Touring My Otona Kawaii Studio: Part 1

Never would I call myself an interior designer, but I do enjoy decorating my space to be completely, unapologetically me. Too often I look on Pinterest for room inspiration and it all looks the same. Neutral tones, whatever furniture style is trendy at the moment, plants. Nothing against plants, I just can’t have any because something about any form of life in this apartment lights a fire beneath my cat to bite it to death. So plants are out.

While I wish I could have plants, I don’t care for the other Pinterest trends. It may work for other people, but what’s important to me is a space where I can be myself and be inspired. After all, a drab space doesn’t lend itself well to creativity. My design sensibility is often contradictory: simplicity with personality. If my space isn’t clean I can’t function, and less things means less mess. As a result, organization is key.

I live in a tiny one bedroom convertible, which means it’s a studio with a wall to pretend it’s a bedroom. That wall is infinitely valuable in terms of separation of space. For this post, I’ll show you my bedroom for my take on otona kawaii living.

About two-thirds of my bedroom is this half: my bed and a ladder bookshelf with some prized belonging. Yes, there’s lots of Kero-chans! I’ve been collecting Kero-chan since I was a child, so over the years I’ve certainly accumulated a lot, but I think he perfectly encapsulates what I’m all about: fun, food-loving, but serious when the moment calls for it. Because Japan is still happily producing CDs, I have a lot of CDs that I really enjoy playing. It’s like vinyl records without as much effort. I guarantee CDs are going to make a comeback!

The most chaotic part of my room is my collection of corkboards. This is where I allow myself messiness, and will throw up notes/drawings/photos/trinkets without much thought. It’s on display next to my desk area, which by comparison I keep meticulously organized.

As a stationery lover, it can be difficult to control your collection. Small objects like pens and stickers easily go awry without structure, so I have many vessels around my home to keep pens available in reach without rolling all over the place. Likewise, I keep my 100+ rolls of washi tape in a dedicated organizer where they’re easy to grab without being visually distracting.

When I’m being creative and working on my journals, the area turns into a mess quickly, so it’s important to me that being able to throw everything back where it came from is a painless process. I find that simple pouches work great for paper stationery, and small binders are great for sheets of stickers!

Though a nice view isn’t something I can control, having one doesn’t hurt. In lieu of having no plants indoors, I’m grateful to have a lush view that is nature-rich while still embodying the urban neighborhood that I live in. Plus, during summertime I can check on my building’s pool to see if the swimming lap lane is free.

Thanks for visiting my bedroom! Part 2 coming soon, with a tour of my kitchen and living area. This is where size restraints really come into play, and I show examples of how I work around my space restriction. I hope you enjoyed this post and hopefully it provided you with some otona kawaii inspiration for striking cute and mature balance in your own space!