For many Lolitas decorating their rooms is a chance to express their personal taste and aesthetic on a new canvas. Your room, like your clothes, says a lot about who you are, but in an even more private way. A bedroom can be a place to sleep and store your things, or it can be a little sanctuary to escape to after a long day of work or school. Decorating your room does not have to be expensive, in fact if you are creative and make some things yourself it can be fairly cheap to create a new look.
Choosing your theme
You might say “Lolita is my theme” but really, there are so many different styles in Lolita alone that it helps to narrow it down a little. You can also pick a theme that isn’t exactly Lolita, but draws from a similar source of inspiration like victorian, alice in wonderland, fairy tales or kawaii. When choosing your theme, think about the style of Lolita you wear, your favourite book/bands/movies and other things that inspire you in your day-to-day life. Chances are if you pick something that incorporates your interests you will be more comfortable with it for a longer time. A “mermaid” theme might seem fun for a few weeks, but unless you feel you can stick with it, you might be better to choose something less novel and more personal. My theme is french rococo and hime lolita.
Choosing your colours
To create a unified look, it’s a good idea to select a colour scheme for your room. Pick two to three colours that look nice together and correspond with your theme. For example, if you are going for a gothic theme you might choose black, purple and silver. For a victorian theme you might choose rose, ivory and bottle green. My colour theme is white, pink and gold (though I want to mix in a little baby blue.) Now, you don’t have to throw out everything in your room that isn’t one of these colours, but keep them in mind when choosing new items for your decor. Think about the atmosphere you want to create, using a lot of dark colours will make the room feel moodier and possibly a bit oppressive, bright vibrant colours will give you energy but might be a bit harsh on tired eyes and pale pastels are soft and comforting, but can be hard to keep clean. Try and strike a balance that you will feel comfortable with at any time of the day.
TIP: Look in your wardrobe, what are the main colours you seem to wear? Coordinating a room is much like coordinating an outfit!
The Walls, Floor and Ceiling
The first place to start is your walls and ceiling. If you have permission from the owner of your house, or are lucky enough to own it yourself, you can bring a lot of personality to the room by decorating your walls. You have two options, paint or wallpaper. Paint is a nice way to give a simple colour wash to a room, and tends to be very durable. Choose colours from your scheme, and remember you don’t have to paint all the walls the same, you can have feature walls, a border or stripes if you wish! Wallpaper is great because you have so many patterns to choose from, and as it is coming back in to fashion it’s easier to find. I would suggest getting some expert help with this stage as painting or papering your room is a big project. Walls can look a bit blank without anything hanging on them, look around and find the best places to put hooks. One trick is to cut pieces of newspaper to the size of your pictures and blue tack them to the wall, then stand back and see if you like the placement.
When choosing what to hang on your walls you have a lot of options, paintings, photos, art, posters, mirrors and tapestries all work well. Try and pick frames that match your theme and colours and aren’t too dominating over the picture. Mirrors can make a room feel bigger than it is, if you can’t afford a big mirror then get some little ones, put them in picture frames and arrange them in an artistic grouping on one wall, it has a very whimsical mosaic-like effect. Feel free to frame posters and images from your favourite artists, if you can’t afford or find prints then print them out on your own printer. Use high quality paper and have your settings on maximum, behind a glass frame you will hardly know the difference. Avoid blue tacking images to your walls, this can look messy and actually damage both the wall and the paper. Unless you are going for a punk look, frames are so much neater.
TIP: Too many frames can box a room in, try a different shaped wall hanging like a mask or clock to break it up.
Often there is very little that can be done about your floor, unless you can afford to rip up the carpet and put down floorboards or vice versa, there aren’t many options. You can however try and work with what you have, get your carpets cleaned or vacuumed to bring them back to their original colour, keep floorboards swept and polished and possibly add a matching rug.
It’s easy to overlook the ceiling when decorating your room, but there are so many things you can do here! Change the light fitting to a pretty shade or chandelier; add some moldings painted in the same colour as the ceiling. Hang things from it, stars or flowers or ribbon. If you are a talented painter you can even paint a mural on it, like the churches and palaces of Europe. Ceilings don’t have to be boring.
Furniture
This is probably going to be the most costly part of your decor, however, take a look at the furniture you already have, perhaps you can spruce it up a bit rather than replacing it? It helps to create a unified look if your furniture matches, pick items in a similar style or paint the ones you have to match. Antique furniture is lovely but costly, so look for replicas, which can be just as beautiful, and in far better condition.
