“It was my parent’s bedroom, but I made them trade me,” says Regina George nonchalantly when Cady Heron enters her boudoir for the first time in Mean Girls. Proving that she’s not only the Queen Bee of North Shore High School, but also of her very own household, Rachel McAdams’s character’s bedchamber was the dream of Y2K-era girls everywhere.
Patricia Cuccio, set decorator of the original Mean Girls film, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on April 30, tells AD she looked to the teen daughters of her friends for inspiration, and it shows. Anyone who was a teen in the early ’00s can attest to the accuracy of certain accouterments, including bright throw pillows, furniture spruced up with metallic paint, and the abundance of hearts.
“That was [the style] at the time,” production designer Cary White tells AD. Of course, being the main bedroom of a McMansion, in many ways, Regina’s room isn’t your typical teen room. Her bed sits up on a platform, and she has a balcony, an en suite bathroom with an in-ground tub, and a vibrant Mah Jong lounge set from Roche Bobois. The pinks, purples, and oranges of said sofa are reflected throughout, in throw pillows, lantern-esque lamps, and the curtains that frame Regina’s canopy bed—fitting for a Queen Bee, or a princess, as the overhead lettering would attest. “We were trying to show that she was a spoiled brat,” White tells AD.
