Office Inspiration

(Images sourced from Pinterest)

This time last year the last of my older siblings flew the nest. This allowed me to finally live the youngest child dream of getting the largest bedroom in the house. Before moving I was in one of the smaller bedrooms, which is now currently empty and waiting for a spruce up. We've only just moved all the junk into the tiny box room and it awaits a good stripping and wallpapering. This little room will be our home office and I'm super excited to finally have a space to put my computer and have a proper work space.

At the moment I do a lot of my blog/YouTube work on my iMac and I hate that I end up being stuck in my bedroom 24/7. Having this separate space will hopefully take away some of that hermit vibe I've been getting the past few weeks. Not to mention I can finally buy a new desk that is wide enough to put my computer on, at the moment my screen is so close to my face I'm surprised I haven't gone blind! 

When you have the task of re-designing a space there is only one place to go, Pinterest. I have a plethora of interior boards that I use for inspiration, I'm particularly fond of the scandinavian design with a touch of industrial flare. I wanted a basic look, a lot of white furniture and hard, metal lamps. I also love the collage, no frame look for the wall art, it's cheap but stylish. We've decided on a 'no wall shelves' rule as the walls upstairs in our house are a bit flimsy, so putting shelves up is risky, we've already had one accident. This means there will probably be a lot of free standing book shelves, which I'm fine with. It's always been my dream to have a huge library filled with books on those tall, free standing shelves, just like in Beauty and the Beast (I may have delusions of grander).

Hopefully by the end of september all of the decoration side will be complete and I can jump in the car, IKEA Family card in hand and start buying some amazing office pieces. Of course when everything is finalised I'll be doing an office tour on my channel and I'll post some awesome pics right here on the blog. Let me know in the comments if you are as in love with the minimalist scandinavian style as I am and what would your dream office look like?

Blog Inspiration

Like many, I go through stages of creative nothingness, my brain refuses to do its job and becomes incredibly lazy. That is when I crack out the inspirational material, sometimes it's a good old fashioned hard copy magazine, sometimes it's a beautiful Tumblr page.

I'm more of a visually creative person, I learn best through visuals and I take in more information visually. I can read article after article to try and gain inspiration but that eureka moment will never strike. Let me let you in on a little secret of mine, I start with the photography. If I can take a picture that I'm really really happy with and is visually interesting then the blog content usually comes like an oncoming train. 

That's why I prefer Tumblr pages, not just other peoples Tumblr blogs but also my own. I tend to look at images a fair amount whilst I'm surfing the web, this leads to me adding a mountain of inspirational photography to both of my Tumblr blogs, perfect for referring back to later. I don't know wether it's a bit narcissistic to say I inspire myself (it probably is) but it's true! Past me has a lot of great inspiration to pick from. 

This of course, is just my own personal way to kick start my creative brain. I don't know wether you guys did this in school, but we used to study these things called thinking hats, they were basically tests to find out how best your brain takes in information. These tests would tell you if you were more numerical, visual, practical or something like that, I don't really remember all too well. It may be an idea to have a google though and do some tests to find out how best your brain takes in information, it doesn't just refer to learning stuff, it can be used to get creative as well! 

If like me you tend to get your inspiration visually, check out Tumblr and We Heart It, find photography in the style that fits your blog style and see where it takes you. Also check out bi-annual magazines like Love and Lula and more expensive bi-monthly mags like Wonderland. I always find the pricier they are, the more intriguing the photography. 

Good luck with your quest for inspiration! Let me know in the comments where you get the most inspo from.  

Feel Good Friday: Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy

I discovered this quote from watching a video on SoulPancake's YouTube channel, it's called 'That's What She Said | Beauty and Body Image'. The video shows a panel of women talking about what makes them feel beautiful and their own thoughts and feelings on their own body image. It's really interesting to listen to a group of grown women talk about their own body image issues and reminds us that no matter what age we are, we are all the same. 

'Comparison is the thief of joy' is a quote by Theodore Roosevelt. I'm pretty sure that at the time he wasn't referring to women's body image issues, but it doesn't make it any less relevant to the subject. Around this time, when we've all gotten a bit fat from Christmas chocolate, and fitness DVDs are being shoved down our throats by advertisers, it can be easy to get bogged down with worries of image. 

The one thing that you need to remember is that we are not all built from the same materials. We all have our own unique DNA that makes us look and act the way we do, even twins. As human beings we have developed this natural instinct to judge, we judge when we meet new people, we judge when friends or family members make decisions we may or may not agree with. The internet and social media are giant big balls of judgement! I frequently go on sites like We Heart It and Tumblr and I am instantly bombarded with images of thigh gaps and washboard abs. We can't escape from airbrushed images of beautiful people who are meant to motivate us to eat well and workout, but all it does is make us down and depressed that we don't look like these fitness gods and goddesses. 

With all that happening in front of our eyes, why let it get inside our heads? Comparing ourselves to those images or anybody that isn't you steals your thoughts away from the positives in life. It consumes you and pollutes your mind. Joy can't enter when you have built a wall of shame and guilt for not being what others say you should be. But this stretches to other areas other than body image, comparison to others can be literally anything, lifestyle, personality, finances even material possessions. You are you and that's OK. If you're not as perky and bubbly as the girl that sits in front of you in class, that's OK because you are you and no one else can give to the world what you can. 

So let's set a challenge. In the upcoming days, if you find yourself thinking 'I wish my abs looked like that' or 'why can't I have a mansion like Angelina Jolie?' replace those thoughts with the positive things you have. It can be something you like about the way you look or something in your life you are grateful for. Once you let go of the negative you make room for the positive, so let's make room for the joy.

     

Don't Beat Yourself Up, Have A Cookie!

This is a good thing to remember when trying to lose weight or even just eat healthily. I think sometimes we can be too hard on ourselves when we slip up, it's not the end of the world if we have a takeaway or a piece of cake. That one slip up isn't going to erase all your hard work, in fact a little bit of what we crave can be good for our body and soul. You'll drive yourself crazy denying yourself the foods you love or crave, allow a good chocolate eating session once in a while!

I'll be the first to throw my hands up and say I often suffer with the yummy food guilt (feeling guilty after eating bad foods). It's ridiculous that we program ourselves to feel like we need to be punished for eating the foods we love. As long as you're eating healthily more days than your eating unhealthily, you'll be fine. So don't force yourself to be a rabbit if you're a cookie monster, have a cookie every now and again, stick your head under a chocolate fountain if it kills a craving, you're only human, don't beat yourself up about it!