When the University originally closed last spring, like most other students, I came home and completed online classes from my bedroom. For most of us, this trend has continued into this spring, and even students who now live in dorms are attending Zoom classes from their desks.
Being in your bedroom all day can be a bit of a downer, especially if you’re like me and move directly from your bed to your desk to attend class. One way I’ve found to make myself feel a bit more comfortable is to rearrange and reorganize my room!
Ultimately my goal was to make it as breathable as possible, which actually turned out to be a difficult task. Last April, I rearranged the whole room, even transplanting my old chest of drawers into our basement. This accomplished two goals. One, I had more floor space to walk around and do my yoga routines in. And two, I was able to make space for different, smaller furniture. The end goal is to make your space as tailored to you as possible. I opted for more floor space because it worked for me, but what works for you may be something totally different. And that’s okay!
The furniture I made room for included some shelves from my dorm room, a cabinet next to my desk, and an old tea cart I’m currently using to hold my plants. The shelves are simply for more storage. Same thing for the cabinet—I put it next to my desk to have somewhere to store my textbooks and other supplies, which I was in desperate need of, considering the lack of drawers in my desk.
The tea cart brings me to another goal of mine: making the room less stuffy. Opening a window only goes so far, especially when it’s too hot or cold to really enjoy the outside. My new plants help a bit with this, but also give me something to take care of, which is always appreciated. (If you’re interested in gardening but don’t know where to start, I’d say get a succulent. They’re pretty hard to kill and they’re just fun to look at. I have three.)
But, if I can’t enjoy an open window, what can I do? There are a few options! I opted to use an essential oil diffuser, one I was previously using in my dorm room. I have a few different scents, and they can all be used to quickly spruce the room up and make it smell nice. My sister recently purchased a wax warmer. These are little canisters with a candle inside it. You place cubes of scented wax on top, and they melt and make the surrounding area smell amazing. Of course, if you’re not interested in either of these, a normal candle or even some room spray will do the same thing. You’d really be surprised at how much improvement a simple scent can make.
And, as if these changes weren’t enough, I also decided to spruce up the area around my desk, with the ultimate aim of having a professional-looking backdrop for Zoom classes. I mean, how can I call myself an Honors student if you can see my dirty laundry in the background? Luckily, I was able to just use the bookshelves that were already behind my chair, but there are a lot of different ways to style a background. Use your resources!
Spending time in your room doesn’t have to feel stifling. If it does, then there are a lot of simple changes you can make to make it feel better. Happy redecorating!
