These 15 TV/Movie Bedrooms Fundamentally Changed Me As A Human Being, And I'm Not Even Joking
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I remember being younger and seeing bedrooms in TV shows and movies that made me rethink not just my personal style, but my very EXISTENCE!!!
Paramount Pictures / Via tenor.com
I know you know this feeling.
These rooms were probably too aspirational, and I didn't realize at the time that set designers with budgets were actually putting them together, and not teens with limited funds.
But that did not stop me from trying to emulate nearly everything I saw!!
So join me as I journey through 15 rooms that made me think I should paint every wall in my room a different color (which I did) and think I should cover my dresser in stickers (which my parents were mad about).
1.Lizzie's bedroom in Lizzie McGuire.
The thing about Lizzie's room was that it really felt achievable. It's easy enough to string up some heart lights and put butterflies on every open surface! Lizzie was the everywoman. She was real. She didn't always get it right, but you felt like you were her and she was you, and her bedroom was an extension of that.
Butterflies in frames! Butterfly stickers! Butterfly hair clips out on the desk!
Where can we even set anything down???
Lizzie was the kind of girl who had a feather boa just because! Imagine being so whimsical!
The room is positively BURSTING with decor (a trend that you will notice throughout).
And what is that little house in the background? A CD shelf? Jewelry storage? I don't know, but whatever it is, I have to have it.
I also want to acknowledge that Lizzie's room in the movie and in the show are quite a bit different (as we can see above), BUT they both carried the same spirit, which is what we were all trying to achieve.
2.Kat's bedroom in 10 Things I Hate About You.
This was HUGE! Kat was one of the first "alt girls" I remember falling in love with (in a girl-crush way. I am obviously deeply homosexual). This film came out at a PIVOTAL time, as I was starting to age out of butterflies and into pretending to like punk music to impress my older brother's hot friends.
I 100% got a sun/moon comforter like this because Kat had one. She was so cool and independent. Who wouldn't want to be just like her??
Also, the fact that she has a full easel set up in her room was like *drool emoji*. I was playing at being an artist in my youth and this was a glimpse into the future that I wanted for myself.
I also can't really touch on this bedroom or this scene without bringing up the black underwear of it all. SORRY!
I can't even pull on a pair of black briefs without thinking of this moment. "You don't buy black lingerie unless you want someone to see it." Okaaaaaaay. THAT was a game-changer. This room was aspirational AND educational.
3.Arnold Shortman's bedroom in Hey Arnold!
Animated or not, this was a dope room.
This ceiling is EVERYTHING! Waking up to a clear view of the sky, while bright, does seem pretty damn cool.
And look at this built-in shelving! So much space for all your treasures!
And who didn't want an alarm clock made in their own likeness that was powered by a damn potato?! Show me ONE person!!!
This carpet is actually cool as hell. I would 100% use this in a space TO. DAY. And a cozy little desk with a view of the city? Forget it!
One of the best parts about this room is that he has friggin' roof access. All he has to do is climb his little toes up the ladder by his bed and he is OUTDOORS.
Now, was I too anxious as a child to go out on a ROOF where I could FALL? Yeah. I was. So sue me. But I liked the idea that I could be someone who did this. And Arnold fulfilled that dream.
4.Raven Baxter's bedrooms in That's So Raven.
Raven's first bedroom was in the attic, which for some reason was really cool?? IDK why, honestly, but it made me want to beg my parents to let me move into the attic, even though the only entrance was through the ceiling in their bedroom closet.
Raven had a sewing space because she was a budding fashion designerrrr, which duped me into thinking making clothes would be easy.
It was in fact not easy, and the best I could do was make clothes out of felt for my Beanie Babies. Hey, I tried!
Later in the series, Raven moved to the BASEMENT! Now this is something I actually did do, although I did not have a bed that was SUSPENDED FROM THE CEILING BY FRILLY ROPES!
The bed swung hither and tither, and although I now realize what an actual nightmare that would be to try to sleep on, in the year of our lord 2004, I was gagging for it.
Any color you want, you can HAVE! That's what Raven said.
And her new sewing station was on a PLATFORM, which was like the best thing I'd ever seen in my 13-year-old life???? And she had a friggin' MANNEQUIN to dress up!!! Okaaaay.
While my family wasn't willing to buy us a mannequin, my parents did buy my sister a biology room skeleton that we named Stan and dressed up in various outfits throughout the year. So it was close.
5.Lane Kim's bedroom in Gilmore Girls.
