When you’re in your 20s, home decor doesn’t always make it to the top of your priority list when it comes to the things in which you invest your hard-earned money. As a result, many items that populate your space in this decade of life tend to be leftovers from dorm days or freebies or hand-me-downs. Here, six things you’re likely to spot in any 20-something’s home, as well as suggestions for easily upgrading to more sophisticated decor if this sounds like you.
Swap These Out, Stat
An Over-The-Door Mirror
Some of us have more than one of these plastic-rimmed throwaway mirrors from Target or the like hanging from the doors of our apartments or leaning lazily against its walls. When you're ready for an upgrade, we love this Queen Anne-Style Floor Mirror from Horchow or this minimalist-perfect infinity mirror from CB2. We're also currently on a mad search for a rose-tinted floor mirror, but until we find this coveted item, we'll have to settle for one of these circular beauties.
Plastic Drawers
You may have transferred these from your dorm room into your post-collegiate home without a thought, because they're generally shoved under the bed or into the closet and no one sees them anyway; however, we'd argue that plastic drawers are unsightly no matter where they're stuffed, and they need to be retired as soon as possible. Clear out the clutter these bins contain so you can store your stuff mindfully in these chic wire baskets with copper handles from Target instead. We also love these wooden baskets from Zara.
Art That Isn't Art
If you have anything hanging from your walls baring the words "keep calm...", we're going to go ahead and ask that you remove it immediately. Any other mass-produced, clichéd "art" hanging on your walls can be slowly replaced over time using The Fashion Girl's Guide to Starting An Affordable Art Collection. As a hack, we also highly recommend cutting editorial photography from high-end coffee table books and framing it to populate barren walls.
Logo-Printed Glassware
We don't take issue with mis-matched dishes, as we think they can be cute if sourced and collected with purpose (a vintage hodgepodge can be adorable). That said, you can definitely rid your cabinets of any and all plastic cups accumulated from 5k runs and chain restaurants, stat. Ditto goes for all logo-printed shot glasses. We love this textured glassware from H&M Home (to replace the Outback Steakhouse cup you're not sure how you acquired) as well as these sophisticated shot glass offerings from DwellStudio (to replace your relics from spring break of 2000-whenever).
Bestie Photo Collages
Why did we all feel the need to make these at one point in our lives? We're still waiting for Psychology Today to explain this one to us, but in the meantime, we're going to go ahead and suggest you choose a few of your favorite photos from your best bestie collage and then mount them, in separate sophisticated frames, as part of a gallery wall. If you need help with the framing, ship your stuff to Framebridge and they'll handle it for you. If, from there, you're not sure how to put together a gallery wall, Lauren Conrad has this handy guide, which will be easier to use once you've download the Hang-a-Pic app. Or, as an outside-of-the-norm alternative, how adorable is the simple, hanger-centric photo wall pictured above?
Ratty Towels & Other Linens
It should not look like someone met their untimely death on your bedding, nor should your bath towels look like they would be right at home in the hands of someone washing your car. You will be shocked by how much better you feel after upgrading worn linens (it's called self-care), and please, please do not feel the need to hang onto the old ones "just in case" (Of what? Just do laundry!) We love Parachute's luxe offerings from Italy, or you can find great deals on high-quality bedding at Costco as well.
