Decorating: Kelsey style.

If you know me at all, "girly" is definitely not an adjective that you've ever used to describe me. I don't do the girly.. I don't get all dolled up just for fun.. I don't get excited for going shopping.. I don't like chocolate.. And I'm not a fan of decorating or doing arts and crafts.

However, for the last two weeks, I've had to dig down deep and find some of those girly genes.. And figure out how to decorate a room.

It all started awhile ago when my mom and I were talking about a new bed for me. The wonderful neighbor girl down the street happens to conveniently work in the bed department at IKEA, so two Tuesdays ago, we headed to IKEA for my own, personal tour of the bed department.

It wasn't until we were standing there, surrounded by beds of different colors, styles, and sizes, I realized where my problem was going to be: colors.

My bedroom has light blue walls and white trim. My dresser and shelf thing is white, too. So with light blue and white, the colors that you can choose are suddenly a lot more minimal. I knew I didn't want a black bed frame, and getting white made me nervous (what if it doesn't match my current white!?).. And then we found this bed that's this "gray/brown" color - and I loved it!

Then came the most difficult part: the bedding. If I was getting the same size bed that I've had for years, then the bedding wouldn't have mattered. But I'm going from a twin to a full, so it's time for new everything.. And maybe some girls can figure out the right colors just by imagining it (heck, maybe some girls even get EXCITED over this).. But oh my goodness, I couldn't.

I spent HOURS online and in stores trying to find the perfect bed spread. Comforter, duvet, pillow cases, sheets. What the heck is a sham and do I need them? I hate decorative pillows (WHY do I need pillows that are purely for decoration!?), but my mom wants me to have at least one. Do I need a frilly bed skirt thing? No, no, no!

I finally found everything on Amazon one Sunday with my mom, and it was such a relief. We got the bed all set up on Thursday night and it's been beautiful since then.

BUT... What's been the awful, unexpected part about all of this... Is that I'm suddenly in a matching mood.

On Saturday morning, I was sitting in bed, and I looked over to my shelf thing.. And the drawers didn't match my room. I never cared before: the drawers were pink, green, blue, yellow, green, dark purple, and a pink hippo - they had personality!.. But this didn't work, now. So I went to Target, and happened to find six new drawers for the shelf that match perfectly with my new bed!

Then on Sunday, I was in my room, and I noticed that all of the pictures that I've had on my closet door were from high school to the present.. And I decided that I no longer need pictures from OB in 2006 or other stuff.. And I suddenly thought how lame it was that the pictures were just taped onto the closet doors (I could SEE the tape), and there should be some sort of frame to them.. So I ran to Target, found construction paper that matches my new bedroom colors.. And I love how it looks now and color coordinates.

 

The most entertaining part of all of this has probably been the fact that I am NOT creative.. But I've been TRYING to be creative.. And the trying has been so entertaining.

 

I'm a nerd. So how do I figure out how to be creative? I use PowerPoint.

Yes. PowerPoint.

I was trying to figure out if I wanted to rearrange the furniture in my room (my entire three or four pieces of furniture). And I can't picture it. So this is the PowerPoint slide I made with the different items (to scale, yes) and I've been able to rotate them and move them around... I still can't figure it out.

Then, there were the closet doors.

First, I had to figure out what pictures I wanted. I searched through Facebook and the photos on my computer, and found about 50 of them that I liked. 

Second, I knew I wanted them to have a border of some sort on them, so I headed to Staples to get some purple, brown, and gray construction paper. Lesson of the day: Staples closes at 6 on Sundays. So I went to Target.

Now, the adventure in Target was so ridiculous. Why? Because I'm not creative.

I knew I needed construction paper, so, naturally, I went straight to the kids coloring section. I was disappointed when I found the Crayola paper and there was no purple or gray. So I decided I could use the brown, black, and maybe the white (hey, I can color the edges purple, right?).. I'd just have to get like, 3 packets of it because there wasn't enough of each to be able to use for my pictures.. Then I had to find a way to secure the photos to the construction paper, and then the paper to my closet doors.. I spent way too much time standing in the tape aisle, and I landed on double sided tape and tacky stuff. As I headed towards the cash register, I spotted the gift wrapping bags and tissue paper, and I got the most BRILLIANT idea.. I found purple and gray tissue paper, and I decided that I could cut the tissue paper to fit the construction paper, then glue it to the construction paper.. So I wouldn't have to color it and I wouldn't have to buy as much construction paper because I could glue the tissue paper to colors that I wouldn't want to use........ Then I happened to look down the next aisle... SCRAPBOOKING! 

Why in the world I didn't look for that aisle in the first place.. I'll never, ever know. But in that one aisle, I was able to find purple paper in three shades, brown paper in two, plus some others. Plus I was able to find better sticky stuff and just.. I felt so dumb. But I about died laughing when I realized what I was PLANNING on doing before I stumbled upon the scrapbooking aisle..

Anyways.

I got home, cut all of my paper, taped all of my paper to the pictures.. And then realized I had to make a plan for putting the pictures on the closet. Randomness wouldn't work.. Even though I wanted it to look kind of random. So what did I do? Hello, PowerPoint, take 2!

Everything's to scale.. I made my closet doors, and the different pictures (with their color frames).

Then I moved them around the doors so that I could visualize it.

This is what my doors looked like before..

And this is how they look now.

 

And after all of that.. This is what my bedroom looked like before..

And this is now :)

My comforter has two sides.. And I can't decide on which on I like, so I've been switching it every night..

 

And now, my project is done. Mostly. I need new pillows. And I still can't decide if I'm going to move around my furniture. And I want a new bedside table. Oo, and maybe a lamp. And Bethany mentioned I might want a new trashcan..

This is why I don't decorate, and why I will forevermore surrender any decorating to my super creative sisters.

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