Analysis Paralysis, Bedroom Edition
Project 365, Day 193/365
Okay folks, if you’ve been paying close attention, you already know that it’s been nearly a year since I started talking about my bedroom design project. I mean, it’s nothing revolutionary. It’s really swapping out some furniture, painting the walls, and the like. It’s a rental, so there are no custom built-ins needing to be designed or installed, no wallpaper, no moldings. It’s like…get a new bed and dresser, call it a day.
Except here I am, like I said, a year later, and I’ve done nothing more than paint my walls and put up some new curtains.
When I design rooms for other people, I can knock out plans relatively quickly. It’s less personal. The biggest challenge is convincing them about my ideas. But when I’m working on a space for myself, I question everything, to the nth degree, and also give myself basically no time limit. Not to say rooms need time limits. You likely already know about me that I think the best designs come together over time. But tbh, I’m tired of my room being a hot hodgepodge mess.
I’ve been staring at my moodboards lately. As a reminder, here are some of the plans I’ve plotted out:
For the most part, they’re all in line with each other. I’ve waffled back and forth on the idea of a bold bed or a neutral bed. I’ve waffled on the idea of a quiet rug or a bolder statement rug. I’ve waffled on more modern, new furnishings or just digging through Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, seeing what I find and building from there.
At this point, I’ve come to realize, there is no wrong answer. I’ve put so much pressure on myself to come up with this “groundbreaking” space that isn’t groundbreaking at all when really, all I need to do is come up with a space that functions well for Charles and myself, and makes us feel good. That’s it. A space that we can grow into and that can grow with us. That can translate well enough to a new space should we leave our little LA pad at any point in the near future.
There are things I wish I could do in the room that I’m just not comfortable doing as a renter—adding molding, adding wallpaper, painting doors and moldings and window casings—so I know the space will only ever be 70% of what I see in my head. And I need to stop letting that hold me back from just moving forward. It’s like refusing to ever get dressed in anything other than sweatpants until you reached your ideal weight. It’s ridiculous, right?
So, anyhow, I’m using this post as a come to Jesus moment for myself. I’m letting myself off the hook for designing a room that pushes the boundaries somehow and will photograph really well, and just work toward something that feels good to wake up in every day and go to sleep in every day.
I need to do a little budget reassessing, see how much money we want to put toward things, and then start finalizing some picks so I’m not here next year still talking about how I can’t decide on my next move for my bedroom design that has stalled out. Let this be a lesson to us all: design is as hard as you make it, and even people like me that are “in” the industry struggle sometimes…a lot of the times. Decisions are hard, okay?!? 🙂
See you tomorrow, FOAS.
Oh, and if you want to catch up on anything I’ve written about my bedroom they’re all tagged under the “Design” category in the top navigation.