Christmas Tree Alternatives

It's that time of year again! The days are getting shorter, the air is getting crisper and all of the stores in the shopping malls are decorated with twinkly lights and playing Christmas music.  My roommates and I are moving out of our apartment at the end of December and we thought it would be too much hassle to put up our 3-foot Christmas tree.  It would still be a little sad to not have a Christmas tree up during our last few weeks here, so I picked out a couple of options that I think would work out nicely. Both would work nicely for a small apartment.

1. Christmas light candles- we have a few wine bottle lamps that we bought from the dollar store to decorate our balcony, but now that summer is over, we could take a few of them and put a string of white lights in them and gather them together on a table. It would look so cute with our presents surrounding them.

2. Glitter tree- I'm really leaning towards this idea. It's sounds like such a fun and crafty endeavour! All we would need to do is get a few branches from the park nearby (or at the dollar store) and lather it with glue and cover it with white/black/grey craft glitter.  Put it in a tall vase and voila! Plus, it would look so adorable with a few brushed metallic ornaments!

What do you think of my ideas? Which option would you choose? Is anyone listening to Christmas music yet? I'm starting on November 15th :)

Stay Young, Go Dancing

Eeek! The new 2012 IKEA catalogue came out recently and I found myself drooling over the entire online magazine and picking out everything that I love. It got me to thinking about how it's so strange that our tastes change as we get older, whether it be music, food, fashion, decor or our taste in who we're attracted to. I often find myself thinking about how much my tastes have evolved and how they're staying relatively constant at this time.

When I was a teenager (doesn't that sound awful?) my taste in music hovered around bands like Yellowcard, My Chemical Romance and The Used, anything that sang to the closet angsty teen that was inside of me. I was about 16 or 17 during this time and its strange to think that I don't actively listen to these bands anymore. Right now, my musical taste has evolved to a genre of alternative/electronic, which if you're interested in checking out, hit up my posts labeled "music" in my sidebar. In my Audience Research class that I took this summer, we read an article that discussed our musical tastes as we grow up. I found it super interesting that our musical tastes are defined between the ages of 18-22 and we tend to lock into that for the rest of our lives. My professor mentioned that the same thing goes for our creative ideas and opinions/views. Neat, huh?

As for food tastes, I would have to say that my palate has both changed and stayed the same. I still have a strong aversion towards sea food, red meat of any kind and the crusts on sandwiches (weird, right?). Then again, I've grown accustomed to foods like olives and red peppers.

Fashion wise, I think my personal style has changed remarkably. In high school I didn't have much of a fashion sense, I remember wearing things like flared jeans and baggy t-shirts and not caring what I wore didn't phase me at all. I don't think it was until I was 17 that I started being more conscious of what I wore. I've definitely committed some fashion crimes during my time at university, but I'm definitely more picky about what I wear and I often have times when I look in  my closet and drawers and can't find a single thing to wear. 

As for my taste in boys, I think I've fallen all over the place in the past 6 or 7 years. Through high school I had a little thing for punk guys, I loved the black hair, the skinny jeans and the lip piercings, all of which I think were tied to my musical tastes. At this moment, I think I'm really picky. I haven't really noticed anyone that has piqued my interests; a guy that shares my love for beautiful film, who loves sarcasm as much as I do and who I'm actually interested in talking to for more than 5 minutes without any awkward silence.

Eeeps, I've gotten way off track than what I was initially going to post about. Here are a few pictures of the IKEA rooms that I'm loving right now. 

ps: How has your taste changed up until now and in what ways? I'm eager to hear!

All Delighted People

I recently came across this picture of some awesome decor that is actually in a dorm room. Crazy, right? Who knew that with a little thought and a trip to IKEA could personalize your room so much that you forget that you actually even live in residence at school. Now that I look back, I wish that I had put some more thought into decorating my dorm room when I was in my first year. I wish I had pictures to post on here, but my room was just a mess with paper, laundry and tacky posters and pictures. Yuck! Although my taste now has certainly changed, my student budget prevents me from fully executing my dream decor ideas :)

What do you think of this dorm room?

Cosmic Love

It hasn't quite seeped in yet that it's the end of the school year and people are off for the summer. I'm really excited for the warmer and sunnier weather (it's been so blah lately!). For the summer I really want to make my balcony the go to place for dinners and drinks with twinkly lights and comfortable and chic cushions. I really like this idea for lighting that I stumbled on recently.  I have a ball of hemp that I got a few years ago because I was in this phase of making hemp bracelets and stuff, but this would be amazing to make for a balcony during the summer. It's cheap too! There will be many, many more posts about balcony inspiration coming up in the next little while!

Transatlanticism

Did any of you know that H&M has a home collection? I didn't! I think it varies by location though, so I don't think I can access it from my area. I'm crossing my fingers that H&M online will come to Canada soon! Aren't these photos absolutely gorgeous? I love the first pictures to bits! It makes me so excited for summer; the warm breezes, sunny skies, cold drinks, bare feet! What's your favourite part about summer?

