Our spare bedroom: before and after

Part of growing up as the child of a hoarder is that often you're not allowed to decorate your own space -- assuming you're allowed to have your own space at all. My mother wasn't completely controlling and I did have my own space. But she controlled the curtains, the color of the walls (white), the closet doors (white), the trim (white) and the flooring (white linoleum). When I went to college she told me that my matrix poster was too frightening and I needed something cheerful. Down came the matrix poster, up went the white Winnie-the-Pooh poster.

Because we own our place we're allowed to paint. I finally have the chance to really redecorate a room! Our spare bedroom has long been a thorn in our side and a room for junk, as you can see here.

 

Then I read Brian Grey's post about his new minimal bedroom. Brian's blog is called "Free Your Mind Today," which always reminds me of the matrix.

"You have to let it all go. Fear, doubt, disbelief. I'm trying to free your mind, Neo."  What am I afraid of? White walls? Clutter? Yes. It was time for EVERYTHING to go.

As Agent Smith says, "it is purpose that drives us." Our room suddenly had a purpose. We wanted a minimalist bedroom that we just use for relaxing, watching movies and occasionally working on a small project. I also wanted a place to display our collection of artwork from the Matrix movies. Having a purpose made it so much easier to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. Behold, our decluttered, redecorated Matrix-themed room.

The Chief Engineer really wanted to keep the spare bed.

We bought a $25 backrest pillow to turn the bed into a couch for movie-watching without having to give up the guest bed. 

Our Neo and Trinity posters were prints from England where I saw Reloaded for the first time. This next print was commissioned for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas, our favorite arthouse/restaurant movie theater where we used to live. 

The fold-up table is still big enough for my sewing machine or the Chief Engineer's origami. 

We moved our only TV from the living room into this room. 

The subway poster was rescued from the trash on the Chicago EL after the movie closed.

You don't get much further from a white bedroom with white linoleum floors than a room with black walls!  Yes, I had my teenage rebellion at 30.

Most of the clutter has either been donated, trashed, sold, returned to the place where it belongs, or unfortunately stuffed into that very large closet. We minimized the number of surfaces to keep clutter from building up. Decluttering the closet is next. But for now it's time to enjoy the new room by watching the Chief Engineer's 31st birthday present: