How To Decorate Your Home Like Devi's Bedroom In Never Have I Ever
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High school drama... social status climbs... quirky humor and a stripped-back peek into the life of a self-proclaimed weird girl. This is what Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher's "Never Have I Ever" consists of. According to Netflix, the teenage-oriented series currently has three seasons. It begins when Devi and her two best friends, Eleanor and Fabiola, hatch a plan to boost their popularity within their school. Devi is also trying to navigate life as a teenager in search of a steamy romance story hence she plots another scheme to help her and her friends snag the hottest boys in the school.
Devi's character is both endearing and hilarious. And maybe a bit all over the place, so it's no surprise that this intriguing personality is showcased courtesy of her choice of room decor. From the tie-dye effect on her sofa to the different colored fairy lights, the altar dedicated to her religious gods, and a whole lot of Indian-American influence, there's so much to get into!
Viewers in Devi's age group may long to have a room similar to hers while adults who welcome nostalgic trends would be happy to see the eclectic mix of vintage alongside art deco pieces. Keep reading to learn all the tips to help you recreate each aesthetic in your own abode.
Paint your walls a deep shade of blue
The beauty about the blue paint used on Devi's bedroom walls is that the color blue is known to aid ultimate rest after a difficult day. For adults and children alike, you can face everything life throws at you a lot better when you have a blue room which aids good sleep and balance. Blue can help elicit feelings of calmness, tranquility, and ease in the same manner as calm blue skies and blue waters, according to Very Well Mind. Blue is also a shade that can promote productivity. This explains why Devi's bedroom is used as the best meeting point for Devi and her friends to gather and figure out their strategies (via Restonic).
This being said, blue has also been found to be an appetite-inhibiting shade so it might not be the best color to use in the dining room. Nevertheless, if you watch "Never Have I Ever," you would know that Devi is essentially an exception to the color rule as she finds no difficulty wolfing down all sorts of snacks and bites in her blue bedroom during her leisure time!
Whether you live in a brand new home, a rented abode, or an antique house, painting the walls in your room is a surefire way to not only lift the energy within the space but refresh the ambiance too. According to Joaquin Painting, once you take the step to paint your house, you must keep in mind that this will not be a one-and-done job. Depending on who lives in each room, or how much use and traffic the room gets, you might need to refresh it a lot more or a lot less than other spaces in the house; the time frame truly differs. For an adult's bedroom, from the moment you paint the walls, you can enjoy the vivaciousness for about five to six years, before topping it up with fresh paint. However, if you live with kids or pets, there may be more damage, stains and scuffs etched onto the walls of their rooms, playpens, the family room, and other areas which fall under the stain-prone category. For these high-traffic rooms, aim for the next two to three years before you execute a redo.
Add your very own paintings as room art
By now, you've probably painted your walls a deep blue hue just like Devi did, hence the next step is to enhance the freshly painted walls using artwork. Devi is creative and expressive in the way she speaks, the way she acts, and definitely, the way she decorates her bedroom. We see this through the artwork she has mounted to the right-hand side of her bed, above her lamp.
If you are decorating your home like Devi's bedroom, then you also need to seek out a few art pieces to place on your walls. You can choose from the store or feel free to insert personal character in your room by painting your very own artwork, just like Devi did. If you have kids, that's a bonus! Do not hesitate to drag them into an at-home art session and just like that, you can achieve fun family bonding while stacking up on wall decor. With all the Picasso-esque pieces you would surely end up having, you may as well make like UTR Decorating and carve out a gallery wall. The beauty of carving out a gallery wall is that you can choose a few pieces to hang up for some time, then swap them out later for a new batch.
If you are unsure about which rooms to hang your art in, keep in mind that every single room in your home is premium territory when it comes to hanging up art. Yes, even your toilets and your kitchen. Linda Crisolo, director of merchandising for Art.com, spoke at length with BHG about the type of art to have and the type not to have in your kitchen. She says, "I tend to shy away from pictures of asparagus in the kitchen...Vintage art with traditional frames works in a traditional kitchen. In a modern kitchen, try bright colors with stainless-steel frames."
