House Hunting Tips - Making The Right Choice For Your Home

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House-hunting can be an exciting exercise and at the same time overwhelming. Choosing a new home either for rent or to buy is a major life decision just like marriage. Something not to be done in a hasty manner or you find yourself moving houses within a short space of time.

I have had to take up a rental in such a hurry; i was no doubt swayed by the space (a three bedroom bungalow with a front porch and a parking lot big enough to accommodate about three cars even though i had no car then, what a dream!) but played down on important stuffs. Fast forward to few months, I did not only have to contend with the distance to work, the edginess of the neighborhood to lack of power supply which also affected water supply, the dust-prone environment to the tiny wardrobes/closets, cabinetry and bathrooms. Thank goodness the rental agreement was just for one year!

I have put down some tips below to help you make the right choice for your new home:

Decorating With a Touch of Green

Hello Homeowners, It's Green Tuesday!
Green for me represents nature, fertility and safety. You must have noticed my love relationship with the colour. Obviously, there is a touch of it on my blog and I plan to have my baby's nursery in green.You can read my post on colour psychology here and a green paint makeover i did for my hallway here. That's how much i love Green!
How about incorporating greenery into your home with any of these decor ideas and inspiration:

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Let's Talk Decor: Wooden Wall Shelves

Hello Homeowners,
Yay! The weekend is here! Who is excited?
Here comes another post on "Let's Talk Decor" where i show you a particular decor accessory and how you can transform your home with it. I wrote the first post on this series here where i talked about Wallpapers and it was very much appreciated by homeowners. Today, lets talk wooden wall shelves

Wooden Wall Shelves also known as a counter, ledge, mantel or rack is a storage item used in a home, office or elsewhere to hold items of value that are being displayed, stored, or offered for sale. It is raised off the ground and usually anchored/supported on its shorter length sides by brackets. It can also be held up by columns or pillars. A shelf can be attached to a wall or other vertical surface, be suspended from a ceiling, be a part of a free-standing frame unit, or it can be part of a piece of furniture such as a cabinet, bookcase, entertainment center, some headboards, and so on. Usually two to six shelves make up a unit, each shelf being attached perpendicularly to the vertical or diagonal supports and positioned parallel. Depending on the color theme of your home, wall shelves could come in different colors from brown, black, white, etc:

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How do you create a sophisticated design for your home with this decor item? Check out the makeover post here where i decorated a client's living room with the 5piece wooden shelves.
All you need do is to adorn the shelves with decorative pieces like vases, picture frames, scented candles, diffusers, books, arts or DIY objects. See more pictures below for inspiration:

5 Ways to Make Your Small Space LIVABLE

Are you living in or moving into a small space? Frankly, living in a small space can pose a challenge, but with a few new ideas and a creative spirit, you can maximize and uplift even the smallest living quarters. 
Who defined small by the way? It all boils down to how efficient and functional you make your home feel. I've lived in some small spaces I had to teach myself what really works. My last apartment as a single lady was the smallest ever (i lived there for good 4years) but it worked perfectly for me.

Here are 5 simple ways to help you live in your small apartment without messing with your renter's limitations:

• Paint: Whoever told you that an "all-white color" palette will make an apartment look larger. He lied! This is a common misconception of small space design and i will put simply "there are no color rules for small spaces" Do your thing, if you want your room to feel light and airy (try a cool color) or warm and cozy (veer toward richer and warmer) or maybe you're craving a little drama (go over board with bold) but make sure it's personal and appeals to you.

Read more... Tips for Picking Paint Colors

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Budget-Friendly Bathroom Update You Can Make This Weekend

We all have ideas of how our bathroom should look but yours isn't! Maybe it's a rental or maybe you are afraid to spend that huge sum on a remodel. Whichever defines you, i have got some budget-friendly updates you can do to have it feeling like a million dollar makeover:

Pop of Colour to Brighten Your Weekend

Cushions! Cushions!! Cushions!!! They can lighten up any room.

I made these for a client in Port Harcourt who contacted me via BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), that her living room seems dull and needs some lightening up and viola! These cushions did the magic. Not forgetting a few new accessories; area rug, wall frames and TV furniture.

How Often Do You Change Your Sheets?

Hello Homeowners,
TGIF and Happy World Environment Day!

Last night while i was considering changing my sheets i got a brain wave for this topic. I ended up not changing the sheets anyways, would do that over the weekend **covers face** amongst other chores lined up. whew!

Now to the topic of today, don't ask for my opinion! I am only curious to know how often you change yours and what is your reason? No judging here! let's share our opinion and learn from each other.

Will You Ever Remodel a Rented Apartment?

As a decorator, I usually get these vibes from prospective customers and i HATE to hear them:
"I can't afford to do this in a rented apartment",
"This is not my house so i have a limit to what i can do"
"When i buy my own house, i will really decorate"
And the list goes on.......

