My Week

I'm back in the full swing of this point everybody and it's not too bad yet. But it is eating up a good chunk of my time. I wish I had interesting adventures to tell you about or amazing design feats accomplished. Sadly my week has been fairly monotonous. The most colourful part of it has been the highlighters I'm using to take notes with. Even my post-its have been relegated to the back of the drawer for now. This post was supposed to go up midweek, but at some point during my sleep deprived nights I misplaced the cord that attaches my camera to my computer. So here it is now. My week in pictures everybody, hold onto your hats!

First up, the notes, the agenda. It's so exciting you can hardly breathe! Right! ...Right? Notice the poor quality lighting, perfect for eyestrain.

But by midweek things were looking up! The mail arrived. Two packages filled with free books! Yes, this was definitely the highlight of my week.

I started putting things up on my wall. No frames, a few show posters, but it's a start. There's still a lot of blank space so at this point I'm hoping to just sort of fill it up collage style with colour. Maybe some more show posters, maybe some prints and coloured fabric. Whatever I can find. 

So that's my week pretty much summed up. Hopefully I'll have more to share next week. Have a wonderful weekend everybody.

Hanging Around

Why hello there various wall hangings that have been in my room for years. Literally years. I have this tendency to collect little pieces like this while I'm on vacation, but i never do anything with them. I think they're gorgeous; I do. But what can I do with two tiles from Mexico and two watercolours from Victoria, BC? So they sit, leaning against mirrors, dressers, walls. I love them, but I don't know how I can make them work.

I have this vision in my mind. I'll have my beige walls, covered in strategically placed washi tape and on top of that pictures. In my mind these pictures are black and white to contrast the coloured tape and will be in uniform black frames to tie it all together. I don't have those things just lying around. I have colour and paintings that don't require frames and tiles and this woodcarving that a dear friend brought back from Singapore.

The intricacies are just gorgeous don't you think? I love the arabesque lines. It's so different from everything else I own. It either needs to go on its own wall or be front and centre, surrounded by a mish mash of images. I'm thinking hunting down old frames could help. Tie it all together by having nothing match? Don't get me wrong. I love all of these things (especially the woodcarving, sentimental value you know). I just don't know what to do with them!

I'm all questions right now, very little action. But seriously, does anybody know what to do with tile? Do you dear readers have design problems like this and how do you resolve them? Let me know in the comments! I would love to hear from you!

Washi Tape Walls

You know that giant wall area that I keep complaining about? The huge blank space that is just a screaming reminder about how ugly my current dorm is? The one I've done nothing to fix over the course of the past two and a half years? As you may know, I've been thinking of covering that wall with some sort of tape. I've been hovering between spike and washi (mainly because I already own a ton of spike tape). Unfortunately spike tape is meant to be seen easily for prop placement in a theatre; it's pretty much out of the question for decor. My glow in the dark orange is not the ideal wall covering.

I remembered coming across a blog from awhile back that featured a washi tape covered wall. One quick google search later and I came across this post from Little Green Notebook.

I think this image speaks for itself. I love the subtle pop of colour and the geometric shapes. I also love how it's targeted at renters. As a student living in a dorm I can't wallpaper, but I'm taking this as proof that I can tape my walls. This is my wall inspiration. 

In my searches I also found some beautiful images over at Hello Sandwich. Wallpaper sized washi tape! So pretty! I doubt I can find any of that over here. I'll be happy ordering some regular sized tape online and going to town. But seriously, look, so pretty!

I'm thinking of ordering this tape online.

I really love the colour. It will pop, it's fun and young and I'm hoping to hang up some black and white pictures as well for some contrast. I'll let you all know how it goes! Maybe even some before and after pictures?

How do you cope with the restrictions that come with renting a place, either an apartment or dorm? I'm so curious!

New Year, New Inspiration

So the holidays are over; I packed up the decorations today. The baking is almost all gone and our final family birthday is taking place this evening. Let me tell you one thing, I am tired. Definitely too tired to start on one of the many projects I have in mind for the new year. However, I'm not too tired to look for some design inspiration. I just love looking at other people's ideas to see how they can look in my place. So to tide you all over for the day here are some beautiful pictures that I've found around the internet.