Okay, the room itself is not great. I mean, we can all see what we're seeing up there. It's pretty draaaaaab. So you may be wondering, "Why the hell is this on the list??"
Wellll, you have to remember the rest of Lane's room, specifically what was going on in her closet.
It's like Narnia, but for girls who love alt rock.
Lane created a sanctuary for herself in that closet, and when you're in middle school, there is nothing more intoxicating than the idea of your own SECRET space where you can actually be yourself.
Now, is it a little on the nose that I, a gay man, am including a CLOSET as one of the ideal rooms for my childhood self? Yeah. It is. But it was still so cool.
And she had the floorboards that popped up so she could hide all of the things Mrs. Kim didn't want her to have.
I would have loved a place to store my Harry Potter books and my Pokémon cards when my parents decided they were of the devil and made me get rid of them!
6.Every bedroom in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
I don't know if there is a more formative movie for me than this. Even while taking screenshots for this post, I was literally crying at the 10 seconds I watched to find the right clips. And as powerful as the storytelling was/is, the rooms also changed me.
There was an issue of Pottery Barn Teen (lmaoooo) that showcased all of the rooms, and I ate that shit UP (though it was way too expensive to do anything more than just look at).
Carmen's room was BOLD and BRIGHT — random flowers here, pops of orange, red, and purple there. It was like Disney Channel but somehow elevated Disney Channel.
Lena's actual room was really nothing special to me, except for the drawing table (remember, I was an artist after all).
But where Lena really shined was in her bedroom in Greece.
I know the picture is blurry, but look at this place!! There's a couch! A table! Real art hanging on the walls! It's so dreamy and romantic.
This film was what started my deep-rooted love of Greece (someone is rolling their eyes at me rn) and the belief that if I were to move there, I would finally be happy (maybe one day!).
I know my Kostos is out there somewhere!
But the best part is the VIEW!!! Imagine waking up every morning and looking at this! I die!
She could probably see all the hot fishermen from here too, which is an amenity I've been looking for in every apartment I've ever rented.
Then there was Tibby's room. I thought I was the Tibby of the group when I was a kid, so this is the style I really tried to go for out of all of them.
I've since accepted I am a Bridget, and if that makes me unrelatable, I'm sorry!!!!
Tibby had road signs in her room! That was cool. She was the badass and she had the room to match.
My sister stole a couple road signs and a big plastic sign that was meant to go on top of the drivers ed car at school. I still remember the day my mom found that in her closet (lolololol).
Now, even though I said I am a Bridget, her room isn't that special. Sure, it has a fireplace, which is cool, but the reeeeeal thing in this room to be jealous of is...
Not one, but TWO deep AF fully padded bay windows that can comfortably sleep four and a dog?!?!
What the room lacks in style it more than makes up for in cozy-ass window seating. Like, imagine!!!!!!!!!
7.Fiona's bedroom in Josie and the Pussycats.
Fiona is a deeply unwell (and hilarious) villain, but that didn't stop me from wanting her room! I have been thinking about those giant paintings since 2001 when I saw this movie on opening night. (Am i toying with the idea of getting a tattoo of the painting on the right? Yuh.)
These candy pink walls are...delicious? Is that weird to say? I want to eat them? Really take them in, I beg you. Would you not die to have these walls in your own home??
This room is PINK and girly and everything is a little bit frivolous, and that was the 2000s vibe, babe.
A whole-ass chair just for your Hello Kitty plush? Legendary.
Also, do yourself a favor and read this Nylon interview with the movie's costume designer about how they basically INVENTED early 2000s fashion (after you finish reading this, though. Please, I really need this).
We have another room with a platform. Why are things that are just a little bit higher than everything else so intriguing?
Also, this bench at the foot of the bed is everything to me. One day, I will have enough space for a bed bench. 🥲
8.Lola's bedroom in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.
The way wrought iron bed frames had an absolute chokehold on the girls in the 2000s. It was chic, it was dreamy, it was a damn FANTASY. If you could have a wrought iron bed frame, things could really be different for you.
Of course, one of the most notable parts of Lola's room was the WALL-SIZED POSTER of a shirtless Stu Wolf (her rock star crush).
Oh, that I could have had Zac Efron's abs or Erik Von Detten's hair take up an entire wall of my bedroom.
We have more suspended furniture here. We couldn't get enough of the stuff!
I actually did buy a hanging chair once, but we couldn't figure out how to hang it up without it ripping out of the ceiling because we were not set designers with a crew of workers!!
