Paper Source Ate My Homework
It’s 2:03 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon and I have 90 minutes before my next class. I have two options. Either I can do the 30 pages of reading for my upcoming sociology class that arguably should be my top priority, or I can open the massive package that just arrived in the foyer with my name on it. Its contents? My custom canvases with vintage Vogue covers that I scored for 85% off, which will look amazing over my desk in my fourth floor dorm room.
Needless to say, I had no idea what my Dutch professor was talking about an hour and a half later in University Hall when he started mentioning those readings I didn’t do. I walked out of that lecture and immediately logged on to Caesar to drop that class like a hot potato. But man, did my three new canvases look bomb with the coral-print wallpaper that I had installed in my dorm room the week earlier.
Yes, you read that right; I hand-wallpapered my own walls with deckle-edged artisanal wallpaper handmade in rural Bangladesh. Why? Because I like aesthetics and I like making my life more difficult. I put a lot of effort into making my room PB Teen catalog-worthy my freshman and sophomore year, but this year, I invested my own sanity into my closet-sized room.
The design process began weeks before I returned to Evanston, when I started planning my décor, spray-painting genuine deer antlers I’d thrifted for my walls, framing my most aesthetically pleasing VSCO filtered pictures from my summer abroad, all while sticking to my navy and coral color scheme that I’ve recycled over the past two years with my Serena & Lily duvet and my monogrammed accent pillows.
But there are a few reasons why this year’s design process was different. The first being that my new favorite coffee shop opened just doors down from PaperSource on Central Street, which made it difficult to avoid the paper-goods store’s tantalizing window displays. I made at least three ventures into the store before I decided which wallpaper would suit the space I was working with, and which 18-month calendar had both functionality and personality. This year I also finally have my own room for the first time since high school, meaning I have complete free-range over every square foot of the space and I’m a #adult so I can do whatever the hell I want.
At this point you’re probably wondering how bad I broke the bank to achieve this dorm-room look, to which I respond, only a little bit. I’ve seen too many episodes of Flea Market Flip, so I employed the “fake it till you make it” tactic and essentially bought nothing at full-price. I channeled my inner Joanna Gaines and rummaged old fabrics and spray-paint cans for the DIY projects. I used anything from printed pillowcases to discounted door-hooks to decorate my ample wall space. I even went to the measure of thrifting an iron garden-gate for a head-board above my bed, and I ordered cheap adhesive marble print drawer liner material to create a faux marble effect on my countertops. For now, I’ll say that the room is complete, but don’t quote me on it. I might need a few more projects to keep myself occupied for the next 28 weeks.
