sure how it looked in my room. After months of seeing it on my nightstand, I’m not sure how I feel. I love the warm glow it gives off, which is arguably the most important aspect of it. The shape is interesting and whether positive or negative anyone who sees it has an opinion on it. 

All of my decisions for this bedroom occurred in a similar matter. Indecision and lack of knowledge (whether of colors, interior design, or even what my own likes are) have factored into it. If you remember I started the room makeover around October 2022 and while it’s mostly finished, there are still things that aren’t.

I have no knobs on my closet doors, my clothes are organized into laundry baskets on the floor, and socks and underwear into tote bags I had lying about since I sold my dresser. Under my nightstand is a cardboard box where I keep old-school papers. 

I wanted the room to be perfect. This whole project started when life was spiraling out of control and this was a way to focus on anything else. I thought that if I could make my room perfect, I could make myself organized and feel like I could go out and be that person. It doesn’t really make sense, looking with some time in between but I’m trying not to disparage past me too much. 

With space, I feel like I’ve grown to like some of those things I hated before. There’s a speck of paint missing which shows the previous light turquoise color I hated. Now, I look over to see the reminder of what it was before. The door to my room sticks because I painted it on the edges, and now I have an uneven, mishmash little reading corner. This, though, has given me a new vantage point and a cozy nook to curl up and sit in. 

That’s a bit more than an introduction but I’m trying to appreciate the small points of view in my room and I hope you do too!