# My room is a disaster..



## moondancer (Oct 22, 2009)

Winston:
So you want to "improve" the room and make things look nice? This is your fairy godmother speaking:

1) Make your bed....every day.
2) Hang up or fold your clothes...every day.

Those two things alone will make a difference.

Ok...on to the other issues. Don't know what kind of budget you are working with or if you have a job, but some of these suggestions won't break the bank. Visit your local Home Depot or Lowes hardware stores.

3) Bed frame: There are lots of adhesive remover products out there. Pick one. Buy some steel wool and sand down your frame. Then apply new stain and maybe a polyurethane to go over it. Gonna have to read the instructions on this project.

4) Closet door: You could remove the door and buy a tension rod shower curtain or tension rod drapery curtain to mount in the doorway. Use a shower curtain or other similar sized curtain and hang it on the tension rod with rings. Shower curtain rings if you want or go to JCPenneys and look for drapery rings.

5) Window: I suppose a black out curtain would be one idea. But hanging fabric on the window will only add to a messy look. See what your local store has in the line of ready made shades. Keeping things sleek and simple will help make your room look neater.

6) TV stand: If you don't need it, get rid of it. But if you keep it, is there any way you can use it to store things?

7) When you are working on home projects with a limited budget, i always recommend visiting your local Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, or other such organization for inexpensive purchases. (Just six weeks ago, i found a beautiful wood clock for my kitchen -- $5.00) There are plenty of nice things there, and you will be helping a worthy cause.!

Good luck.
md


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## shapeshifter (Jan 10, 2007)

Moondancer had some excellent ideas about making up your bed and hanging up your clothes. I further suggest organizing your papers so you know where stuff is. 

1. Go to WalMart [they have a ton of home organization stuff right now] and get all matching plastic clothes hangers. Hang all your clothes up, even T-shirts & sweats. Organize the shirts by color, the slacks by color, put all your coats, jackets, sweaters and other stuff at one end and you may not even need to close or cover up the closet.
2. WalMart also has a shoe organizer for under $4 that would sit on the floor of your closet and hold all your shoes..
3. Move the computer desk and the big book shelf to the wall where the couch is now. Put the couch against the wall where the desk is. Re-organize your shelf to hold the speakers and your work papers. It looks like you could even fit your TV there. Then you could move the small table that the TV is on now next to the bed and use it for storage and a bed-side table.
5. Think about painting all the wood furniture in your room the same color. That would make it look like it goes together, even though it's different styles and colors now.
6. Get your mom to help you find an inexpensive washable slip cover for your couch. Pick that out first, and then use that for your inspiration to paint your room.
7. The window is a toughie. If you can't get a blind to go from the ceiling to the floor, think about hanging a plain fabric panel curtain on a tension rod. Put another tension rod through the hem at the bottom. That will control the fabric and keep it from looking to full. 

Good luck and post pictures when you're finished ok?


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## roxksears (Oct 21, 2009)

Personally, I prefer to keep doors on a closet instead of a curtain. Save your money and just use the existing doors.

Take a good look at the available space in your closet that you could use to house many of the things lying about in your room. Lowe's or Home Depot carry closet organizers that won't break the bank. For even less money, a couple of poles and some wire organizing shelfs will provide great organizing solution.

You can use the wire shelving to create shoe racks that are mounted to the wall. Here's a few pics to give some ideas. These were ones that were done for a client who had limited funds.

When you have a small space and lots of things it's very easy for a place to look like a disaster if things are not put away. When a person has a busy life it is easy to not take the time to put something away where it goes. We all think, "oh I'll do that later". The problem is that we never have time later on so it begins to pile up. It can be hard to become disciplined to immediately take care of stuff, but it is a very good thing to learn to do.

You can pick up a small table that folds flat at walmart that could serve you well for your homework. You can open it when you need to use it and when you aren't using it, fold it flat and slip in the closet out of the way. I keep one in my office closet when I've got a big project and desk space isn't enough.

A blind on the window might be a better solution over the blackout curtain. It will take up less space (visually), will look neat, you can open/close it to allow control over letting daylight in, and should be rather inexpensive to acquire.

