
So, I haven't lived at home in awhile. Ok, more than awhile. Let's try 15 years? Right after I graduated high school, I packed my bags and moved a whopping 45 minutes away. Still, I never moved home again - until, well, now.
When I was in high school I painted my walls cobalt blue and covered them with black and white photos, posters and drawings.
I returned home to find baby pink walls and golden framed flowers:

Framed Precious Moments cross-stitches:

Lace curtains that let in surprisingly very little light:

In addition to pink walls, the carpet is this light spearmint-y / sage green color:

Eeep. How was I going to find stuff to match all of this? I stared at the pink walls unhappily, thinking that if I changed that, I might be inspired - but I had no clue what might combine with that spearmint green carpet.
Finally, I made a detour to Target and just bought a bunch of stuff I loved: a bright reddish-pink quilt, shams, sheets, and a purplish throw rug. I didn't care if it didn't match.
I got everything on sale, but there was a sheer white curtain with flocked dots I really wanted. I just didn't want to pay 20 dollars a pop for them (20 x 3 = way too much for me).
So I bought 3 sheer white curtains for 5.99 each, and cut polka dots out of an old white pillowcase instead:

Sewing the circles was a cinch - I used white embroidery floss (2 strands) and a simple straight stitch, nothing fancy at all:

I also hung the top portion of a birthday banner I made last year for a bit of extra happiness:

I hung big paper lanterns I brought back from New York:

Doesn't the new curtain let in so much more light?
Next, I got on a garland kick. I cut small circles out of an old turquoise t-shirt and strung them on white perle cotton:

I made flowers by squishing a bunch of circles together:

Or, just simple strings:

Then I hung them wherever I wanted some extra color:

That lovely lady on the right is of course my mom. On the left is an old knitting magazine I picked up in Cape May.
Finally, I added some more paper lanterns and my own embroidery and painting to this little corner:

And there we go, here is my new abode (for now):

Isn't it crazy the difference a bedspread, sheets, and a curtain make? All the crazy colors look good together and make me very happy. It's feeling much more like home now...