Mount a coat rack on your door
Behind Devi's door is a coat rack that has been drilled into the door. A coat rack may seem like an insignificant addition to her space but it works wonders to mitigate clutter while stylishly offering extra storage. In order to achieve the same look as Devi's coat rack pictured above, you can forego buying one from the store, and choose to execute a DIY job at home. According to M.E. Gray, a blogger who runs Curbly, you need a wood board (reclaimed wood preferably), as well as a sander, and sanding disc to make the wood smooth. Ensure you have wall hooks that are strong enough to carry the items you wish to hang on there. In order to polish the wood, opt for satin wax and throughout the process of this DIY, do not forget your safety goggles and a respirator mask to keep you safe and protected.
Within Devi's blue room, she used white door frames, window frames, and other accents and accessories such as her coat rack and shelves to further enhance the blue walls and the feeling of calmness in her abode. Once you've crafted your wooden rack, feel free to paint it white to match Devi's version.
Depending on the home you live in, whether it's a temporary space, rented or not, you may not want to drill holes in order to mount your rack. This is perfectly understandable. If you fall under this umbrella, then opt for a standing coat rack. But not just any type of coat rack — be as flamboyant as Devi and introduce an animated version to act as a focal point in your room. This Coat Rack Made in 341 Minutes from brightly colored clay has a quirky yet quality aesthetic that can infuse a fun ambiance into your home (via Adorno). Lastly, a good old over-door hook like this one from Amazon can do the job in seconds without having to mount a rack on your door or drill holes in the wall.
Set up a wrought iron bed
Devi spends a lot of time dreaming up romantic stories and scenarios in her bed. And quite frankly, those la-la-land scenarios are almost as dramatic as the wrought iron bed that she daydreams in. If you are decorating your home like Devi's bedroom and you do not already own a wrought iron bed, this is your sign to get one. According to interior designer Amer Adnan, iron beds fall under the classic category. For years, wrought iron beds have been not only used in the world of decor, but they are also highly celebrated for their durability and ease of cleaning. A wrought iron bed like Devi's will offer any homeowner good value for their money as it can easily be maintained through fresh painting whenever it shows signs of wear.
Since wrought iron beds have been used for years, there may be a few antique versions that you could scout for which would potentially cost a lot less than an original, modern-day version. Once you pinpoint the spots to visit that stock antique iron beds, engage in a thorough inspection of the beds to make sure there are no missing parts. Also find out the year your chosen antique iron bed was created, because, as Brass Beds of VA notes, some antique beds (particularly those created before 1977) were made using lead paint. This is a destructive material that causes life-threatening illnesses.
Just in case you are not too keen on antiques and you choose to purchase a new bed, lean towards a contemporary retailer such as Big Brand Beds whose mission is to create quality classic cast iron beds for all body sizes and weights. Not every iron bed would come with a cast iron headboard like Devi's but this should not stop you from enjoying the headboard aesthetic.
Say yes to string lighting
Forget lamps and candles... the only lighting fixtures you need to focus on (if you are decorating your home like Devi's bedroom) are string lights! Pictured above, Devi leans against her headboard which boasts yellow string lights draped all over it. At another spot within Devi's bedroom, she has red stringed lights draped over her white floor-to-ceiling bookshelf casting a beautiful contrast in that region. These string lights are not the only lights she has in the room, however, these minor insertions go a long way to transforming her space into a whimsical wonderland.
When choosing the perfect lights for your room, Christmas Designers encourage you to opt for LED lights as they are more energy efficient. Once you purchase your lights, the next step is to figure out the areas where you wish to display them. Apart from intertwining them within your headboard like Devi, consider taking things one step further; for your kids' room, you can wrap string lights along a shelf to attract them to pick a book up and read. For your teenager's room, you can wrap string lights around the mirror to insert charm and offer extra lighting as they get ready for the day.
If you are not draping your lights along furniture pieces, you may want to hang them using other techniques. Drilling nails into your surfaces may come in handy, in addition to other nail-free methods to hold up the lights. One of which is through the use of adhesive clips or strong transparent tape, which you can peel and stick onto any desired surface, per Bliss Lights.
