We’re almost halfway through the second semester, and boy am I feeling it. At this point, winter has felt like it’s lasted for years and I’m ready for some spring to get me out of this seasonal slump. Until then, I decided to give my room a quick refresh to help carry me over. Here’s a few quick, easy, and cheap ways to spruce up your space before spring!
Hang up Silk Scarves
What you’ll need: square silk scarf, command strips, two clothespins per scarf
Tapestries are super cute, but they’re also fairly expensive. An easy solution is to use square silk scarves instead! I inherited quite a few vintage silk scarves from my grandmothers, but I’ve also found quite a few at thrift stores. You can also find some on Amazon, Etsy, and Depop. To hang the scarves without damaging them, cut a poster command strip in half (the non-velcro kind), stick one of these to each clothespin (with the tail of the command strip hanging towards the opening on the clothespin), and then stick the clothespins to the wall where you want your scarf to hang. Then, simply open the clothespin and hang up your scarf!
Hang up Photos, Artwork, or a Calendar
What you’ll need: command strips or poster tape and artwork of choice
During one of my (admittedly too many) thrifting trips, I found a cool vintage photography book that had photos of the ocean and pretty Bible verses. I carefully cut the pages out of its hardback cover, leaving the bare pages. Then, I went through with a box cutter and carefully cut out the stitching connecting each folio of pages and ripped out the pages I wanted. Afterwards, I used double-sided poster tape (found here on Amazon for $7.05) to hang up each page. Thrift stores always have a ton of interesting books, and you could even use regular book pages and draw something on it yourself! I also hung up a calendar to help fill the white space above my desk, and I’m still working on sprucing up that wall with pages from a book on Marlene Dietrich I also thrifted. Another option is to find some cheap records with awesome covers and use those as posters on your walls! (Bonus: use the record sleeves as hanging organizers for important papers!)
Put Some Greenery in Your Room
What you’ll need: a plant or flowers and a cute container
A super easy way to brighten up any space is with plants! Flowers are the quickest decoration, and you can get a cheap bouquet from the grocery store. If you want some greenery that will last a bit longer, pick up a small succulent, air plant or cactus. They’re super easy to take care of! I put a couple of mine in cute containers I found at Goodwill, one that looks like an ice cream cone and the other a decorative bookstore teapot, each costing me only about a dollar. If you use a decorative container like this without a drainage hole, make sure you put rocks, moss, and even a bit of activated charcoal in the bottom of the container so that your plant doesn’t get waterlogged.
Reorganize Your Books
What you’ll need: your favorite books or ones that have great covers
You can’t beat a cute book! Being an English major and a reader, I have quite a few books, and they make great decorations while they wait to be read. You could color coordinate your titles, stack them up and use them as a mini table, or stand them up and display your favorite covers. If you’re more of a minimalist, you could arrange your books so that only the pages are showing and get a great neutral accent. Once again, Goodwill and other thrift stores always have some great books, and McKay’s offers thousands of cheap options!
Personal spaces are important since it’s where you go to relax and recharge, and they offer a great canvas for expression. Changing your physical space is a great way to recenter yourself and boost your mood whenever you walk in! Happy decorating!
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