Landlords make it even more difficult by insisting on no structural changes and generally require that apartments be returned to their original condition with some allowances for wear and tear (caution fees as the case may be)

First Product Review on the Blog

Another friend (Roseline) inspired this post with her review. You can check her on The Diary of a Trendy Mother (Please help me ask her why she hasn't been blogging since January *covers face*)

Will You Still Use Carpets After Reading This?

Granted carpets have their unique look and feel… they are soft and comfy, bringing a warm look to a room. It’s important however to understand the demerits of carpet. Did you know that carpets are harbourers of allergens and trappers of toxins like pesticides that get tracked in from outside. Most synthetic carpets also contain VOCs.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) refer to organic chemical compounds which have significant vapor pressures and which can affect the environment and human health. VOCs are numerous, varied, and ubiquitous. Most scents or odours are of VOCs. Some are dangerous to human health or cause harm to the environment. Harmful VOCs are typically not acutely toxic, but instead have compounding long-term health effects. They can be man-made or natural.

Let's Talk Decor: Wallpaper

Hello Homeowners,
I am starting a new post series called "let's talk decor" which will focus on a particular decor accessory, discuss it's use, show pictures of how to achieve different decor styles and also direct you to where to shop. The idea was borne out of the fact that people tend to ask me a lot of times, what/how/where/when they can use a particular decor accessory. Also, i realized that post on decor tips are usually the most visited and commented especially the post on finding other uses for your shoe organizer. We all know that shoe organizer is somewhat an outdated organization item but we were able to see other ways to transform the home with it.

So today, let's talk wallpaper!

Find Other Uses For Your Shoe Organizer

Hello Homeowners, 

You want to know what else you can do with your shoe organizer beside keeping your shoes? If you are like me that have more of high heeled shoes, then those pockets won't work for you. I got one as a wedding souvenir, converted it to a bathroom organizer and oh! it was quiet functional (thank me for the souvenir idea, just in case you are still making a list) and most of all - it's not expensive!

I will show you just a few pictures that you can easily relate with. So, keep calm and start organizing!

Do It Yourself - Pretty Girls Sew

After learning to cook, I'd highly encourage every girl/lady/woman to learn to sew. It's not always the cheaper route, but it's a good lesson in patience & perseverance and keeps you from sitting in front of the TV on a rainy day. Also, it's a BIG money-saver in the home. You can achieve a whole lot around the house with your sewing skills. Here is a few but the list is inexhaustible:

Here's My Grand Entryway

Hey! We are fifty-four days gone into 2015 but its never too late to welcome you into the New Year!!!!!! Opps! i meant welcome into my home through the eyes of my entryway.......your first view when you walk through my front door.

I decided to make the entryway both decorative and functional and again, i created a gallery wall above the credenza to showcase my family's precious memories. For the time being, its just my hubby and I but I will definitely fill up the spaces as my family grows.

TURF! How creative can you be?

Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well.
Artificial turf does have its downside: limited life, periodic cleaning requirements, petroleum use, toxic chemicals from infill, and some heightened health and safety concerns but its aesthetic advantages outweighs.

Kitchen Makeover In View

I remember vividly when hubby and I first came to check our apartment, i could barely find my way through the kitchen, it was DARK (from top of the ceiling to the walls) I mean, i wondered if the people that lived there cooked on firewood. It pains me that i have lost all the pictures we took of the dark apartment. Notwithstanding, i will still do a 'before and after' post of my kitchen makeover!

Then again, we are faced with the challenge of space; the kitchen and in fact the entire house is small and (that's what you get from a rented apartment in this part of the world *whew*) Well, my plan is to lighten up the kitchen and make it more functional and i am not giving up!

The orange cabinet below was what i had in mind but my search through kitchen designs ended up with a change of mind from orange to an off-white cabinet and a brown counter-top.

See What Makeovers Taught Me

One of my many reasons for creating this blog was to educate my readers with the simple and practical tips i provide and i just love being able to help with your DIY home improvement projects. I may not put up posts very frequently but i am here to stay as long as the vision to make the world more beautiful one room at a time is still alive. So today, here is my little nuggets of wisdom (from me to you with love) as you plan your makeover or remodel:

Simple Tips To Hang Your Drapes/Curtains

Hey homeowners, this post offers you a hint on the basics of hanging your drapes/curtains with or without the help of a handyman. Before you purchase your fabrics, you have to decide how long you want them to be (almost touch the floor or just puddle), whether they will be functional (one you can open and close) or simply decorative, fully stacked or not. The tips below will serve as guide:

10 Things To Let Go Of Before The New Year

 And finally…..The year is ending in few hours and the new year comes with this urge to clean out and get organized. Not just with habits, emotions, dreams or relationships, letting go of things around the house for a fresh clean start should be top on your mind. I know a lot of us attach sentimental values to stuffs and will not want to ever deal with the guilt feeling of throwing those items away rather you hang unto the fact that someday you will find a use for them but the painful truth is ‘someday' will never come! Whether you decide to put them away in another place, to another owner, donate, sell or throw it away, today is the time to declutter for a bigger and cleaner home!