How To Decorate Your Home Like Andie's Bedroom In Pretty In Pink

In the year 1986, according to USA Today, Jon Hughes alongside Director Howard Deutch made movie magic in the form of "Pretty In Pink." The film follows Andie, played by Molly Ringwald, your average high schooler who is trying to navigate life alongside her bestie, Duckie. Being nerds is what Andie and Duckie do best. However, social limitations do not stop Andie from falling for the popular guy in her school, Blane. Much like most 80's movies, Blane is not just popular, he is an entitled country club kid with douchebag friends in tow. As movie magic occurs, he eventually takes notice of Andie and starts pursuing her much to his stuck-up friends' chagrin. 

It could have been such a cut-and-dry story of the rich boy finally humbling himself, accepting all humans are the same deep down, and it's not a crime to love someone outside his tax bracket, but Andie's bestie confesses to the viewers a romantic love for Andie as well, which adds flame to the film. For over 30 years, the biggest dilemma for viewers of the movie has been and will always be, did Andie make the right pick between her two suitors? 

That being said, this cult classic also offers a lot in terms of home decor and dreamy aesthetics. With Andie being such a girly girl with her room decor, fans of Andie fell in love with her pink-infused vintage aesthetic which was a testament to the title of the movie "Pretty In Pink." At first glance, the whole room looks as though a pastel pink bomb exploded everywhere, from all her pink accessories, the pink printed wallpaper,  and so much more. Keep reading to enjoy a nostalgic ride filled with tips and tricks to recreate Andie's decor in your own abode. And beware, lots of pink ahead!

When Andie is not spending time with bestie Duckie, she is getting life gems from Iona, her quirky boss. The relationship they have tells a bigger story; Iona, despite being a full-fledged adult with artistic flair, gels so well with Andie! Maybe because Andie literally has an old soul. This is showcased courtesy of the grown-up artwork Andie hung right beside her bed. If you are decorating your home like Andie's bedroom from "Pretty In Pink," the first thing you need is a Mondrian which you can frame and hang on your wall.

 According to Khan Academy, Piet Mondrian, the man behind the artwork, was a well-known "Neo Plasticist" artist who was also a huge protagonist of abstract art. Mondrian never got excited about the frills and fuss that other artists put into their artwork, he was determined to make a masterpiece from the implementation of abstraction. This is what he achieved with the painting "Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow" of which he highlighted, "Pure abstract art becomes completely emancipated, free of naturalistic appearances."

The Mondrian painting adds so much character to Andie's because it translates into the world of interior decor. Mondrian combined primary colors with ease against neutrals on a canvas using oil paint to create a satisfying result. This is in fact, a complementary decor technique that decorators achieve by juxtaposing primary colors against neutral tones within a room, such that it elicits a calming response from the homeowner. Eddie Maestri of the Dallas-based interior design and architecture firm Maestri Studio spoke to BHG, confirming this. He says, "I like to pair them (primary colors) with calmer, more subdued color tones, such as white, gray, and browns," as a way to tone the primary colors down. The Mondrian poster has all Maestri's aforementioned aesthetics: It boasts primary colors — red, yellow, and blue splashed against a "more subdued color tone" which is the white background that carries all the colors. If you have a vacant wall in your home you should highly consider getting a Mondrian poster immediately. Luckily online stores like Junique currently stock a few options so it can be yours with the click of a button.

If you are decorating your home like Andie's bedroom, by no means should you overlook the addition of a corded telephone like the one she uses to catch up with loved ones. Yes we are in the 21st century where everything has evolved thanks to technology, and corded telephones are essentially a thing of the past, but you need to remember that John Hughes created "Pretty in Pink" in the 1980s and, according to Art Institutes, that was a period where only a handful of cell phones had been created. Therefore most households relied on cord telephones for communication. People may think fondly about this phone because of the ease of that era, hence this should be your sign to introduce one into your home stat (via Statista). 

Amazon has great options which you could choose from, one of which is this pastel pink version for $16.95. It would infuse Andie's aesthetic with immediate effect.

