Published originally in the Contra Costa Times
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By Casey Capachi
Barf. The then seven-year-old Maryel Ley of Orinda had just thrown up in between her twin beds in her room after a weekend of eating nothing but candy at camp. A few years passed and she couldn’t put off redecorating her room any longer now that she was a middle school woman. More importantly, the stain on her white rug was crying out to be covered. The first thing to go were the twin beds, no longer needed for the intimate sleepovers she held with her best friend now that school and extracurricular activities were starting to take up all their time. With the extra room she added a double size bed that conveniently covered the stain. Next, she took down the stuffed animals and made room for picture frames showing her friends at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Although daunting at first, Maryel was thankful her digestive system literally pushed her to redecorate her room. She was careful to pick a neutral color palette and practical furnishings and, as a result, has had to make very few changes on it. “My room now shows who I am, not who my mom is,” said Ley.
Below Maryel and other East Bay high school students, who successfully updated their rooms, share their most helpful tips:
1. Keep in mind what will look good in your room 2 or 5 years from now
“When you redo your room you should keep in mind what you will want in the future-not just right now. Redecorating your room is not an easy task and you want something easy to maintain. Black walls are a trendy no-no in my book,” said senior Jackie Lau (Piedmont High School).
2. Paint your walls two different colors
” My walls are currently blue and red, before December they were light yellow. I found that picking bright colors and getting a matching bedspread is a simple way to upgrade my room,” said junior Alexandra Kuller (Carondelet High School ).
3. Use posters as stylish band-aids to cover cracks or holes in your walls
“Every self-respecting guy needs a “Scarface” poster in his room. If you put up that giant black-and-white “Scarface” poster, some of the manliness is sure to rub off,” said senior Robert Carrington (Acalanes High School).
4. Put up curtains in place of closet doors for a space-saving fix
“I replaced my walk-in closet doors with purple curtains to match the color theme in my room and to create more space. Sometimes I even tie a knot in the middle of the curtains for easier access to my clothes,” said senior Jackie Lau (Piedmont High School ).
5. Bulletin boards can be easily changed to reflect what you’re into right now
“When I changed my room, my favorite thing that I put up was several large bulletin boards. My interests tend to change (TV shows, musicians, etc.) so I like to swap the magazine cut-outs I put onto my bulletin boards frequently,” said sophomore Alexandra Rudolf (Carondelet High School).
6. Mirrors maximize small rooms
“I recommend putting up mirrors in as many places in your room as possible- it’ll make your room seem a lot more spacious. The full length mirrors are also nice to have to check yourself out in,” said senior Maryel Ley (Miramonte High School).
7. Coordinate the colors and theme of your room around one piece
“I found a great rug that is orange with a big flower in the middle and yellow and blue geometric shapes on it. I used the same colors in the rug all over my room. My walls are orange and yellow and I have a vase of fake orange flowers to cheer me up,” said senior Laura Challis (Saint Mary’s College High School).
8. Don’t get rid of all traces of you ever being a child
“When I went through stuff to throw out of my room, I let the beanie babies go but I kept onto a few stuffed animals and dolls that had sentimental meaning to me as well as an old school project. It’s important not to erase all memories of you in a redecorated room-otherwise it won’t be special or unique,” said senior Maryel Ley (Miramonte High).