Your bed will probably be the centrepiece of your room, so give it lots of attention! If you can, a four-poster or day bed style suite is lovely, otherwise disguise your existing bed with a valance and maybe a new bed head. You can create a four-poster look with a four-point canopy that attaches to your roof, or hang a round frame canopy for a simpler look. There is being surrounded on all sides by netting or tulle, it makes your bed a little world of its own, safe and private and very romantic (in the old meaning of the word.)
Other furniture you may like to include are; a bedside table, vanity and stool, full-length mirror, bookshelves, dresser, japanese style low table and a wardrobe. If you are working with existing items there are many ways to decorate these, paint or stain the wood, use stencils or moldings, glue on silk flowers and jewels, change the handles on drawers and add little curtains to shelves and enclaves.
TIP: Add a feature piece of furniture, something that really catches the eye. Maybe a full length cheval mirror, a dress form clothed in your favourite gown or a hat stand, these things take up very little space but make your room more interesting.
Practicality and function is just important as prettiness when it comes to furniture. When arranging your room make sure all doors have room to open, nothing is going to trip you up or catch on your clothes and you can actually get to your bed! This may sound silly, but when trying to fit in a lot of furniture and have it look appealing as well these are easy mistakes to make.
Soft Furnishings
This is your curtains, bedclothes and other linens. These will make all the difference in your room and can give it a quick dose of luxury, just by choosing nice fabric and tasteful prints. Most lolitas already have a great understanding about fabric and trim so put this to work when choosing your manchester! Keep your colour scheme in mind and think about which fabrics suit your theme. Heavy velvets will look nice with a gothic style, lots of lace and florals for victorian, cute fruity prints and bows for sweet lolita and pale gauzes and silk work for rococo.
Having curtains made can be very costly, but provide beautiful results. For a simpler approach check your craft and haberdashery stores for premade curtains, you might find something perfect already there! Other wise you can make your own curtains from any fabric you like. Simple putting up loose curtains can look a bit plain, experiment with having layered curtains (a heavy layer over a fin lace or gauze curtain to let the light in) maybe you could add an ornamental festoon to the top of the window or tie your curtains back with pretty ribbons.
Your bed sheets are also very important. Use one of your colour scheme colours for the sheets, pillowcases and valance and then find a quilt cover that adds interest, textured fabrics, embroidery and nice prints all work well with plain sheets. Go nuts with pillows! Have as many as you like in different sizes and shapes as long as they match your bed. You may like to find a nice warm throw rug in soft chenille or faux fur to snuggle under, they look very pretty draped over the end of them bed and add another texture to your linens.
TIP: You don’t have to limit yourself to one quilt set! You can have two or more and rotate them for a different look as the mood fits. They will last much longer this way too!
The Details
This, I believe, is the most important part of your decor. Fortunately it is also the most fun! Start collecting little things, ornaments, pillows, plush toys, vases, bottles and things that fit your theme. You might like to visit a vintage or curio store and pick up some pieces with a bit of history. The only limit is your own creativity, but here are some suggestions to get you started.
Tea cups or miniature tea sets, pretty candles in elegant holders, jewelry boxes, bowls of potpourri, faberge eggs, painted plates, fake flowers, feathers, covered tissue boxes, fans, hat boxes, pearls, porcelain figurines, old toys, dolls, plushies, little boxes and trinkets, shaped soaps, plush cupcakes, wall scrolls, lamps, antique books, baskets, carriage clocks, piggy banks, cake platters, perfume bottles, sea shells, mobiles, bowls of candy, fruit or trinkets, bird cages, powder puffs, hand mirrors and brushes.
The most important thing with these details is to bring a personal touch to the room, adding some childhood dolls or toys will bring back happy memories, your favourite perfume in a pretty bottle, a photo of your family in a beautiful frame. It also gives you a chance to incorporate your theme in quirky little ways, figurines from the era of your choice, matching flowers, symbols and other little touches.
Decorating your room can be a slow process, but it is very rewarding. Every time you bring home a new treasure you are perfecting your own little space. Feel free to change or rotate things to freshen the look as you go. I would say the three most important things are texture, light and colour. Texture means having different shapes and materials that make you want to run your fingers over everything. Have a mixture of soft and hard, rough and smooth. Light comes from your windows, and can be muted or filtered by curtains. Lamps and light fittings give an atmospheric glow and candles can be romantic or somber. Colour is everything, it brings your room to life and instantly evokes your theme. Play with these three concepts and the little tips in this article and create a space that is beautiful, interesting and uniquely you!
