Woman spends 3 years creating a ‘time capsule’ to cope and heal from her childhood trauma

For Destinee Ristau, childhood trauma didn’t just leave invisible wounds—it eventually inspired her to build something comforting and beautiful.

Today, she’s known for her vibrant nostalgia room, a colorful space filled with posters, toys, and memories from the ’90s and early 2000s.

But behind the fun and playful decor is a deeper story of pain, loss, and emotional healing.

The room has bright pink walls, Britney Spears posters, Disney Princess bedding, vintage lava lamps, and a well-loved Furby.

But each item holds meaning beyond its surface—it represents the kind of childhood Destinee says she never got to fully enjoy.

“The room would not exist without the trauma. I was growing up in a rough situation from the ages of 1 to 7, and I dealt with complete chaos,” she exclusively tells PEOPLE. “My parents separated. It was not an amicable separation.”

Early chaos and the roots of childhood trauma

Now 35, Destinee recalls that much of her early life was unstable.

Her mother worked nights at a club and slept during the day, leaving Destinee alone and unsupervised for long stretches.

It wasn’t until her father stepped in that she found a safer home. Things got better by the time she was six, but the lasting effects of those early years never really went away.

School brought its own challenges, including bullying. For much of her youth, she felt disconnected from the carefree experiences other kids seemed to have.

The weight of her childhood trauma stayed with her into adulthood. But it wasn’t until her father passed away in 2017 that Destinee began to fully process her pain.

That loss became the spark for her healing journey.

Grief led to emotional healing through nostalgia

After her dad’s cancer diagnosis and passing, Destinee knew she had too much buried inside.

She turned to therapy and enrolled in college to study psychology. It helped her understand her grief, but it also uncovered deeper pain.

Her healing path wasn’t easy. One loss followed another.

“It turned into a constant loop of grief… I’m trying to heal myself, and everyone around me that I love is dying. How can you heal when all these things keep happening to you?” she shared.

In the middle of that heartache, she began to ask herself what her younger self truly needed.

“I started leaning into ‘What is little Destinee trying to tell me right now? What does she need?’”

That question became the starting point for something unexpected—a return to the past.

She started buying things that reminded her of childhood joy, even if she hadn’t experienced it the first time.

The first items she bought were small: a lava lamp, an inflatable chair, and “The Princess Diaries” VHS tape.

Slowly, those purchases grew into an entire room.

She filled the space with soft toys, catalogs from the early 2000s, and iconic girlhood trinkets she never got to keep.

The room became her sanctuary.

A nostalgia room filled with physical media and comfort

Because most of her childhood belongings had been lost, Destinee began to hunt down items through thrift stores, eBay, and vintage shops.

Every piece of her nostalgia room was carefully chosen from posters to Polly Pockets.

Among the most meaningful is a daybed in the middle of the room. It reminds her of when her father brought her home and gave her a Pocahontas bed.

That and her Disney Princess TV and stuffed animals help her feel safe.

Her room is also filled with physical media, like DVDs, CDs, and dozens of VHS tapes.

She says these tangible items bring comfort in a world that often feels too fast and digital.

She encourages others to do the same: “You want to have a copy of your favorite movie. You want to have physical media. If you watch Gilmore Girls every year, buy the DVD set. You’ll be so much happier.”

What started as a personal retreat is now a shared experience.

Destinee posts regular videos of her nostalgia space on TikTok and Instagram, and the response has been overwhelming.

People message her saying her room helps calm their anxiety or brings back warm memories from their own past. For some, watching her content is a form of therapy.

Turning childhood trauma into inspiration for others

Though not everyone understands her project, Destinee is proud of her creation.

“To be cringy is to be free. It makes me happy. It makes so many people happy,” she said.

Her message is clear: healing doesn’t have to look conventional. Sometimes, it looks like a lava lamp and a favorite childhood cartoon.

She continues to expand her collection and plans to design new themed spaces, including a “grandma kitchen” and a celestial room.

While some may say she’s stuck in the past, Destinee believes her journey through childhood trauma is what brought her here—and that looking back is part of moving forward.

Most of all, she encourages people to reconnect with the parts of themselves they may have forgotten.

Her nostalgia room isn’t just for show. It’s a space where she—and now others—can find emotional healing in colors, toys, and treasured memories.

In a small way, it helps her rewrite the story of a childhood that once felt lost.

Here’s a quick tour of Destinee’s nostalgia room—a space born from childhood trauma that now brings comfort, color, and healing:

@nineties_babyy and i love sharing it with all of you!! 🥹💗✨️ #nostalgia #2000s #2000snostalgia #2000sthrowback #millennial #90s #90snostalgia #90sthrowback #nostalgic #y2k #innerchild ♬ Rush – Aly & AJ