5 Cost-Effective Tips That TRANSFORM Your Decor

 Creating the right interior design is no easy task—every homeowner struggles with defining the best decor to reflect their personality. Ultimately, not many people have first-hand experience in decorating a property. More often than not, we seek inspiration from magazines and Instagram, copying the designs we love the most. That's precisely why your home sweet home could be missing crucial aspects of interior styling, such as maximizing natural light passages or building a consistent and intuitive flow from room to room. 

Picture the scene: You've invested a lot of money in decorating your home. Yet things still don't feel quite right. If you've checked for flow and natural contrasts between rooms and can't find any issues, chances are making these small changes will help your decor shine. Spoiler alert: They are inexpensive!

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#1. Clear glass panels

Your windows can accumulate a lot of grime during the year. However, you are unlikely to notice a difference. Microparticles of dirt are invisible to the naked eye. Yet, they could still affect how the light comes into your home. That's precisely why it's important to schedule regular window washing to make the most of your windows. It will help brighten your rooms and enhance your mood! 

#2. Add more green plants

Houseplants are more than a decorative addition to your interior, and they can boost your health significantly. Indeed, plants freshen the indoor air by releasing oxygen, which can make your home feel brighter, fresher, and more welcoming. According to NASA, plants can also play an active role in removing toxins from your indoor air, reducing the symptoms of building sickness. 

Additionally, the presence of plants helps soothe the mind. You are more likely to enjoy your decor if you feel relaxed and at peace. 

#3. Introduce scents to your decor

Your decor can become a full sensory experience through the addition of scents. Investing in an essential oil diffuser can help bring soothing smells to your home. Lemon can be uplifting, helping to see your decor in a different eye. Frankincense promotes inner peace, which can also transform the way you perceive your home. 

For those who struggle with high stress levels, bergamot and ylang-ylang can help decrease blood pressure and negativity. Remember that your mood can affect your perception of your surroundings. Therefore, creating sensorial and soothing spots in your home will make the most of your decor. 

#4. Open the windows

Renewing your indoor air is free. It doesn't cost anything to open y our windows once a day and let the air circulate inside your home. You should spend 30 minutes to an hour every day to refresh your indoor air. It will remove the toxins that accumulate indoors and help make everything feel cleaner and fresher. 

#5. Energize your interior

After a long day at work, it's natural to feel sluggish and lazy. But you can introduce pockets of energy within your decor. In moderation, the addition of bright colors, such as red or orange, can instantly make you feel more awake. It can be as simple as adding red cushion covers in your living rooms or painting the frame of your favorite picture in dark orange. Little touches of brightness will make a big difference to your mood! 

Can you change your decor without actually changing your decor? The answer is yes. These small transformations can elevate your interior and make you feel more at home! 

The Gentleman's Guide for Packing a Suitcase for Travel

 When traveling, it is important to pack light. However, you also want to make sure that you have everything you need with you. This can be a difficult balance to achieve. This blog post will provide tips for packing a suitcase that will help ensure that you are ready for anything that comes your way!

Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels

1) Start With The Essentials

When packing a suitcase, it is essential to start with the essentials. This includes items like underwear, socks, shirts, and pants. Make sure to pack enough clothes for the duration of your trip, but try to keep it light. You do not want to be lugging around a heavy bag all day!

If you are traveling for business, it is important to bring along a suit or other formal attire. If you are doing any sightseeing or participating in other activities, make sure to pack appropriate clothing as well. It is also a good idea to bring along a few extra sets of clothes just in case something happens and you end up getting wet or dirty.

2) Pack Smart

When packing a suitcase, it is important to be smart about how you pack. This means folding your clothes in a way that will save space. You can also use packing cubes to help organize your belongings. Another tip is to bring along smaller items like shampoo and conditioner that can take up less space.

It is also essential to think about what you will need during your trip. If you are traveling with a laptop, for example, make sure to bring along the appropriate charger and cables. If you are going on an outdoor adventure, make sure to pack sunscreen, insect repellent, and other necessary items.

3) Make Use Of The Available Space

One of the best tips for packing a suitcase is to use the available space. This means using every nook and cranny to store your Men's Balenciaga clothes.. You can use shoe bags to store smaller items or pack underwear and socks inside your shoes.

Another great way to utilize space is by packing clothing that can be worn multiple ways. For example, a t-shirt can be worn as a shirt or a dress. A skirt can also be doubled up as a pair of shorts. By packing clothes like this, you will save room in your suitcase.

4) Use A Suitcase That Is The Right Size

When packing a suitcase, it is important to use a bag that is the right size. This will help you avoid overpacking and ensure that you have enough room for everything you need. It is also essential to choose a sturdy suitcase and easy to carry.

If you are traveling with children, it may be helpful to bring along a smaller suitcase or backpack that they can carry themselves. This will help keep them occupied and prevent them from getting tired and cranky.

5) Label Your Bags

When traveling, it is important to label your bags. This will help ensure that they are not misplaced during transit. You can use a luggage tag or some other type of identification system.

It is also a good idea to pack an extra set of clothes and essentials in your carry-on bag. This way, you will be prepared if something happens to your suitcase and gets lost or delayed.

6) Have Fun With It

While it is essential to be organized when packing a suitcase, it is also important to have fun. This means including some personal items that will make you feel comfortable and at home.

This could include a favorite book, headphones, or travel-sized toiletries. By having these items, you will help ensure that your trip is enjoyable from start to finish!

