After the challenging process of installing sensors and wiring up the interactions, I finally reached the most joyful part of the whole project: decorating the miniature room.
I started with some structural additions. I built a small door using cardboard and a special stopper that helps align it with the beam sensor, making the door interaction more stable. The bed and drawer were already completed in the previous phase, as I had to integrate the sensors inside and hide the cables early on.
Next came the laptop corner. I created a table and chair from cardboard to support the distance-sensor interaction. Then I built a small cardboard laptop with a hole where the LED light could shine through when activated, just like turning on a real screen.
But the real fun began with the tiny interior details. I made a carpet from folded toilet paper, and also used toilet paper to decorate the lamp to give it a soft, cozy look. For the bed, I crafted a blanket from tissue and fabric scraps, used a cotton pad for the pillow, and made the whole setup feel warm and lived-in.
To make the room feel more personal, I added a compact mirror next to the drawers, just like I have in my real room, and decorated the walls with Japanese-style poster stickers and a postcard featuring a girl from a Yoshitomo Nara painting. After all, this whole miniature-room concept was inspired by Nara’s “My Drawing Room” installation, so it felt right to include a small homage.
Finally, I placed a few small toy decorations and plushies around the bed area, echoing how I decorate my own space. It truly felt like revisiting childhood, like playing with a dollhouse, but this time with all the layers of interactivity and intention that come with a design prototype.
This was definitely the most heartwarming and satisfying part of the whole process. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but it became clear to me that creating these small, personal touches brought real magic and life into the room. It stopped being just a prototype and became a tiny world of its own.
