Our Rooms, Our Worlds
In June of 2020, Ari Taylor decided to redo her room.
“I figured I was going to be spending a lot of time in my room this year so I might as well try to make it look cool,” Taylor said.
In order to decorate her room, Taylor had to get creative. She was limited in a variety of ways due to living in an apartment and had to overcome obstacles in order to create the room of her dreams.
“I had to work on space optimization and figuring out how I could make things look aesthetic and cool while living in an apartment,” Taylor said.
Taylor was not allowed to paint her walls because of the rules implemented in her building.
“So, I got creative,” Taylor said. “It was fun to push myself to the limits of my creativity and try to make a space that was actually enjoyable because like I said, I knew I would be staying here for a while. Might as well make it look cool.”
Taylor has had a passion for painting nails and has a corner of her room dedicated to doing so. She has a “nail wall,” which is a collection of gel nail polish stacked along her room that hangs on a shelf spanning its own corner. Another corner of her room is dedicated to makeup where all of her products, as well as a vanity mirror, help her to get ready.
Taylor’s favorite part of her room is her desk. Located in an opposite corner of the nail polish wall, the desk is where she did virtual school and where she does her homework most days. It holds all of her art supplies and in front of the desk is a decorated collage of posters. There are magazine covers from the 1920s, a “Spiderman” poster and a poster from “Heathers.” Taylor also has a bulletin board in the mix of her collage.
“I like to put movie tickets on my bulletin board because I’ve saved them every time I go to the theaters,” Taylor said.
If Taylor had to describe her room in one word, it would be eclectic.
“It’s a combination of vibes. It’s everything wrapped up into one comfortable little space. I’m super into cow print. So that’s on my door and I love pink. So on my walls there is a collage of pink. Then just a ton of stuff that’s crammed into corners,” Taylor said. “It’s functionally messy, and I love it.”
Abbi Bachman similarly realized she would be spending a lot more time in her room once the pandemic started and decided to give her room a makeover as well.
“I knew that this room wasn’t me anymore and I wanted to start making it more like myself,” Bachman said.
Bachman’s room is a sea of her favorite color: green. It contains other aspects of herself spread throughout the room to create the perfect setting for herself.
“There are books, little crystals and fake plants because I like the look of plants but I can’t keep them alive,” Bachman said. “There’s also an antique table my grandparents gave to me. I like how it looks and it reflects me because I enjoy being there.”
Bachman’s favorite part of her room is two antique Coca-Cola trays of women on her wall, along with a sun mirror that perfectly matches the aesthetic she was going for.
Sentimental objects are also a large part of Bachman’s room.
“On my wall I have my friends’ name tag from when we went on a sailboat together and we went on a vacation together and I kinda like having little memories like that on my wall,” Bachman said.
Near her bed is an object that Bachman cherishes and is a vital part of her room —omething that makes her room truly hers: her record player.
“I got it set up in my room and it’s really fun to go record shopping and play music in my room while cleaning or doing something,” Bachman said. “I really like having it. It can sound really cool when you get the speakers right and you can hear it all over your room.”
Record shopping has become a newfound hobby for Bachman, she adores searching and finding the perfect record.
“It’s really fun to feel a physical copy of the music that you like. It’s hard to feel the physical connection, you can really connect to music online but it’s really cool to see what the artist will do if they do like a colored vinyl or any extra photos,” Bachman said.
