I’ve always had little dens. At our old house my dad built me a little hut in the garden, and we had a real treehouse and even a hiding place on top of the outside loo. I moved out into the shed when I started sixth form, which was great because I wanted more freedom and my parents didn’t have to be woken up by me coming home late at night.
A friend and I found this chair in a passageway near my house and carried it home. It had to be thoroughly dried out in front of the fireplace and it didn’t even have a seat when we found it.
I’m obsessed with rainbows, so my books are organized by color. It really brightens up the room! I just have to think for a second about whether the spine is blue or orange when looking for a particular title.
My alcoholic baby is one of my favorite things! She’s like my mascot. There’s a magnet in her mouth which repels the milk bottle and makes her head spin round like the kid in The Exorcist, then attracts the wine bottle and her head actually pops forward to drink from it! I found her at a carboot sale. Best 20p I ever spent.
I love being high up. My bed’s like a nest or something. I’d like to live in an attic one day, or at least have a roof garden.
My dad found these mirrors near his art studio, chucked out by someone who’d used them for a film. There’s a picture of Marc Bolan screwing up his face on an anti-smoking ad too—it just makes me laugh.
I’ve found loads of these ’80s girls’ annuals in charity shops; the cartoons are so corny, mostly about clichéd tweenie romances. I’ve cut into some of them to use in collages or just used them as references when drawing my own comic strips.
When I was about 12, people at school started calling me Enid. I had no idea why for ages, until a friend of my dad’s came over with Ghost World on DVD for me because “the main character is just like you!” I guess every weird arty girl will say the same thing , but the movie and the graphic novel mean so much to me. I’ve identified with and looked up to Enid for years, but this September after failing my art A-level and having two weeks of summer school, I actually got into art school and finally “outgrew” her. That was really strange, sort of emotional, I guess in the same way everyone was crying about Harry Potter ending. This postcard’s from the fantastic video rental shop in Broadway Market, which has loads of cross-stitched film posters on the walls.
The pound store opposite my college is the source of endless amusement and artistic inspiration to my friends and me! I Andy Warhol’ed this banana protector with electric tape.
I’ve had this vintage poster of a shoe for as long as I can remember; I think it was my mum’s. It’s a terrible drawing really—totally out of proportion, and cats’ paws aren’t anything like that! But it’s a sweet image; I’m very sentimental about it.
Don’t ask. I had the Mona Lisa in this wee shrine for ages, then I think my chocolate addiction took over. Very useful when you’re up at three in the morning with deadlines.
The bottom of the bunk bed has been covered with song lyrics and movie quotes by my friends. And eight dollars—my running-away-to-America fund.
This 1940s dressing table was a present from my parents. The guy selling it had no idea how much it was worth; they got it so cheaply. Each drawer is slightly different, and they still have numbers scrawled on the bottom by whoever made it to match them up to the right slot.
Yet again, a treasure from the street! My Some Like It Hot poster was in a skip on Brick Lane, perfect condition. I have no idea why anyone would want to chuck it out, they could’ve at least given it to a charity shop, but then I wouldn’t have found it, so…
A friend bought me a little Gizmo toy for my birthday a couple of years ago. I have a lot of odd toys, there’s also E.T., a unicorn, and one of the freaky little creatures from the Vauxhall Corsa advert.
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Rookie is an online magazine and book series for teenagers. Each month, a different editorial theme drives the writing, photography, and artwork that we publish. Learn more about us here, and find out how to submit your work here!
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THIS IS AMAZING I WANT TO LIVE HERE PLEASE LET ME MOVE IN WITH YOU.
and I want the alcoholic baby. CLASSY.
This actually almost made me cry. It feels like THAT should be my home…
I especially love #13!
Please let me move in with you…?
Lovely! Wish I lived in a shed. Or a cupboard under the stairs would do just as well.
AH! Harry Potter reference! :o (love you harry! *always*)
This is incredible. I want a room as interesting as this!
These are great pictures. I wish I could move in there…
I’ve always wanted my own “building” in my house. My friend Linnea has her own apartment section of her house with her own address that I’m so jealous of. I love how it is so FULL of everything, you know?
I think I would collage photos like . I already have done that with magazine stuff, but it would look way cooler with photos.