The movie explores Andie's creativity in the sense that she made her very own prom dress which is the pink number "Pretty in Pink" is known for. And keeping that in mind, it's a possibility that she may have also created this charming and chic crochet bed set pictured above in her bedroom. Creating it by hand, Saba's Corner, a Youtube channel dedicated to DIYs, is making a case for homemade crochet bedspreads that you can execute with the necessary colors of wool and a crochet hook. Alternatively, you can purchase one from the store. You have the option to go for the exact aesthetic as seen in Andie's bedroom: A pure off-white crochet patterned motif design like this one from Etsy. 

One way to highlight the matching bed and pillow is to add other textures to the unit. Mix other materials such as silk or velvet into the mix to thoroughly complement the pre-existing crochet bed linen. When speaking to The Strategist, Lee Mayer, CEO of online interior design service Havenly, further extolls the power of mixing materials, urging individuals to focus on "...layering and texture." 

In Andie's bedroom, there's a bedside table that is filled with tons and tons of Andie's belongings. Underneath the table lies a stacked mess of school projects, books, and more. The top of the bedside table has also been utilized to carry her cord telephone, radio, and other miniatures. The table is indeed small yet despite being engaged in a heavy-duty job, it still looks decorative. This is definitely thanks to the pink and white printed table covering.

According to PushPlinen, tablecloths could be used to give character and color to any table, from dining to bedside tables. In order to recreate the same aesthetic within Andie's bedroom, you can get a cloth specifically for your bedside table. Keep in mind, however, that it is a commitment that continues long after you have chosen your desired cloth and showcased it on the table. You would need to clean and wash it from time to time as upkeep is required to keep it looking good. Also, you do not need to use the exact same bedside tablecloth day in and day out. After a few weeks, feel free to change it according to your vibe. If you need something quite similar to Andie's, this chic version is available via Amazon.

Over-door hooks are essentially little tools to add extra storage and organization to your room. Imagine coming back from a long day of work, and instead of flinging your coat, bag, and umbrella on the table, you neatly hang them up on your clothing hook. Once you make this a habit you would begin to notice the tidiness levels increase, plus there is a higher chance that you would always know where your staple items are. Andie has an over-door hook in her bedroom which she uses to hang her pink robes, sweaters, coats, and more.

According to The DIY Playbook, different hooks suit different times and phases in your life. Andie's over-door hook is perfect for her, because Casey Finn, the force behind the DIY blog, says those sorts of hooks work for younger people going through a transitory stage of life. In addition to this, over-door hooks work really well for rented properties mainly because you do not need to drill any holes or cause damage to your door and wall surfaces. If you have a very large bathroom door, why not opt for this fun over-door hook with lots of character, which can be found via Walmart? 

If you want a more refined hook to match your refined home decor, you need to focus on ditching the over-door design and opt for a sleek design which you most likely would need to drill into the surface where it will hang. You can find so many different styles in various materials and colors depending on which one works in your space. 

 When you watch "Pretty In Pink," you find that there are floral bouquets painted onto Andie's vintage headboard. The floral detail inserts a delightful charm to the furniture that you should totally consider if you aim to decorate your home like Andie's bedroom. The assumption here is that you already have a bed with a sturdy headboard. If it is a plain wooden version, feel free to refresh and revive it by covering it with floral images. Find floral stickers to attach to the front of the headboard and the bottom of the bed frame to execute the same result as seen in "Pretty in Pink." This one from Amazon is very similar and can have your bedroom transformed within seconds.

Alternatively, if you desire a more creative method to achieve the same result as Andie's headboard then you could paint flowers directly onto the headboard using semi-gloss acrylic paint. This paint type works very well for wooden surfaces, according to Jon Peters – Longwood Woodworking on YouTube. If your headboard is not wooden, another common headboard design is the upholstered version. Because upholstery involves, fabric, it may seem as though the floral painting will not work. However, Grace In My Space is making a case for painted upholstery. All you need is a specific sort of paint that would adhere properly to the fabric. You'll need to look into latex paint, fabric paint, or chalk paint which needs very little water to mix with it. 