This bedroom is from the Canadian House and Home website. I love the use of neutrals with just a pop of pink for some added colour. I also think the chandelier is an interesting touch; it's sleek. A small space like a dorm room can incorporate some of these ideas. Hanging your own chandelier is highly unrealistic, but the colour scheme is easy to recreate.

This next bedroom was found via the Lovely Undergrad. I love the use of light which is something easily emulated in a dorm room. I also love the clean lines. I desperately want that alarm clock, so much cuter than my cellphone alarm.

This dorm room featured on the Refinery 29 website is a lot bigger than  mine (I could never fit a lamp, let alone a Greek column in my room), but again I think elements of this design can work anywhere. I like how pictures are grouped together. I think it's a little more personal than buying one huge poster to cover up a wall.

Another dorm room featured on Refinery 29, I love the wall art. They used Wall Pops, which are stickers for the wall, to create the stripes. I've been looking into decals for my walls to add some colour. I think this is a brilliant way to get around the fact that you can't paint the walls.

These images have really inspired me to create something beautiful out of my room. I would love to incorporate these images into my design. I think finding things that inspire you is a good first step to design. Now I just need to work on the follow through.

Pencils and Books and Pens

                                                   
It's back to school time again, my final year of it. That's a weird feeling. Most people I know have graduated (this whole two degree things takes a little extra time) and I'm trying to figure out how I'll fit back into the swing of things (as I do every year) without everybody around. But that's all for later. Denial is a great thing.

The most important thing on my mind right now? School supplies.

Seriously, who doesn't love scouring the aisles of Staples for the latest and greatest erase-better-ers or the smoothest writing tool this side of the twenty first century? I get sucked in by the hype, what can I say. The pencils freshly sharped, the pens still working, the miles and miles of white out tape at the ready, it makes me think that this is the year I'll be organized. So what if that falls through by the end of semester, it all gets done doesn't it?

On top of all the school supplies university means (for many) dorms, apartments and basement suites. I remember the first year conundrum of what to bring, what to bring. I read horror stories about tiny rooms that wouldn't fit a quarter of the average person's closet; I witnessed some of these horror rooms first hand. I was determined not to over-pack.

I managed to fit my entire life into a single suitcase. I brought nothing extraneous. Five shirts, one pair of jeans, one skirt, runners, flip-flops (for the shower of course), and a pair of ballet flats. One rug because the floor would obviously be disgusting. No prints, there was no room for decoration. An extra box filled with text books and my school supplies were in one case in my pure along with my ID. Bare bones living, that's what I envisioned and yes I still got made of for over-packing by my family.

But you know what? I overdid it. Sure rooms are small, but they're not so small that you can't make yourself comfortable. Bring you favourite clothes, bring some photos for your walls, bring a mini-fridge. Trust me, you'll want to make room for that fridge when the floor thief starts taking things out of the communal one. Making your dorm room comfortable is essential; you'll be living there for the next nine months.

Those ads that are in all the papers right now want you to bring way too  much granted. But aren't they fun to look through? I love picking out my favourite things and buying maybe one, the cheapest one. Back to school is a great time to surround yourself with things that you love, that will make you comfortable and prepare you for the grind ahead. I've got my text books and pens at the ready and maybe I'll sneak in some contraband candles this year, because that seems safe.

Work in Progress

I have an ugly dorm room. I've always meant to fix it up. In fact, that was the original purpose of this blog; I wanted to talk about ways to fix up a small space with unpaintable walls. Unfortunately I never seemed to find the time. It's been over eight months and I still haven't fully moved in. I still have dishes in boxes.

I think I can say that that's problem number one. Boxes littering the room because I still haven't unpacked. It's not the main problem though. No, the main problem is the walls. The paint is peeling all over the place. Their are huge areas where the drywall is showing through. The tenant before me must have used super glue to put up posters.

Posters are the only thing I can think of to cover up these patches, but I really don't like the idea of them cluttering up the wall. I also thought of colour blocking canvases and creating a pattern on the wall with them, but again I'm just not sure. Draping fabric wouldn't work with the space because of some awkward corners. I'm really undecided and I'm not sure when I'll have time to figure this out. Originally I was going to post some pictures, but it's also incredibly messy and nobody needs to see that.

As of now, my room is fairly unlivable. I need help.