After spending her pandemic days surrounded by the mint green walls of her room, Bonita Vista High (BVH) senior Alexis Dauz felt the need for a change. That change took its form as a room redecoration, complete with newly painted sand-colored walls. 

Dauz, however, is not the only teenager investing time into redecorating her living space. In a poll conducted by the Crusader, out of 496 BVH students, 75.4 percent reported that they  re-decorated their own rooms or living spaces during quarantine. 

The redecoration process for Dauz included repainting, rearranging furniture and finding new decorations. While it took place several months after the pandemic began, Dauz stated the pandemic influenced her to redecorate. 

“If the pandemic didn’t happen, I’d probably think of redecorating my room but eventually never do it,” Dauz said. “I don’t think I could’ve found the time to do it, and I didn’t spend as much time in my room to care a lot about how it looks.” 

On the other hand, senior Viviana Rouston would have decorated her room even without the pandemic and distance learning, during which she has redecorated her room twice so far. Rouston, who rearranged furniture pieces and changed her decor, learned about other teenagers picking up the challenge of redecorating, including her “sisters and a few friends.” 

“When I redecorated earlier in the year, it was so I could have a space where I could feel relaxed and comfortable staying in for a long time. Since we couldn’t go anywhere, I wanted to keep myself busy and productive as well. My most recent redecoration was simply because I no longer liked how I previously decorated it,” Rouston said. 

While Rouston and Dauz have completed their redecorations, senior Mia Aguimatang is still in the process as of Dec. 16, but is “really proud of the progress” she has reached so far. Her choice to change her room’s aesthetic to more “modern,” “neutral” and “minimalistic” was inspired by a variety of factors. 

“I have always wanted to redecorate my living space, but I think being in quarantine inspired me to work on it. When I was at school I had a lot of other priorities such as school and extracurriculars, but quarantine was a nice way for me to focus on myself and my goals, in which my room was one of them,” Aguimatang said. “I was also on Pinterest and TikTok a lot and saw a bunch of people decorating their rooms, so that also inspired me to want to do the same.”

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All three students recalled seeing the trend on TikTok, a popular social media platform, where according to Dauz, “everyone paints cute accent walls, buys plants and hangs up led lights to decorate.” Aguimatang suggests specifically using social media platforms to find ideas and inspirations for anyone doing a redecoration themselves. 

Since quarantine began, news outlets have also produced guides for redecorating one’s living space, like “8 Steps to Redecorate Your Room in Quarantine” and “Quarantine Redecorating: Liven up Your Living Space on a Budget”. 

In agreement with people across BVH, and the country, Dauz, Aguimatang and Rouston all recommend redecorating to fellow students. Redecorating especially helped Dauz by keeping her “busy and away from [her] devices.” For Rouston, the redecoration became a way to “show how much [she] changed this past year,” but each student can find personal significance based on their redecorating choices. 

“I felt like [the redecoration] was a mark of my independence because I did it all by myself and without asking my parents for help or advice,” Dauz said. “I felt proud of myself. I’ve never painted a whole room by myself before and I had my doubts about the color I chose when I initially started painting, but when it was all done I really liked it.”

Just as she did, Dauz suggests that other students also take the reins on their plan, “because at the end of the day it’s your own room [and] you spend the most time there.”

As advice to other students, Rouston highlighted the importance of planning steps efficiently, which includes steps like organizing and picking through items one already has prior to new purchases.

“Make the big changes first. Whether it is getting new furniture or just moving them to a new place, do this first and then work on the small details like wall decorations later,” Rouston said. “Getting inspiration pictures is also helpful so you can get an idea of what you like and so you have a visual reference when buying new stuff.”

For Aguimatang, choosing an aesthetic and developing a layout were important steps she recommended to other students, while she also emphasized choosing pieces wisely. In the end, all three sources emphasized that students are spending much of their time in their room alongside new and old decor.

“When you’re shopping for furniture don’t settle, make sure it’s something you genuinely want. Besides school I made my room a priority activity for me and it honestly has been so much fun and really stress relieving and takes your mind off of anything else that may be bothering you.  The planning process is also super fun and allows you to be as creative as you’d like,” Aguimatang said.