December 6, 2023

This 29-year-old turned a viral dorm room makeover into a new career

Alethea Johnson had no idea that her enthusiasm for interior design would close up getting…

Alethea Johnson had no idea that her enthusiasm for interior design would close up getting her profession soon after sharing just 1 TikTok.

In August, the 29-yr-aged posted a before-and-right after transformation of her sister Athena’s dorm home at Morgan State. The video went viral on the application and racked up in excess of 11 million sights.

Johnson instructed CNBC Make It that given that going viral on TikTok, she was ready to give up her work as a nurse and develop into an inside designer whole-time.

She now has many new consumers and rooms she’s planning.

“I believe that all the things comes about at the correct time,” Johnson states. “I am enthusiastic to comply with a passion of mine that I have experienced considering that I was a younger female and get paid to do what I enjoy.”

The viral dorm place makeover cost much less than $300

Johnson states redesigning her sister’s freshman dorm area was normally a offered. She had accomplished a profitable makeover of her sister’s bed room at home just the 12 months before.

“She already realized that I was thoroughly capable of giving her anything she liked with out her remaining associated. She gave me totally free reign,” Johnson explained.

Johnson failed to start out with significantly inspiration or direction for the style, but Athena informed her the one issue she did not want was a colorful room. Johnson made the decision to stick with a neutral colour plan.

For home furnishings and décor, Johnson claims she turned to Amazon, Dollar Tree, and Residence Depot.

It took Johnson, her mother, and her sister about two hours to apply removable wallpaper, put in a shelf organizer, and build personalized image frames.

The transformation came in at a little under $300.

“I was actually very unsatisfied with the final consequence at initial,” Johnson said. “I improved my thoughts immediately after seeing how substantially my sister cherished the area.”

Johnson put in beneath $300 to completely transform her sister’s aspect of the dorm room.

Alethea Johnson

Johnson included that her sister liked the Do-it-yourself frames the most and ideas on repurposing them for the duration of all four several years at Morgan Point out.

“When I FaceTime, she looks really snug in her home. It will not glimpse or really feel like she’s somewhere else. It seems to be like a area she belongs in, and that was my objective,” she mentioned.

Due to the fact redesigning her sister’s half of the place, Johnson disclosed she did the roommate’s facet too.

In whole, reworking the whole area value about $550.

Johnson explained to CNBC Make It that she put in about $250 to rework her sister’s roommate facet of the dorm area.

Alethea Johnson