Sophomore year is here, and I can hardly believe it! My college girl and I had such a wonderful summer together. While it was hard to see her leave again, my heart is so full of joy and excitement for her. She’s thriving, and it’s a huge comfort to my momma heart to see her so happy. When she arrived home after her freshman year, she rolled in with a design game plan for her sophomore year college apartment. And I took one look at her cozy, charming, nostalgic bedroom mood board and immediately said, “Oh, I got you!” Scheming, thrifting, collecting, and DIYing to bring her design vibe to life was so. much. fun! (Turns out adult kids are pretty great!)
I mean, as a Gen X’er how could I not fall in love with this throwback to 80s/90s florals?!
The Mood Board
Practically every item for her space was thrifted! I scored the perfect vintage Ralph Lauren comforter set that included a valance and four pillowcases on Facebook Marketplace for just $50! And FB also led me to this pretty vintage rug that I picked up for $75! All in all, between estate sales, thrift stores, Goodwill, and FB Marketplace, our summer second-hand shopping adventures paid off in a major way!
Then I busted out a few simple DIYs…
- Using one of the extra pillowcases, I crafted a pleated lampshade for this old Target lamp she used in her Freshman dorm.
- My husband and I did these paint by numbers for her gallery wall. And it makes me feel all emotional thinking about her one day hanging these in her first home.
Paint-by-Numbers are such a fun, affordable way to add meaningful, handmade art to a space! I rounded up a few great options, if you want to try your hand at one!
(butterflies, framed floral, magnolia, tulips, iris, floral 6-pack, round floral, library)
- To give this plain white lampshade some personality, I created a collage using the polaroids on the inside of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album cover. And it turned out so perfect for my favorite Swiftie!
Then, we somehow managed to pack everything into our cars, so that the real fun could begin!
Before
Her apartment came furnished, which is a blessing and a curse. It’s so convenient, but the furniture isn’t exactly what we would have chosen for the space. However, we found a way to make it all work.
After
For me, it’s giving Molly Ringwald’s bedroom in Pretty in Pink, but it also feels a lot like Rory Gilmore’s room. And I just love the way it all came together, but mostly I love that my girl loves her new space!
And I wish so badly I had been able to capture a few photos when the light shines through this window and hits the disco ball because it’s just so magical! But you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Covering the black laminate desk and dresser top with marble peel ‘n stick wallpaper really made a world of difference, which has me dreaming about covering the dresser drawer fronts with a peel ‘n stick grasscloth. Wouldn’t that look so great?!
I would also like to bring in a headboard at some point, but for now I think the gallery wall and euro shams are getting the job done pretty nicely.
Most importantly, her lamps are outfitted with 2700 kelvin lightbulbs! #iykyk 😉
She’s absolutely thrilled with her new space, and I love that for her! Because well, that’s the whole point of decorating. I love that this space screams her to anyone who knows her! It’s truly a reflection of her, and I’m so glad at such a young age she’s already tapped into trusting her own design intuition, ditching the trends, and just leaning into her personal design vibe. It’s almost as if she has a mom that wrote a book about decorating in this way. 😉
I truly believe whether you’re in your forever house or a temporary space, creating a place you love coming home to is what it’s all about! Afterall, home is the setting of your life story…even when your current home is just a small stay along your journey.
I know this space is one she’ll look back on fondly. It’ll be the backdrop of so many special memories, and that really does ease the ache of not having her here in my home.
While we thrifted most things, these are the new additions…
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