Is anyone else currently in quarantine with their parents? I am one of many who decided to leave my apartment in Manhattan to come live with my parents for a bit while Covid-19 has been happening. Having only been living on my own for about a year and a half, it hasn’t been a complete shock coming back home...but it is hard when you have become used to only worrying and taking care of yourself.
The most difficult aspect that I’ve had to deal with so far is having to live and sleep in my sister Katie’s room. It was my room for over 10 years, but once I moved out it provided more space for my sister, her toys, and her bunkbed (yes, I am currently sleeping on the bottom bunk). I am sleeping in her room because it is the only other room in the house with a bed. Our third bedroom has now become a ”den” with a pullout couch which my sister, weirdly enough, prefers to sleep on at the moment. Before moving out, my room was a serene and chill place to be, now it is stuffed to the brim with 7-year-old craziness. As someone who prides themself on having a minimalistic home design approach, I 100% had anxiety sleeping in Katie’s room when I first arrived. My room in my apartment is all white, with a white bedspread, white shelving, a white chair, and some knick-knacks here and there. I’m obsessed with the simplicity of it.
Fast forward to almost 8 weeks later and I’m getting more adapted. I have made an effort in small ways to make the space feel more like my room by adding a few pictures of my friends, candles, and my books. I make sure to help Katie clean it each day, make the bed every morning and before going to sleep I light a candle to end the day on a relaxing note.
All in all, I am very grateful that I have a safe home to live in while Manhattan is a hot zone and thankful to my sister for letting me steal her bedroom for a while. At night I lay in bed and I think back to all of those nights when it was my old room. When I would be with my friends taking millions of Photobooth pictures on my white MacBook, when I’d be up late at night video chatting with my high school boyfriend, sitting on my bed for hours writing my college essay, I have so many memories in that room! This room has been so good to me and it makes me excited to know that my sister will experience the same things as I did when she gets older. It’s like one big hand-me-down that I hope she loves just as much as I once did.
For your pleasure, here are some of those PhotoBooth pictures I mentioned:
What I want to know: What was your favorite part of your childhood room?
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