My Room Tour ♥

  I have an addiction- I'm not proud of it, it isn't healthy and it shouldn't be encouraged. I have a not-so-secret addiction to home ware, I could happily spend hours wandering around touching pillows and smelling candles in TX Maxx or Home Sense. For most people this attraction to homeware comes later in life, around thirty years later. However, I have always mentally been at least fifty years old even as a seven year old, when I was younger my Dad used to take me out and buy me a treat- not an ice cream, not a toy a CUSHION. I have a ridiculous number of cushions, candles and all things homely, meaning I thought it would be good to do a room tour of my slightly unorganised inner sanctum, I love these kind of posts and it is good if you are nosey if nothing else.

First is a quick over view of my room as a whole and embarrassing mirror selfie  that shows of my wardrobe and amusing illustration skills. My room is an a collection of little bits and bobs that I have been collecting over a long time. When I was around fourteen I decided to paint my room dark purple and grey, much to my landlords irritation (when I move out-luckily it hasn't been spotted yet). I got the paints from Chaplins because I am an awful cheapskate who will never pay a huge price for something that it is going to be painted over woodchip wallpaper laid down twenty years ago by a landlord without taste. I really like my room to look cosy and not too clinical and clean, so as much as I like it to be tidy, I don't really love the clean, white look that seems popular at the moment. There are also a couple of key bits of furniture- like a bedside table that I can't afford yet. My current furniture set was bought for me by my Mum as part of my sixteenth birthday present and is very functional and offers the surface space that I was lacking before hand.  I do tend to use my wardrobe as a dumping ground though, I am in desperate need of extra space for my stupidly large collection of clothes.

Next we move on to my chest of drawers and the shelves above it , the shelves have been in my room for years and were recently painted white in attempt to make them suit my current style more. This is where you can definitely see that I prefer the cluttered element to my room, over the just out of the catalogue clean look as I really like to feel like my room is my home. I spend a lot of time in my room meaning I want it to be comfortable and a nice place for me to be, over the past few months of being ill I have really appreciated having a calm space that I can relax in without worrying about anything else. On the top shelf I have a few photos of some flowers, and my Dad and I when I was little. I also have a vase I rescued from a car boot sale with some Chaplins decorative flowers in it. Underneath those I have some decorative white roses entwined from Dunelm Mill with some fairy lights I bought from Primark years ago. The second shelf holds some Body Shop sprays and a room spray from M&S, these are fresh and floral scents that I like to spray in the morning before I leave my room. The horseshoe, incense holder, stone tea light holder and feather fan are all items I have collected from a mish mash of cheap home stores over the past ten years. The two white tea light holders were bought for me by my Mum at Christmas to fuel my candle addiction and to ensure I don't burn down the house. The Winne The Pooh ornaments are vintage items I inherited from my Dad after he died, I love the cute element they have.



As well as holding my TV my chest of drawers also acts as the main area for storage, I mostly put things in old beauty boxes or makeup bags. My friend bought me this Jemima Puddle Duck tin which came with a mug for Christmas from Tk Maxx, currently I use it to store my hair accessories and I have put a couple of floral headbands around the base for decoration as well as ease. I love this tin because it looks like an authentic vintage item and is really unique without being too garish (although some may think a Beatrix Potter tin isn't the classiest item- they're wrong). My Mum also bought me this small wicker basket for Christmas from Primark which is perfect for storing my nail varnishes, although I can't see the colour that easily it works well enough as I don't have a huge collection. I love these wicker baskets for storage as they look homely but they are also an easy way to keep my room from getting to cluttered with "girl things". 

Next we go on to my desk which houses my prehistoric computer which my parents dropped and damaged whilst moving furniture for me (yes Mum I am STILL going on about this event). I don't tend to use the computer much, I only have Office 2003 which isn't the most practical for essay work and is extremely slow, I will hopefully be getting some kind of laptop before university, if and it's a big if, I can actually bare to part with my money.