Or you can make things super straightforward for yourself when you purchase a bed that already has a hand-painted headboard, like this one from Vintage Home.

 We all love to appear as though we are high-end interior decorators (without ever going to school to learn techniques). One way to fool your friends into thinking you're a pro is by executing the age-old technique of matching some elements of your room to your curtains while contrasting a few others, according to Flooring America. In Andie's bedroom, she opts for white lace curtains which perfectly match her white bed linen while contrasting against the pink color palette of the room. Yes, the pink and white contrast is noticeable, nevertheless, it is a seamless one as there are many shades of pink which can be paired with white to offer a calm balance, per Indigo Paint.

It is also worth mentioning that the lace fabric used for the curtains in her room appears expensive, yet Andie, who has a single father that struggles to make ends meet, is able to decorate with such a material. If you consider this decor closer, you'd see how she balances quantity spent on quality received. You would find that it is only one window that boasts this curtain. Andie was frugal with her choice, opting for the exact length and breadth of her window when piecing together the curtain as opposed to spending extra money on a floor-to-ceiling version, which would still give the same quality effect.  

If you've ever thought of different ways to dress a window without curtains and blinds, then this tip is just for you! You need to hang a cloth over your window, as a unique alternative to using curtains, just like Andie did in her bedroom from "Pretty In Pink."  Feel free to grab any unwanted clothes and tear them into sheets and strips, or you could use table linens like Debbie Debbie Doo did to cover your windows.

Also, you can consider using a fabric-beaded curtain which could be a great alternative to just tacking cloth over unwanted windows. A cloth blocks light from the window, hence once you've tacked it over the opening, very limited light will enter. In a similar way, once you hang your beaded curtain, it covers the window but, since there are spaces between each string of beads within the curtain, some level of light no matter how small will still find its way through the beads into the room, per The New York Times. This makes it an ideal choice for those days when you may want a little more light to pass through the window. 

A discussion on Houzz about the need for seating at the foot of the bed shows that this trend is still very much in use. One user of the platform mentioned, "The bench has many uses. A place to keep a folded bedspread or coverlet when the bed is being used. A place to hold a robe. A seat at chair height to use when putting on shoes or clothing if your mattress height is too high or too soft." There is a plush pastel pink bench in Andie's bedroom which is being used to carry all the bits and bobs used by Andie on a daily basis such as her stacks of magazines and her school books. There are so many different types of stools, from this upholstered version to a rustic wood version, a plastic bench and so much more.

When decorating your home like the "Pretty In Pink" movie, particularly when it comes to the bedrooms, from the master to the kids' bedroom, try to add a bench if at all possible. In order to guide you in choosing the best bench for your pre-existing aesthetic and decor within your room, Designer Emily Henderson focuses first on the material used for the headboard after which she uses this information to pick the material for her bench, opting for different materials for both so that both furniture pieces will not be too matchy-matchy. She tells Architectural Digest, "If your headboard is upholstered, then an all-wood or metal bench could be nice at the foot of your bed," she says, whereas, "if your headboard is metal or wood, then opt for an upholstered bench."

According to French Garden House, indoor flowers lift the mood in a room, from the moment they are introduced into the space, and possibly even after they die (when they could be transformed into potpourri). Andie tapped into the appeal of indoor flowers in her boudoir and unsurprisingly, she opted for pink flowers over any other color. For the bouquet seen in the corner of her room, beside her bedside table, Andie chose a darker hue of pink, aka a hot pink, which she arranged with tall stemmed leaves for a fresh and healthy appearance, after which she placed the bouquet in a floor standing vase.

Going for a deeper hue may or may not have been intentional, but the result of this choice means that the dark pink hue of the flowers contrasts with the light pink hue that the room boasts. One dark pink flower species to add to your room, which carries a major message, is the magenta rose. According to Exotic Flower Blog, this hot pink magenta rose signifies allure and attraction, which is beneficial energy to bring into a bedroom.

If you do not wish to splurge on live flowers, you can at least opt for artificial versions that look so much like the real deal. One example is this Real Touch fuschia flower from Etsy made from a silk material that helps it look and feel real.