My Room Update | A Pastel Pink Inspired Bedroom

Y’all… to say that I am BEYOND excited for today’s post would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. I moved to DC well over three years ago and into an apartment that I absolutely love… it may be old, sometimes the heat doesn’t work during the winter… the paint on the wall occasionally chips or peels… but it is home. For about a year or two now, I’ve been dreaming about redoing my room… especially now that I work from home in my bedroom.

You see… I moved in during a total whirlwind season of my life. I had been living in DC for a month before I settled into this apartment, and when I did, I basically just moved my college apartment into my room. It worked for the season of life that I was in, but soon, I was definitely itching for something that felt little more “me as an adult” and a little less “me as a college student” a few months after settling in. I used my radiator as a side table… I had the same duvet for 7 years… I had pictures hanging on my walls that were from the summer before my freshman year of college… y’all, that was OVER SEVEN YEARS AGO NOW!! I felt like I was living and working in a space that was no longer representative of me, and I really wanted a change.

If you work from home, more specifically, if you are like me and work from home in a small city apartment where your bedroom doubles as your office, you know that you spend nearly every waking moment in your room… and also the moments that you’re asleep. I can’t even stress to you how important it is to LOVE the space that you live so much life in.

Because of that, I wanted to create a space that I truly loved, felt like it represented who I am right now, and most importantly, that I am excited to care for. (AKA please give me some motivation to put away my laundry during busy season!) I wanted to create a space that didn’t have to be feng shui-ed for every client video call or online chat with my brides. I wanted to be able to use the space as a backdrop for my business, and I didn’t want to feel embarrassed about sharing the space, as I had previously. My room gets great light, and it sounds silly but, this photog wanted photos in one of her favorite spaces! Even more than all of that though, I have spent the last year and a half growing and changing as I left a lonely, sad and burned out season behind. It would only make sense that the space where I spend 95% of my time reflects that change too and feels just as happy as I do now.

A while back, I stumbled upon Simply Jessica Marie, an incredible watercolor artist and educator, and after seeing just one of her DC images, I knew that I wanted her work to be the inspiration behind my room reno! When I say her watercolors are gorgeous, that would literally be the understatement of the century. I fell in love with her DC collection, and when she announced her Charleston collection, I knew I absolutely wanted a few of those pieces too! To celebrate the Charleston launch, Jessica ran this really awesome sale where the first shopper received 50% off, second two received 40% and so on from there down to 10%. I’m a girl that is on a pretty serious budget right now, and I knew that I really wanted the pieces, but I would only be able to treat myself to one or two (When I really wanted three!!). So… like a crazy person, I put the sale on my calendar, qued up my shopping cart to be ready for the sale to start, and placed my order from a parking lot before a meeting! My adrenaline was going crazy, and I must have looked like an absolute crazy person as I happy danced in my car because I got one of the 40% discounts!!!

I literally called my mom to tell her about purchasing these three prints… and that I was one of two that got them for 40% off! I was SO excited! Originally, my plan was to buy these prints, hang them up, and update everything else around Christmas time! BUT, I loved the prints so much that I knew I wanted them to look GOOD hanging on the wall (and that they deserved more than my 7-year-old duvet). I had a few gift cards to Target (that was running some incredible Back to College sales) and found a duvet that I really loved, so I knew it was time to go for it.

My hope was to declutter so much of my room while making it pretty too! I rearranged, cleaned lots of dusty baseboards, hauled bags of trash and Good Will items out, and worked to create both functional living spaces AND storage spaces. I say this a lot, but having a “separation of church and state” (AKA business and life) in my room is so important to me, and with just a few tweaks, I really do feel like half of my room is office space while the other half is living space.

I never expected to have a PINK room, but after finding a duvet cover that I fell in love with, I knew it was just meant to be! I’m heading into a season that is going to be pretty crazy (in an absolutely wonderful way), and it is so nice to know that I have a space that I am excited to come home to and that I am also motivated to keep looking good!

So… are you ready to dive in?! I can’t wait to share my new space with you!!!

What I bought:

11×14 Simply Jessica Marie Prints (Capitol, Washington Monument, Rainbow Row)
Matted 17.5″ x 21.5″ Frames
Duvet Cover with Shams
White Sheets
Pineapple Throw Pillow
Pillows for shams
Hamper
Side Table from Facebook Marketplace
Lamp for side table
Basket for side table
CKP Gift Corner Shelving
Cacti Planter
Steamer

Things I had:

Phew… I think that covers a lot! If there is something that ISN’T linked here that you would like to see, let me know!

Once these pictures were up on my walls, I literally just found myself staring at them in my room like a crazy person! I’m in love with them… I decided on the Washington Monument and Capitol from the Simply Jessica Marie DC collection and the Rainbow Row print from her Charleston collection. Each of these places have such a sweet meaning to me, and I love being reminded of these memories each time I look at these beautiful prints!

I can’t even believe that I went three years without a bedside table! This Facebook Marketplace purchase has been a GAME CHANGER, y’all! I also love this Target basket that holds all of my comfy blankets, yoga towels, and makeup removing cloths. I just love this watercolor painting from a street artist in Florence! I bought this lamp YEARS ago, and it never quite had a place in my room… until now! I’ve always loved it, and now it fits right in with the design of my room! This vine used to creep around my desk and would get in the way as I typed… Now, it makes me smile every morning when I roll over and look out my window! Funny story about that blue pillow… I bought it years ago and almost threw it away when I ordered my new bedding! Something told me to keep it though, and I’m so glad I did! I love the little pop of blue amongst all of the pink! My next project will be updating some of these pillows! I’m picturing a few more big, comfy pillows in tones of white, cream, teal & pink! I got to play with my brand new remote trigger for my camera! All of the pictures of me in this post are actually self-portraits! That’s another post though… more on that in a few weeks! All of my social media and marketing friends need to buy and read and giggle to Twinkle, Twinkle Social Media Star! It is a parody Fairytail all about social media and online influencing and it is HILARIOUS! It would make a great gift! In fact, Savannah gave me my copy for my birthday! This mug is Simply Jessica Marie too! I love this sweet map of DC! Now… onto the office part of my room! This space still needs quite a bit of work. It serves more for function rather than looks, and it is a wonderful kind of working chaos. There are so many memories and plants and things that I love… maybe one day I’ll make it a little prettier, but in the meantime, I love it just the way it is! That little puppy dish holds all of my memory cards that contain sessions that are still being edited! So many of my plants are dying SOS please don’t look too close! Also… that gorgeous Jefferson print is By Brittany Branson! I love this new corner of mine! I got these little shelves to hold my bridal guides and other wedding gifting goodies! That giant bag on the top shelf goes with me to every wedding! I also store my camera gear and bags in this corner too. This is the only corner that starts to blend business and personal! It serves more for storage and less for regular business or life function, so I’m okay with it! I had to finish with a few fun photos in my fall uniform… this is usually what you can expect to find me wearing on a weekday! A huge THANK YOU to my sister and her boyfriend who hung my photos up for me! I couldn’t end this post without giving Meghan and Sean a shoutout… I don’t think I ever would have gotten these up without their help!