My desk is fairly empty at the moment as I have stored all my college work away for the time being, I try to keep this area quite minimalist as I hate my work area being too cluttered. I got this cute little jar for around £1 from The Range, I store both my paintbrushes and makeup brushes here to make them a little bit better organised and easily accessible. There is a large part of me that loves gingham more then is normal and this jar allows me to let this passion out. Underneath my computer I keep a couple of candles which I like to burn when I am writing essays and feel like my brain is about to explode all over my desk, my sense of smell is so sensitive due to medication so I am a tiny bit obsessive over my room smelling nice. My instax mini polaroid camera is also here just to make me look oh-so-indie and alternative. I've hung this little ceramic heart that my friends bought for my Birthday on a hook that is my wall- I am a sucker for cheesy messages and I do actually agree with this saying, clearly my friends understand my home ware addiction too.

Next we move on to my book case and the first of my book shelves with yet more tacky or cute illustrations. The shelf holds all my children's books

including Harry Potter and some toys that I couldn't bear to throw away, I have also used another string of fake white roses from Dunelm Mill to decorate the shelf and make it a little bit more "me". My parents bought me this book case but had to saw the top off for it to fit under my shelf, I store my DVDs (some questionably shit) and books here, I also have some more kitsch wicker baskets from Primark which store my makeup collection and some extra hair bits. I love this book case so much, one day I really want a house with built in book cases like something out of a period drama or The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Of course I had to add a few more tacky accessories on my shelves which I think like to say "I'm young, I'm free and I will always bring bunting", the dream catcher is an ancient buy, while the string hearts are another purchase from my favourite Dunelm Mill. Next up we have my miniature Yankee candles, this was another present from my friends for my birthday and Dear God I have never been so thankful for a gift, surely it isn't normal to like sniffing wax so much?

This makeshift box from Poundstretcher is my pretend bedside table, it isn't that brilliant but I think I have made it look quite homely and cute all the same. I have a simple lampshade with my polaroid's, a few cute candles from M&S and my own dried lavender which my sister charmingly informed me looks like "dry caterpillars"- Thanks Becca.

This is my main wall that I really felt like looked far too empty without some posters and photos, when I was a young emo, misunderstood teenager I used to have hundreds of posters, now I've stuck with a few simple ones. The two big posters are both from HMV as is the large black frame, I also printed off a few of my favourite black and white portraits which I framed myself and I think the set off the black and white look perfectly. I personally really love having my favourite art work or photos in my room as I think it adds more personality and ensures that my room looks lived in.

My first set of fairy lights were bought for me by my Mum from Habitat for my birthday, these are lot more pricey then what I would normally pay but they honestly are gorgeous. Not only are they really unique and make my room atmospheric at night but they are also outside lights which means they don't get too hot and thus won't cause a perilous house fire- always good.

Next up we have my more "adult" book shelf, which basically means that it holds all my more serious literary books that I want people to be impressed I've read. I've strung up some battery fairy lights from The Range, as cute as they are they really aren't practical and end up costing more because they need SIX, yes six batteries. The star fair lights set a lovely blue tone to my room at night and have lasted an amazing eight years, I love these, I just really bloody love fairy lights. Although clearly my whole family is fairy light mad as my garden is currently looking like Blackpool illuminations on behalf of my slightly nutty StepFather.

I get a lot of shit from everyone for my cushion addiction, but honestly I love them, I think they make my bed look so cosy and comforting and are the thing that transform my room from a single bed student digs to a nice comfy home. I also have to be properly propped up whilst I sleep, I get incredibly stiff if I have to sleep with one pillow, I am like some kind of lack luster Princess who needs a spongy bed at all times. My cushions are from Primark, The Range and Dunelm Mill and my duvet cover and blankets are from Primark, I hate spending to much on that kind of thing.  I get very cold at night and I love blankets, therefore I like my bed to be like some kind of Eskimo pouch of joy. My bed is a day bed from Dunelm mill, I got this on sale so I don't think it will available still, a cheap bed is fine as long as you have a nice sturdy mattress to support you. 

So there you have it a room tour of my cosy, chaotic and homely room, I love it and although I want to buy a few things to finish it off I am really happy with the way it looks right now. Of course when I move home I will get an excuse to buy hundreds more home ware, probably the only thing I am looking forward to  about leaving. I will leave you with the love of my life, my little puppy Rosie, she is 12 weeks old and is a Border Collie cross Labrador, she is honestly the best dog I could ever have asked for and I just want to squeeze her forever.