So you’re raising yourself and your ragtag younger siblings in a boxcar in the woods, with only your eccentric rich grandfather to look after you. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a little style! Here are a few small-space decorating tips to jazz up your old-timey orphan abode on a budget:
For the Boxcar Clutter: Bindle Rack
If your little-sib little ones are always leaving their bindles all over the boxcar you call a house, it might not just be because they’re rough-hewn little rapscallions. Having a home for every object is a great way to stay neat, making the only things that don’t have a home you and your siblings. To cut down on clutter, make a minimalist wall rack for your bindles out of driftwood, birch branches, or a big cool stick. The hooks can be made from rusty old fishhooks you found on the roots of the old oak tree next to the river. Label each hook with your brothers and sisters’ names to cut down on arguments. Organization is key for a small space full of orphans!
For the Orphan Filth: Mudroom
Tired of those rascally rascals tracking dirt all over your boxcar house? An area by the door to don and doff muddy shoes will limit the time you spend cleaning up so you have more time to be a child — and maybe even solve a few mysteries! Draw a little square on the floorboards with the flint you found by the old fire pit, and designate that as the area for indoor mud play. Your sibling-children will appreciate the leniency, but still benefit from the boundaries!
For Processing Your Past: Found Object Collage
Three is a good number when it comes to grouping objets d’art, and it’s also the number of siblings there would be if anything ever happened to you. A rustic collage of found objects is a way to add class to the former train car you call home. Combine one element from each of the following categories: animal artifacts, stone items, and something sad and reminiscent of your lonely childhood. You could use skipping stones, big pine cones, shed skins from snakes, the broken kite you keep meaning to fix, a REAL arrowhead, a maybe-fossil, a cool rock (not for skipping, for keeping), your buffalo nickel, a picture of the lady who raised you, or a vole bone. You’re already doing the DIY approach to raising yourself, so why not apply it to your living space?
Just for Fun: Accent Wall!
A pop of color on one wall is a lovely and affordable way to spruce up a small space, especially if you’re surrounded by spruce trees in a small clearing wherein you are vulnerable to attack from any number of predators. Have your spry younger brother skip down to the snake pit and kill himself a couple of rattlers. Drain the blood into the pail you usually keep your wampum collection in and paint in the direction of the grain, being careful not to drip on the little baby chipmunk who’s sleeping at your feet. We’re all just little critters in God’s forest.
These are just a few sassy ways to make your boxcar home fresh again!