Having a five-disc CD player was peak coolness in 2004, and when I got mine (brag), I felt like a baaaaaad bitch.
I loaded that sucker up with Michelle Branch and S Club 7 CDs and let it play, baby, play! The inconvenience of taking one disc out to put another in was long gone. WHO HAD THE TIME?!
These flamingo lights said, "I'm FUN! No really, I am. Please believe I am. PLEASE!"
And we have yet another mannequin/sewing station, and the more I look, the more I wonder if they just lifted everything straight from Raven's room.
9.The bedrooms in Juno.
Juno was a cultural MOMENT. It made being "weeeeeeeird" cool. It was like taking the spirit of early Zooey Deschanel and distilling it into the medium of film, and in turn giving us this quuuuuirky aesthetic.
We had a Buddha light switch cover just for funsies. And, of course, name tags on the wall just for the hell of it.
"Hello I'm drunk." OKAY, WE'RE EDGY NOW!!!!! This ain't no Disney Channel shit no more, alright???
These naked, slightly creepy baby dolls said so much and yet nothing at all. The reason for them was that there was no reason for them.
And OF COURSE the hamburger phone!
I never had my own phone in my room like SOME people (*ahem* my sister), but if I HAD it would have either been this or one of those colorful see-through plastic ones. Remember those?
Chalkboard paint on the armoire, emo posters plastering the walls, stickers in places there shouldn't be stickers. This was some real cool girl shit right here.
But Juno's wasn't the only room in this movie that gave me an intense case of envy. Juno's BFF Leah also brought some strong aesthetics to the table.
Leah's room was femme and it was horny???? Does that make sense?? I also refinished a desk with my mom one summer and I painted it basically this exact color and with near-identical finishes.
Also, out of all the collages in this list (and there are MANY), this one is my favorite. And yes, it is because it's a bunch of hot men. You mad???
This photo actually captures everything I want to be in this life, and if you don't understand that, then I'm sorry, you just don't get me!!!!
10.Regina George's bedroom in Mean Girls.
This room has everything: pillows everywhere, another bed on a platform, tons of extra seating, and a canopy that is BUILT INTO THE FUCKING CEILING!!!!!! I didn't even know I could ask for something like that before I saw this movie.
It also took me way too many watches to realize that these photo collages are on the double doors to her attached BATHROOM.
I did have my own bathroom in high school, but it was less "bathtub for two" and more "poor insulation and sharing it with spiders." It also wasn't attached to my room, but hey, it was all mine.
Regina's furniture was a little garish TBH, but it was fancy. And that meant something.
She had an ornate fireplace in her room right next to her Avril Lavigne poster. This was a young woman who had it ALL.
And something that I really overlooked in my youth, but have my eyes on as an adult, is this ferkin' patio!! My god!
It is almost comically big. I could host a family reunion out there and it would be cozy. And my family is Irish/Italian!
11.This seaside bedroom in Aquamarine.
This room is like a breath of fresh air from all the intense colors and all-consuming collages in the rooms that came before it. This room is bright and airy, and it started my love affair with sheer curtains (I have them hanging in my bedroom literally right now).
Imagine having a monochrome wardrobe that doubles as an accent wall! Now that was innovation, sweetie!
This sloped ceiling actually would have been so annoying, especially as someone who has been over 6 feet tall since middle school, but I would have been willing to make it work!!
This vanity was goalz. I honestly have a hard time understanding what's even going on here, but I love it.
Like, does that feather go to something, or is it just there? Are those beads at the top?? Is any of it jewelry? Is that a headband hanging on a suction cup...something??? So many questions.
But we've also got this BALCONY that overlooks the damn beach!!
They have a clear view of the surfer hotties not only catching waves, but also they can see them showering off (in bathing suits) after a dip in the ocean??? And, like, sunsets or whatever too. But this would have been so clutch.
12.Anna's room in Freaky Friday.
Anna's room was like the gateway drug to Kat's room in 10 Things. It had an edge, but it wasn't a fully formed edgy room yet. It still had touches of softness, like this comforter situation. Like, how can you look at that and not want to just cozy up??
But then you have things like the "parental advisory" sign that told the world, "NOBODY GETS ME!!!"
My parents would have never let a sign like that fly, but they did let me tape pictures up on my wall very much like this (they were all cut out from Disney Adventures magazine...not quite the edge that Anna was going for).
