As teens, every inch of free space in our rooms was dedicated to the things we love. From floor to ceiling, you could learn about our favorite movies, books, artists, and even music. Drawings, posters, and magazine clippings were commonplace on a teenage fan’s wall. However, as we get older and get our own places, it becomes a struggle to combine our love of our favorites with the want of an adult aesthetic, meaning the things we love most get shoved in hidden spaces away from judgemental eyes. But there are ways to still show the love for your favorite things without your spaces leaning back into the “teen girl” room aesthetic.

Frames Are Your Friend

Frame your posters, frame your photo clippings, frame your drawings. If it has the ability to be framed, do it. It makes things look neater and helps maintain the integrity of the things inside the frame. It also provides more options for display besides just being placed on a wall.

Posters of All Sizes

Here is a good example of framed posters by reddit user u/reeses_peaces. By using the same color frames, it makes the mix of posters look nice when placed together. People purchase movie posters to display in their homes; K-Pop posters can be framed and displayed right alongside them.

Concert Memorabilia and Banners

If you don’t scrapbook your concert banners, tickets, and in some cases pieces of confetti (don’t pretend you don’t have a piece or two from your favorite concert), you can turn them into a shadow box! A shadow box is a frame that has enough space to hold things that are not flat. These boxes are a great way to keep all of your memories together in one spot. Here is one created by YouTuber spicychiim! For a full tutorial, check out the video here.

Subtle Pieces Can be Just as Loud

Sometimes, we want to be undercover with our decor while still having pieces of fandom visible to those who might recognize it. Things like album covers and typographic pieces are a great idea and Twitter user @hzqqqqq has some great examples of this!

She printed her favorite lyrics over photos and framed them for subtle art pieces.

Here is another way to do subtle but loud. This photo, also from @hzqqqq on Twitter, shows the Wings album art up on the wall and on the cabinet below, the small frame shows the words “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.” To a BTS fan, they would know they are lyrics to the song “Black Swan,” but to a non-fan, they would just think it’s an interesting choice for a quote. Paired with the right frames in a good color, they make a great addition to the hallway’s decor without it screaming K-Pop fan.

Placement is Key

Where fan decor is located plays a big part in the overall aesthetic of the “adult K-Pop fan.” Gone are the days of wanting piles of plush and our bias’ face plastered all over our living and work spaces. Make a plan on where you would like to see certain pieces and then go from there. An example of good placement is how Twitter user @TGsBangtanLife displays some photo prints from BTS’s Twitter account. She was able to plan out her design and pick the right frames and pictures to make a gorgeous photo collage in her work office.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, how you decorate your space is entirely up to you. However, being able to implement little pieces of the things we love the most is going to make our spaces more comfortable going forward. There is no shame in being a K-Pop fan and being able to show it in our everyday places is sure to bring a little more joy to our lives; after all, many of us find home within our fandoms and there's no place like home.

Got cool photos of your fan decor? Have a dope poster collection or a Tweet us @KrazeMagazine!

The Modern Fandom Home: Decorating as an Adult Fan