7) Stay Organized

One of the best ways to stay organized when packing a suitcase is to use a checklist. This will help ensure that you do not forget anything important. You can either create your list or use one provided by a luggage company.

Another way to stay organized is to pack your clothes and belongings in categories. This could include items like shirts, pants, dresses, and underwear. By packing this way, you will find what you need quickly and easily.

In conclusion, there are a few key things to remember when packing a suitcase for travel. By following these tips, you can ensure that your luggage is well-organized and that you have everything you need for an enjoyable trip.

Why Part Of Me Will Always Be "Bridget" (And That Is Allowed)

There is a thought that has been building in my head lately.  Well, not lately, for some time now.  

Why do I feel that, at a time where arguably (in the first world) women are at our most liberated, are there more rules imposed on women than ever?

We are at a point in history where we are told that women can be all things, that nothing is impossible. We can do anything we want, be anything we want to be.  The rules and shackles imposed by society for so very long are being thrown away and we are creating and running our own lives the way we want to.  Or are we?

Somehow, despite all of this liberation; it seems that we are once again being told what to do, how to look, how to act and how to think, increasing not just from men, but from other women. 

Sometimes it feels that the only thing we are not allowed to be, is ourselves.  

I was watching Bridget Jones Diary over Christmas.  Bridget Jones Diary was written in 1996 and released as a film in 2001.  For so many of us, Bridget encapsulated so much of who we are, our characteristics and both our flaws and our strengths.

Her silliness, her hope, her need for love and looking for it in all the wrong places.  Her inability to make the right choices.  Her ability to pick herself up and dust herself off to try again, after an obligatory vat of wine and a few renditions of "All By Myself".  

I saw so much of myself in Bridget and indeed, now over twenty five years since the book came out, I still do.

The thing is, we are all multifaceted people.  Aside from my many similarities to Bridget, I am also many other things.  Many of which are contradictory to the other.  I am independent, but feel an innate need to be loved, cared for.  I am both secure, and insecure in my appearance, my character, my trajectory in life.  I may have finally reached a point where I no longer walk about swathed in black, but I still change my clothes as many times before deciding on an outfit.  Whatever the occasion. 

I have a career, but it does not drive me more than being happy in my life outside of work.  

I have both a traditional and non traditional relationship with my partner.

All of the above is the way I choose to live my life.  It is who I am.  Because I am be more than one thing.  I can, and do, have opinions about a thousand different subjects.  They don't all have to be on the same wavelength.

This, for me, is what the women before me fought for.  To be the person I am.  To think the way I want.  Act the way I want.  Do what the hell I want.

After watching the film, I later watched a documentary about the writer, Helen Fielding who spoke about her own similarities to Bridget, which inspired her to write the book.  One of the people in the documentary was Germaine Greer,  who made comment about the routine that Bridget went through in order to ready herself for her first date with Daniel.

Germaine was eyerolling at the fact that Bridget felt the need to do all of this.  Why was she thinking more about whether to wear sexy underwear or control underwear rather than, as Germaine said "Don't worry about your pants girl, just kiss him".

That is true enough.  What we know, certainly by Bridget's age, is that a man cares more about getting into your knickers rather than their style.  They don't care.  From my own experience with my partner, he tells he loves the "wrapping", but it is what inside that counts.  The body and the mind.

But should that mean that we should also not care?  Is that now not allowed? The effort that we put in is never just about them, it is part of who we are.   

But, now, in 2022, being like Bridget is discouraged.  Embarrassing even.  All of those traits that we saw in Bridget reflected in ourselves are now frowned upon.  At a time when even the word woman is being taken away from us, by men who have decided they are women; why are our feminine traits being seen as wrong and traits attributed to men, now right?

There is nothing wrong with being confident.  Forthright.  Competitive.  Single minded in our pursuits.  Assertive.  All typically "male" behaviours.  An increase of these behaviours is all good for women, but more and more I see them the things that make us women, now actively discouraged and forbidden.

There is no right way to be a man or a woman.  We can be any and all things, but by our choosing.

Even the choice to be a stay at home mum is now judged.  I overheard a conversation the other day where a young twenty something was saying to friends that what she wanted most in life was to be a mother.  At home, with her children.  She was immediately jumped on.  What about your career, your independence, your money.  You can't "just" be a mother.

Of course she can.  She can be anything she wants to be.  Can't she?  

I am not writing an anti Germaine Greer post, but I saw this quote from her relevant to this post.

If a woman never lets herself go, how will she ever know how far she might have got? If she never takes off her high-heeled shoes, how will she ever know how far she could walk or how fast she could run?

Can I not wear high heels?  Put on my makeup, take an eternity to decide on what to wear?  Why do these have to detract from the person that I am?  Does this now make me vapid and silly?  Why can't I be silly?  Doing those things are part of what makes me, me.  It does not make me less intelligent, less willing and able to be successful and walk the path that I want to.  

But I want to walk that path the way I chose.  Not chosen by others.

It feels sometimes like we have moved on from changing from we look like and how we dress for men, to now editing who we are as people and the persona we show to the world, for (some) women.

I walk to the beat of my own drum.  Not others.  I won't be told how to live my life or how to act/be.  I see how far women have come, what we have achieved, what generations before us fought for and gained for us.  I don't think they would want me to be put in another box.

We make our own rules.  What we cannot and should not do, is impose those rules on others. So yes, part of me is Bridget.  And I am not ashamed of that.  Nor should I be.