It's really important that I point out this "I love dolphins" sticker, because dolphin culture was the 2000s.
I know we have horse girls, but dolphin girls were just as present and important in the cultural conversation, and I don't think we're talking about it enough! We're here and we matter!!!!
Dolphin stickers on the mirror and a yin yang for good measure. We've also got a surfer symbol, because it didn't matter if you lived in a completely landlocked state — we all loved the idea of surfing.
I literally had that same exact photo collage frame she has on the wall, and I filled it with the dumbest pictures of me and my friends that were so beautifully cringe I could cry.
Also, peep the "surf life" sticker on the cabinet. I'm telling you, surfing was BIG!!! Take it from someone who grew up in MICHIGAN. LOL.
13.Sabrina's room in Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Celestial decor really had a MOMENT in the 2000s, and I think we can attribute a large part of that to miss Spellman here. The dreamy purple and blue hues of Sabrina's space were so ethereal, it made you want to run out and join a coven!
The room also balances these kind of older, antique pieces with more modern statements that made it feel sophisticated and fresh at the same time.
It's perfect for the age where you want the grown-ups to take you seriously for once, but you are still a little baby kid after all. This was the room that could bridge that gap.
But the real reason this room makes the list is obviously the STAINED GLASS WINDOW SITUATION.
Nobody else was doing it like this. All the girls were quaking when Sabrina popped on the scene with this shit. TWO lava lamps and a TRIO of stained glass windows?? They just don't do it like this anymore.
14.Molly's bedroom/apartment in Uptown Girls.
I'm breaking my own rules a little bit, because it's not just Molly's bedroom, it's the whole apartment that makes this one really sing! The bohemian vibe was alive and WELL in this space. It traded in the pinks and purples for salmons and oranges, and it made me feel like mess was actually chic.
The bedroom was LUXE (again with the sheer curtains) and the bed was jaw-droppingly beautiful (and it's not just the half-naked man, okay?!?!?!).
Imagine going to bed every night enveloped by various silks and sheets made of Egyptian cotton.
Above the bed is this canopy, which actually brings a tear to my eye it's so pretty. And these shimmery stars painted on this powder blue ceiling are an absolute wet dream.
Below the bed, of course there are stairs for her PET PIG!
The pig is not decor, but Mu was a part of this messy-girl lifestyle that, while ultimately a fantasy, made me think I should have it a little less together.
Molly had various ornate structures around the apartment that were littered with lingerie and silk gloves, and there was something so poetic about that to us young girls and gays in the year 2003.
And the woman had TWO vanities!! That's LUXURY, darling girl!
And a whole room of guitars?!
Sure, the reason she has this room full of guitars is SAD, but it is pretty chic.
But the real winner here is this kitchen window situation.
Again, I know I'm breaking my own rules and this is very much not a bedroom, but look at this! Have you ever seen a more romantic location in your GD life?! Sitting on the fire escape with your rock star lover...that's what I thought life was going to look like when I grew up (BIG LOL TO THAT).
15.Mia's bedroom in The Princess Diaries.
You didn't think you were getting out of this list without seeing THIS room, did you? Don't make me LAUGH! Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi: PrinCESS of Genovia's room is the end-all, be-all of 2000s movie bedrooms.
The spiral staircase, this green tea ice cream color on the walls...
...these monkeys (that everyone had for some reason??) just hanging out because Mia is one of us!
Living in a converted fire station is about the coolest thing I can think of. Sliding down to breakfast on a fire pole was AS GOOD AS IT MOTHERFUCKING GETS! We all wanted this.
Everything was so cohesive, but not in a catalog sort of way. It was all so effortless. Eclectic yet controlled.
The Aretha poster? TASTE! All those lotions, creams, and fragrances crowding her vanity? I guess I need to buy more lotions, creams, and fragrances! Whatever Mia did, I wanted to do. There was a time where I copied the way she would nervously chomp her teeth together, because I've never done anything original in my life!
But, of course, what we all really wanted was The Tower™.
Having a space to shut yourself off from the world is essential, and where better to do it than in a tower of your very own? The smiley face on the sliding door might look inviting, but let's be clear, this is a DO NOT ENTER kind of zone.
I mean, how cozy is this? A place to read, journal, stargaze, spy on neighbors, read long lost letters from your deceased father — the possibilities are endless.
I did buy a chair just like this one when I was younger, and unfortunately, they are not as comfortable as you want them to be, but it was worth it for the fantasy, to feel like I was Mia Thermopolis for a day.
