Making a Home, Wherever You Are

My bed next to the window. The curtains were my Christmas gift to Rachael last year, and the twinkle lights just make life better.

     I am a clean person. It drives me crazy if my living space is not in pristine condition. I cannot concentrate on anything. Some may say that's a good trait, some that it is a bad trait. I think it's a combination; so long as I don't force my standards on others it is great. Well, moving onto a college campus and living in a room made of cinder blocks with fluorescent lighting was something I knew was going to be hard for me. I am rooming with my sister, and we both have the same ideas regarding how to live. We started planning over the summer, realizing that we would not be happy if our room looked like a dorm room.

This is the view from our door.

Our bookshelf, which frankly needs to be bigger.

      We wanted to have more of a little house. So, we started working on that. We kept the planned aesthetic in mind when we were packing, and we have been thrifting several times at home and here. Our parents gifted us with an old couch that was in the basement, which was wonderful.

The couch has tears in the cushions, so we put this throw over it, which is nice, since it's cream instead of red.

My beautiful lamp that I thrifted.

      One of the most important things for me is lighting. I cannot stand fluorescent lighting, it will give me a headache faster than anything else in this world. Other things that I need are cleanliness, smell, and general color scheme. I had bright colors when I was 13, and I just don't want them any more. I love beautiful things that have an old feel to them (whether they are actually old or not). I believe in making the most of whatever you have, and living as simply as possible. Nothing in this room has cost either of us more than ten dollars, and anything more expensive was a gift. I love to find things second-hand for several reasons: they are cheaper, they often are in perfect condition, everyone else doesn't have the same thing, you find vintage/antiques sometimes, and it helps the environment (many of these reasons are the same for why I thrift and sew my wardrobe). I am beginning to work now for what my goal is for the future, when I have my own home. I want to furnish it with beautiful, personal things. I don't want to go to a furniture store and buy all of the cheapest things I can find, I want to work a little harder and find things I really love. This is not to say that I will never buy anything new, because I already have. My stand-alone mirror for doing my makeup and my little table for my spider-plant are both from Ross, and I love them.

The view from me bed. We added curtains to the closets to hide the ugly plastic doors.

We are coffee addicts, and therefore love mugs :)

My desk, which usually doesn't have a sandwich and  computer on it...

    Small touches like books, plants, lighting, organization, and just making ordinary things pretty make all of the difference between a room and a home. If you have a clean space that is welcoming to visitors (having things like coffee and tea on hand to offer is a huge step towards making people feel comfortable), then it doesn't matter if you have all of the 'things' that you may want. Beauty can be had at any price tag, if you just look hard enough. Do you have any special tricks for making your space feel homey?