Mix vintage chairs with modern chairs
Gone are the days of adhering to strict interior decor rules, if you live within a space, nothing should stop you from mixing and matching accents and accessories as you please. Devi achieved this through the presence of various seating options, all of which differ vastly from the next, boasting different colors, textures, and shapes. Devi has a yellow plastic contemporary chair created with a glossy finish which offers a massive pop of color in the room and is propped beside her desk where she studies. Devi also has a vintage egg chair which as the name implies boasts a quirky egg-like silhouette.
According to Micadoni, you can achieve cohesion amongst vastly different chairs by selecting pieces that have a similar color base. The burnt orange hue of the egg chair boasts a yellow base which ties it back to the contemporary glossy yellow desk chair. And just like that, the vintage piece works perfectly with the modern piece. If you wish to purchase the egg chair seen in Devi's room, consider a similar alternative known as the Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair designed for the Fritz Hansen brand. Interior decor lovers all over the globe love this cocoon-like piece of furniture, which is a huge statement piece in any abode, according to Chairish. However, these highly celebrated pieces cost a pretty penny; they range from $6,000 to about $20,000. Alternatively, you can scout for similar options in an antique shop.
Pictured in the scene above is yet another eclectic chair of Devi's: A purple- and white-printed mid-century sofa which is a cross between furniture and art thanks to the tie-dye fabric used as upholstery for the chair. In order to prevent severe clashing between this seat and the rest of the other chairs, Devi ensured it was the only printed chair in her collection of seats. This enables her to enjoy a mismatched dynamic without needless noise and confusion.
Insert posters all around your space
We already know that Devi proudly has her paintings and drawings hung all over her walls, but we must also touch on the fact that the other surfaces which do not boast paintings have been covered in posters. This is one of the cheapest forms of decor and can transform a room with little to no effort. There are countless online and physical stores that stock posters, but after you purchase them, the real fun is in how you display them. You can paste them in an asymmetrical arrangement with different-sized versions plastered behind your door just like Devi did in the scene above.
Mind you, the gallery arrangement Devi did on her door can also be recreated within hallways in your home and also within the family room. To make the decor process fun, all family members can choose a poster to hang up within the gallery and the family can arrange the posters in a symmetrical or asymmetrical vignette. Whether your poster is super affordable, or an expensive collector's item, there are certain guides to hanging your posters up to make it appear like an interior decorator has had their way with your home. According to Homesmitten, painter's tape is a great adhesive to use for ease and efficiency to plaster posters onto the wall.
If you wish to take things up a notch, then frame your posters beforehand so it looks extra professional.
Make way for mirrors placed in quirky frames
Mirrors are vital additions to every home and if you are reading this, chances are, you already have one or ten set up around your home. What makes Devi's mirror special is the fact that it has been set within a gorgeous sunshine gold frame, further adding character and quirkiness to her abode. She placed the sunshine-framed mirror at a low level on her shelf; at a very strategic height such that it can be used when she sits down at her desk, should she wish to check her reflection, and it could also aid in making the room appear taller.
The Washington Post recommends using mirrors as decor to manipulate the size of the room. When speaking to the periodical, Utah-based interior designer Andrea West, owner of Andrea West Design says about mirrors; "When it's too high it makes the room feel more disconnected...When you bring it slightly lower, you feel more intimate in the space."
Round things up with a globular chandelier
It's easy to go wild with chandelier options when you are decorating a grand home with massive rooms but what if you were told that regardless of the size of your home (whether you live in a massive home or a boutique-sized space), you can implement chandelier lighting fixtures without any hassle. Houzz maintains that even compact rooms and homes can benefit from the addition of a chandelier as long as you are strategic in how you insert it. For instance, instead of using one massive chandelier hanging from a low-level ceiling in a small room, how about installing two smaller chandeliers at an equal distance apart, such that the aesthetic is balanced and the chandelier does not overwhelm the room?
My Lighting has some great options, one of which is this round crystal chandelier which offers various diameter options and light color options depending on which suits your needs best.