My First Experience as a Designer – with no money

As some of you may know, my oldest brother (Richard) recently moved to Illinois. My brother Phillip, elated to be rid of Richard’s many possessions, went crazy cleaning out their room, moved out the extra bed, and settled into life without Richard. Well, this week-end, Richard decided to come for a visit. This posed the question of, “Where is he to sleep?” It was decided that he should take over the little room in the corner of the basement. This area, formerly my brother Reuben’s, was filled with cobwebs and a small amount of miscellaneous junk.

It looked like this:

I offered to clean and design it. So what did I have to work with in this room?

A decent bed with mattress
A rusted out file cabinet
A large dresser with mismatched handles and scratches
A few boxes of junk
A giant monitor
A rather old, white cupboard in bad condition
A black wardrobe in good condition
A cracked trash can
A decent bookshelf with sliding, glass doors

And this is what the room is now:


I spread a white cloth over the bookshelf, created a wall template with colored paper squares (adhered with blue tack), and placed a simple vase of water and fresh wildflowers to the side.

A bright, comfortable chair with a throw over the side rests in one corner.

The cement floor is covered by a large rug in a neutral color.

I draped a deep green fleece throw over the rusty cupboard, and placed it to the side of the bed for use as a nightstand.

The tacky array of magnets is removed, the wardrobe cleaned, and a couple of animals comfortably situated on top.

I turned the bed all the way around, to face the opposite wall. I used some navy blue sheets, green pillowcases, and a lighthouse blanket. The vertical pictures above the headboard create a unique accent. I found the pictures in an outdated calendar, but they have a matted finish and are relatively thick. The frames are construction paper.

A bare wall is tempered by a picture of stone architecture. (Found in a calendar.)