My friend who hired me to organize her pantry also hired me to decorate her son’s room. I was flattered to be asked to decorate his room. Moreover, it was an honor for me to know that she trusted me enough to give me a full decision making authority to decorate her son’s room and placed value in my inputs and expertise. It meant so much to me.
DECORATING A ROOM & SETTING A BUDGET
Every time you decorate a room, you have to set a budget to achieve your designing goal. My goal here was to make the design of the room simple yet chic: easier to pack up in a couple of years. In order to decorate, one has to invest some money into decorating, but it can be done economically. For those of us who live abroad for 3 years at a time and pack up again to relocate internationally, decorating home has to be simple for the most part. Otherwise, you will burn out (Trust me. I have seen many.) or your bank will dry up.
This part is different from those who live in long term homes (or investment homes) in their own countries. It’s important to decorate a room in a way that makes the most sense in terms of dismantling it and putting the room back to the original state in 2 to 3 years while preparing for the move abroad.
Staying in one home for about 3 years means that you only get to enjoy the decorated state for 2 and a half years on average if not longer. That’s not very long. Determining how much to invest in would have to be discussed with your own wallet. Here, I would like to suggest some items that could help your decorating a room abroad a bit easier.
BLACK & WHITE BOY’S ROOM
My friend’s son wanted his room to be decorated in black and white. I love decorating rooms with black and white myself, so it was a self-serving project. Wink. The combination of black and white makes a room look chic for boys or girls regardless of the style of furniture you have. It’s perfect for those people who live in a furnished housing abroad.
Without further ado, here are some tips on how to decorate a boy’s room without breaking a bank.
1. BLANKETS ON BEDS
Blankets are versatile. We all use them in a cold or hot climate. My friend purchased two black blankets from Abel Philippines for her son’s room to add to the beds since the bed duvets are white. As simple as having a blanket at the foot of a bed makes a difference in impression of the room.
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2. PILLOWS
Since the bed linens were all white, I felt the need to accessorize the beds. For that, nothing does better than pillows. I picked a set of 4 pillows so that 2 pillows can be placed on each bed. Pillows are light, easy to pack, practical and inexpensive. I highly recommend using pillows to decorate any space.
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3. A BEANBAG & BLANKET
Having a beanbag in a kid’s room is a great way to create a reading nook. Since beanbags are usually not heavy, it’s easy to transfer from one country to another. My friend’s son already had a beanbag, so I added a blanket to wrap it so that the beanbag looks consistent with the rest of the room decorations.
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4. WALL DECALS
When you decorate a rental home and you don’t feel like painting, wall decals are your best friend. You could also use removable wall paper, but that is more expensive, plus more labor intensive. Thus, I went for wall decals. The world map wall stickers look great above the beds in a big white blank wall. Since my friend’s family has lived abroad and traveled quite a bit, I thought the world map will be fun and cool to look at. They can talk about the countries their friends live.
5. WALL SHELVES
Installing wall shelves has been my go-to way of decorating a wall. What I like about wall shelves is that they allow you to switch around decorations on them very easily. You can decorate with books, toys, photos, or anything you would like to display. I find investing in wall shelves a good investment for those who move from one home to another. Yes, there are countries where you won’t be allowed to drill holes on walls for renting homes. If that’s the case, I’m sorry! If you are allowed and will live in a rental home for 3 years or longer, I recommend using wall shelves as part of your design.
IMPORTANCE OF INTERIOR DECORATING
My friend and her family made a big international move from the U.S. to the Philippines during the pandemic in 2020. It was a difficult decision to make a family move from one country to another especially for parents with school aged kids last year. For those of you who moved homes internationally in 2020, I’m sure you can attest to that.
At the same time, I have witnessed many families who have chosen to be separated and send employed spouses alone overseas due to various situations in foreign destinations. The biggest reason that I have seen in my environment was for children’s schooling purposes and wellbeing. Schools in the Philippines have been virtual since March 2020 and the freedom for children to go outside has been restricted. It’s been difficult for both children as well as their parents.
Moving abroad is not easy to begin with. Children who moved abroad during the pandemic had gone through a lot more challenges and emotional burdens than normal times. Many parents probably recognized that they deserve to have rooms that make them happy. Being surrounded by things that remind them of joyful times or evoke pleasant and peaceful feelings is important for their daily happiness since they spend more time in their homes than ever.
I hope this gives some inspirations for those who are thinking about redecorating their kids’ rooms. I do see that I could have done more for this room. At the same time, though, I do love blank walls and spaces. What I love about minimalist design is that it pleases your eyes and mind.
Happy Decorating!
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