Concerning the end table the TV is sitting on. Where the end table sits right now is probably not a very good spot for a few reasons. What if you moved the end table to sit against the end of your computer desk so that when you are sitting on the sofa you're looking at the drawers? The TV could be set on top of it and could be seen from the sofa, or from your computer desk too, AND you'd have an easier time to get to the contents in the drawers.

I couldn't tell what was on the wall across from your bed.

Here's a room layout idea that might make the room feel larger and give greater open floor space for you. 

Good luck to you and good for you to want to make your room be a better space to suit your needs! I hope you'll find some of the posts helpful to you.


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## shapeshifter (Jan 10, 2007)

roxksears, what program did you use to do the room layout? I could really use something like that as I am renovating/redecorating every room in my house.

Also, really liked the wire organizers in the closet. That gave ME some inspiration. I have a 'walk-in' closet that is more like a...well, I can't think of a smaller space right now. :laughing:


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## roxksears (Oct 21, 2009)

Shapeshifter,

While I have other programs I typically use, this time I just used Power Point -- used a few lines to make the room perimeter, then boxes to make the furniture. Easy.

If you need a more sophisticated program for actual space planning, etc. give 3Dream.net a try. I think they have a free trial.

Good planning will be your best aide in getting the most out of the space you have. 

good luck to you. I'm glad you found the photos of help. Roxanne


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## 3Dguy (Jan 3, 2010)

*Here's some 3D room scene ideas for your bedroom*

Winston, 

I saw that someone had mentioned 3Dream.net - Well, that's my program! 

I thought I'd expand on what another user had drawn for you as a possible layout for your bedroom. You (or anyone can) open up this room scene and play with it until its 'perfect'. 

Go to *http://tinyurl.com/3dreamwinstonsbedroom and download the free 3D program (PC, Internet Explorer only). This room scene will open up and you can cahnge anything you'd like.*

The desk top surfaces that I used are IKEA tops that they usually have on sale. You could also accomplish something similar by using 2 counter surfaces connected and supported by simple legs. 

Paint is cheap and easy to really make a difference with a little amount of work.

P.S. I agree with your fairy god-mother....

Regards, 

Ross


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## winstonplatt (Dec 30, 2009)

Wow thanks for all this help. I've already started doing some of the easier suggestions and i'll move on to others later(repainting room, varnishing bunk bed, steam cleaning carpet).

That program looks really neat. If I decide I need to replace any of the furniture badly enough I'll certainly try it out. Can you set the dimensions of the room or just estimate?

Also what exactly do you mean by a fold flat table? That sounds like it could be useful.

edit: also, where could I look for a decent but cheap couch about 2/3 as big as the one i have currently?


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## shapeshifter (Jan 10, 2007)

I suspect what you will want is a love-seat. I'd check GoodWill and Salvation Army for used, or Big Lots or some furniture clearance outlet for new. If you get used, you can get a nice looking slip cover, probably for around $40.


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## roxksears (Oct 21, 2009)

winstonplatt said:


> Also what exactly do you mean by a fold flat table? That sounds like it could be useful.
> 
> edit: also, where could I look for a decent but cheap couch about 2/3 as big as the one i have currently?


This folding table was purchased at Walmart I think - inexpensive (I think $20). I know you can also purchase larger ones (say 24x48) at Sam's Club and probably other places if this isn't big enough. Here's a pic of mine.

Shapeshifter has good idea on sofa -- check out any Thrift stores in your locale. Also check Craigslist.com as there are often good finds are available there too. You may be lucky enough to find one that is in good enough condition so you don't have to spring for a store bought slipcover.

Good luck to you!


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## ColorMyWorld (Oct 2, 2009)

I'd suggest putting 3 or 4 large book shelves above your desk. Home Depot sells shelving systems and I think it would cost around $40. Something like the shelves in the image below. (click to enlarge)

You could put your books on one shelf and then get ride of the book shelves you have now to free up some floor space. You could put your computer speakers and another shelf along with some paper organizers to organize your paperwork and free space up on your desk. You can find paper trays and magazine holders at Wal-Mart, Staples, etc.

Any space left you could display knick-knacks, maybe put your TV up there, and have baskets to organize stuff.





The shelves are adjustable.


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