This is amazing. The best part is the way she has dollars tacked up on her wall like they’re something exotic. (although I imagine the folks in Tanzania would say the same thing about the 500-shilling note with an elephant on it that I have on my bulletin board, haha)
this room is a total inspiration! i’m a little jell-o that you have your own shed haha. my room is small so i’m always looking for ways to add more to my walls so guess what…i’m stealing your shrine idea!
I had a little (girl) crush on Eleanor H. before she started working with Rookie… Now it’s like a full-blown obessession! You should have like a How-to-be-Eleanor DIY Guide! (Eleanor should do one on her tumblr either way). Genious!
Living in a shed! That is so delightful. The first photo of the exterior reminded me of Pauline Parker’s shed/bedroom in Heavenly Creatures, one of my favorite movies, although her bedroom was definitely not as cozy as yours.
seems like i can find literally everything in that room. and very very colorful!
:) magical
Your room is so amazing!! I love all of the posters. :) The whole atmosphere (and probably also the fact that it’s a shed) kind of reminds me of a girl gang clubhouse for some reason.. :D
AHHHH SO JELOUS! OH MY GAWD! I HAVE A SHED, AND IT’S PERFECT SIZE, BUT THERES SO WAY MY PARENTS WOULD LET ME DO THAT! AND I LOVE YOUR BED! AHHHHH I AM SO JELOUS!! *needing* *needing*
It kind of reminds me of those “I Spy” books with a huge jumble of warmly colored barely recognizable objects…So COOL! And I love her outfit, too.
YESSSS this makes me so happy, all of these room posts today, because decorating my new apartment is my reward for finishing this week of finals. These are just making me so much happier so I can MAKE IT THRRROUGH!
THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS. I’m so jealous of her room that it cannot be describe in words. Jealous jealous jealous. There, I did it.
This is spectacular! Want to move in…ahaha, does Annie have a blog or something of that sort? She seems like quite a cool girl
yow, amazing.
Awesome! Showing this to my best friend, she has a room I am completely jealous of.
I simply adore your room. I love how you color coordinated your books to the rainbow! It’s the littlest things that make it unique. I honestly feel depressed when a room is matchy- matchy and cookie- cutter.
She looks like Winona Ryder!!!! AAAGH i want this so bad. I’ve actually started on my closet from the previous post, then this came up and now i’m even happier. oh life is so wonderful. does rubber cement peel the paint off your walls??
omg omg omg omg
what a dream!
Marc Bolan! Oh man, I’m going to have to listen to “I Love To Boogie” right now :-)
I also have my books organized by colors!
That comic you’re reading looks like you.
room-envy!! it’s amazing! :D
Thank you so much for all the lovely comments! It’s so nice seeing my room being appreciated <3
this is beyond cool!! reminds me of the kids’ book Lottie’s Cats, which is about a little girl who has a room in a shed like this but with a bunch of cats & it’s the greatest
OMG this is actually the most wonderful room i’ve ever seen in my entire life… I found loads of inspiring things for my room..=) So lovely!
That “in case of emergency” thing is amazing! I would probably put maybe a Sky bar there.
@shed_girl
or annie i suppose…
following you! :)
I’m in love with this room!!!
EPIC MARC BOLAN PICTURE!
I would totally do this except my room is literally the size of a closet. Woe is me
That room is a masterpiece. By the way, love the dress and the color-coorditnated bookshelf!
I knew this was going to be good from the first picture when I saw Harry Potter on the bookshelves.
Oh, If only I had space for an armchair in my bedroom! Or a nest bed. Pity I can’t transform it into a four poster bed either, cos it would block off the window and my gigantic stupid wardrobe.
i love all the harry potters lined up on the bookshelf!
Wow! I also organise my books by colour but Harry Potter ALWAYS stays in order because it’s its own rainbow <3
oh this room is so lovely. i love it all!
I wanna live here!!
I love everything in this room! i wish my room was like this, but it’s all open and spacious and boring!
I also want to paint a mural on my bedroom wall!
Everyone’s rooms are always so wonderful! My room is full of such junk! Stuffed animals and my painting supplies…..I’m a disorganized mess.
please, may i move in with you?
this room is amazing!
definitely using this as inspiration for my own bedroom! i’m so jealous of the fact it’s a shed as well!
This room is awesome indeed! I love the collages she has all over her walls, and the way the books are organized….genious!!! Let me move innnnn!