♥

  

Little Secrets

I stumbled across this website that shows you how to make your own shadow box photo display. You can put any little objects and photos in it to display what you collected during a trip or vacation. I have so many pictures from trips that I've taken over the years that I need to get printed. Something like this could give me the boost I need to get all that done. Now, if only pesky school weren't in the way ;)

Photos: Design Aglow

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Happy Sunday! I hope you all remembered to change your clocks back an hour. I found this gorgeous apartment online and I've been drooling over how beautiful it is and wishing I lived here. It's so cutely decorated and actually looks lived in. I swear, this belongs in an IKEA catalogue. I hope you all have a fantastic day, I'm off to yoga class! Namaste :)

Photos: Alvhem Maklari & Interior

Hiding My Heart

StumbleUpon is seriously the best website ever. I've discovered so many of my favourite websites on it, everything from cooking, decor, to random websites with fun factoids and images.  Well, my latest addiction is DwellingGawker, a website that allows you to browse through different houses and rooms that have so much appeal and charm. Here are a few pictures that are making me giddy for when I can decorate my own apartment. 

In the Dirt

I'm heading back to my apartment tomorrow. The past three weeks went so fast, I don't know where the time went! I always dislike the commute back to Ottawa, getting up at oh dark stupid in the morning and the uncomfortable 4 hour trip in a cramped bus with creepy people. I think this has to do with my excitement for graduation, no more commuting! Anyways, I've been taken with bedroom decor lately and long for the day when I can decorate my bedroom how ever I like and when I don't have to deal with bland beige walls.

Oh My Darling, Clementine

There's a light at the end of the tunnel! Classes are finishing up within the next two weeks and I'm excited for everything to be done. It's hard to believe that this will be my last fall semester in school, and I'll be graduating in less than a year. In a way it' seems so surreal and unbelievable. Even though I'm excited to start the next chapter of my life, at the same time it seems so daunting and scary.

Anyways, onto a more positive note: About a month ago I discovered this home planetarium by Gakken. I think it's the most pretty thing ever. When trying to come up with a wish list for Christmas, the only thing I keep thinking about is this darling planetarium to geekify my room. How adorable is this gadget? I think it casts a very beautiful light in a dark bedroom. And I wannnt so bad! I seriously drool over these pictures every few days.

Never Gonna Leave This Bed

Apologies for the lack of posts this week! Last week I somehow contracted another cold, and these past few days have been the worst of it, including today. I hope this is the last cold I contract this season, because two colds in a month is a little crazy and brutal. I was browsing through decor websites today and found the perfect way to make any home more personalized in a relatively inexpensive way. Blackboard walls! How cute is this trend? I think it looks adorable in a kitchen, where you can use it for your grocery list, to write out recipe instructions and jotting down little phone messages.

google image search

M79

I love StumbleUpon. It introduces me to new websites I would have never discovered on my own. I get updates sent to my e-mail of websites I might like and a few days ago, I was directed to the amazing design website Desire to Inspire. After browsing through pages of incredible inspiration, I was wowed by the home of Brazilian pattern designer Lione Monte. This home is so me. White walls with small pops of colour in the fabric, which is very practical, especially for small spaces. This design aesthetic is definitely something I want to achieve in my next apartment. Take a look at Monte's cute home:

If You Rescue Me

I'm sick. A mere day after moving. Time to start popping vitamin C pills like skittles and keeping tissues with me wherever I go. I'm not fond of being sick, especially when in such close proximity to strangers in class, sneezing and sniffling. There are some nice things about being sick though, like using it as a crutch to get out of things you don't enjoy, like school work, people you don't like and getting up early. 

It's been a while since I did a decor post, and seeing as I'll be in bed with the sniffles, a bedroom post seems appropriate and fitting. LivingEtc just oozes decor inspiration, which is what my bedroom is in need of.

Wordsworth's Ridge

Lately, I've been so fixated on the colour blue in bedrooms. I know it sounds random, but I was looking at a photograph of London's Tower Bridge, and eyed the grey and blue colour of it, which got me thinking about grey and blue colour pallets. .A nice robin's egg blue is such a calming and peaceful colour that looks beautiful in a bedroom. 

Photo: apartmenttherapy

Photo: decorpad

Photo: design*sponge

Photo: absolutebedroomdesign

Healing Begins

I went browsing around Chapters with my friend, with Starbucks drinks in tow. I like to look through the books on display and came across a few books that I would have loved to sit down and read, but I didn't allow myself to buy anything, because I already have a few books that I bought and haven't read yet. 

As I was driving home, I noticed how fall it was outside. The skies were swirling with dark grey clouds and the sun was shining on the other side of the sky, lighting up the yellow fields. As I drove along my road, I noticed bits of tree leaves turning orange. It was beautiful and it made me so happy. Anyways, here are some photos that I think are pretty.

Frosted window from LivingEtc

This bed looks so cozy, I just want to jump into it. From weheartit