I’m nine years old again. I remember before this time, I always moved from house to house. For me, no place ever felt like home until this moment. I remember walking into this huge, five-bedroom house. It was my parents, my brother, my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, and me. I felt myself getting excited, even before we moved in. I ran to the furthest room upstairs, stopping at the doorway, and peeping in. That’s when my parents came up behind me and whispered to me, “this will be your room.” I’d never forget that moment. There was this feeling of excitement inside me that was so radiant that I can still feel that moment today. I had never had my own room until then. My favorite place for western and southwestern area rugs: Southwestern Rugs | FREE Ship | Western Area Rugs, Native American, Southwest

When we finally moved in, I rolled around the floor of my bedroom. I imagined exactly what I wanted and where I wanted everything to be. It was finally happening. I made my room a very mellow yellow. I had a white desk and a wooden bed frame that I had brought from my last home. I remember putting a white mosquito net canopy over my bed. To the side of my bed, next to the door, I had a wooden bookshelf that stored all of my childhood books and VCR tapes. I felt a sense of comfort and satisfaction in this room, that I never felt before.

Decorating a room to your own liking is a privilege in its own because not many people have the opportunity to do so. Providing décor in your room allows you to express who you are as a person and what you value most in life. When I was nine years old, yellow was my favorite color, and this is why I made my room this color. It represented a part of me. On my desk, I kept pictures with my best friends and my family. They represented what was most important to me at the time. I feel like if I could decorate my room now, it would be completely different, but that’s the best part of having décor. It’s flexible and changeable to satisfy the desires of whoever the room is meant for.

Western vs Southwestern Style Home Decorating

Décor allowed me to express myself. It was a safe place that I could call my own in the darkest of times. It was the serenity during the storm, the only place that I could ever let myself go. Whether it was crying or screaming out my emotions, the décor in my room gave me a sense of peace during my parents’ constant separations. I could stare at my bookshelf and VCR tapes and remember a time when I was happier, watching those Disney films with my family. It was a place where I was proud to bring my friends because I was proud of who I was and what brought me joy. I was showing them that “this is me and I hope you accept it.” Bringing friends into your room is like bringing them to your sacred place.  It’s where you express yourself and hope that those around you can appreciate the same. What made me happy then, is not necessarily what makes me happy now.

The things that I used to like aren’t the same as what I like now. The best part about décor is that you can change it and modify it. You can save the things that are sentimental and move on to other things. I think that’s the most important part about décor; the ability to change who you are. Décor is a representation of yourself. There is no bad décor or good décor. There are only different interpretations and perspectives of it. Décor brings lively characteristics of the self out in materialistic things. It’s a form of self-expression and identity.