My tips for personalizing your bedroom

Its the first and last room we see everyday and its the one room we have free reign over how to decorate it. I think a bedrooms pretty important, its where we relax and rest so i believe it should reflect ourselves through it as its the one room which we can truly call our own. I think a bedroom looks boring if it doesn't reflect a part of the person who's bedroom it is. In this post, i will be showing you some ways to personlize your room.

First of all i'd like to share one big tip with you about room decorating, you must pick 3 colours for your room. Two main colours and an accent colour. I picked white and blue with an accent of hot pink, this is what my room is mainly based aorund and is a great place to start with if you're redesigning your whole room. If not, then the following tips are great ways to changing your room without any major shake-ups.

1. Wallpaper or Paint
This is a very common one that i'm sure you've all heard of doing but i just wanted to mention it so i could tell you how easy it is to put up wallpaper. It took me and my dad half a day to put it up and we used two rolls of wallpaper to do my one wall. It wasn't difficult to put up at all and you could probably do it with a friend.

Wallpaper - Cath Kidston £25 a roll

2. Change your light switch cover

I didn't realise you could do this until I got a mirror cover, then i saw a patterned one in Laura Ashley. A patterend one would be great if you had plain walls and wanted something to add a little interest, I'm sure you can find light switch/plug covers from lots of different places so just type it into Google. I have a mirror one and my brothers have a silver brushed metallic.

3. Small decorations

What i mean by this is small things that can be hung on the wall or put on your dresser that add a little detail. It adds some depth to your room and this kind of things are usually quite inexpensive. I have two examples below which were both purchased from local antique stores, but a similar heart peg can be found here. A similar wicker heart can be found here.

4. Updating your furniture

This could mean upholstering a chair, getting a new cover for a cushion or painting and adding knobs to it like i did. I had this chest of drawers which were plain wood before with plain handles, so i went into a local store and picked up some furniture paint and some knobs. Then me and my friend painted the chest of drawers and i added the knobs, it looks a lot different now. I would highly recommend this inexpensive way of making your furniture match your room better. You could even just get new knobs if your didn't want to paint your furniture.

(Sorry i forgot to take a photo of the whole chest of drawers,but they're this blue colour with these spotty knobs.)

5. Add some cushions and a throw

This is probably one you've heard a lot before but i decided to add it in here anyway, i just used a pale blue fleece blanket and some assorted cushions. The spotty cushions were made my Grandma and I out of leftover fabric from my curtains,so they match perfectly.

Blanket-Ikea  Spotty Cushions-Handmade  White Cable Knit Cushion-Homebase  

Pink Cushion-Laura Ashley

6. Fairy Lights

I don't really think theres much explaining for this one, but fairy lights add a lovely atmosphere in the evenings, particurly in winter and you can drape them anywhere. Only thing i'd say is don't go too over the top with lots of fairy lights, keep it to a minimum.

7. Add Souvenirs (or items to jog certain memories)

I love travelling so i love leaving souvenirs from my travels around my room because it reminds me of the places I've been.My aim is to collect a souvenir from everywhere i go from now on. I got the number plate when i went to California and i think it would be cool to get number plates from every state you go in america and make a wall of them, except i've visited one American state,so that wouldn't work.

(Excuse the embarrassing frame for the photo,i need to get a new frame)

8. Add some photos

My Auntie gave me this photo organiser sleeve ages ago and i found it when i moved house. I've put lots of photos in there and hung it on the back of my door on the heart peg. I love just looking at the photo in it and i think it adds a personal touch to my room, so its more 'mine', if you catch my drift. Mines from picture pocket and its this one here.

9. A Notice Board

My cousin made this one for me from the same fabric as my curtains,and then added ribbon and roses. I use this notice board to add lots of tickets, letters, cards, gifts, tags etc. This also adds more of a personal touch to my room. You could easily do this, with or without the fabric and ribbon, you just add lots of stuffover the years and it soon builds up.

Hedgehog - Wood Carvers in Switzerland (Interlaken)

Photo Frames - Habitat

Thanks for taking time to read this post,i hope you enjoyed it and it inspired you to do some of these tips yourself.

Lara :)

Wishlist

Hello, i haven't posted in a while but i'm back and this post is a wishlist post.

1. Chain necklace - £7.50 Ebay. I love statement necklaces and i think this would be perfect to style with a lot of my clothes. I know it would definitely add some detail to some plain tops i have, but i want to find a cheaper one than £7.50 because i still think that's a little steep for a necklace.

2. Apple Earbuds - £25 I need this in my life because i have broken so many headphones and i have one working pair left that don't even work very well, the sound quality with them is awful. So i need these as soon as possible considering i listen to my ipod every morning and evening on the bus.

3. Parrot running shorts - £12 Topshop. I love these shorts, i really wanted some shorts in this style for summer rather than the usual denim shorts and the'll be super comfy. I saw these on the Topshop website and fell in love, they're perfect for summer. They're very colourful which is exactly what i want for this summer.

4. Crop top - £9.99 Missguided. I want a top like this with big arm holes but not cropped and this was the closest match i could find quickly. i know Primark has some similar to what i want so i'm going to pop in there and get some.

5. White Converse - £45. I'm saving up for these at the moment because i really want them for this spring and summer, i have no spring/summer shoes at the moment apart from sandals and pumps. I love converse so much and they look really good with shorts.

6. Tribal print top - £5,99 Newlook. I want a bright patterned top desperately because my wardrobe is so dull right now and i want some bright clothes for summer, and this is really nice. I love tribal/tropical prints and this is exactly that. Considering its so cheap, i might have to pop in and get it.

California 2

This is my post on places i'm going to visit. You're probably getting bored of these posts and don't like them but its something i want to do so you're going to have to put up with them. I'll also share my photos from my holiday with you!

This is a map of where we're going, our route is in red and i drew it on myself, just for you guys. Anyway, i think this is our route, it may change slightly but this is the rough route. We're going to land in LAX airport, then spend some time in LA, then we're going to collect our RV and begin drving up to Yosemite national park. Stopping at Bakersfield or some lake on the way. We will then spend a bit of time in Yosemite before heading across to San Fransisco. We'll spend a bit of time in San Fransisco and then we'll travel down the coastal road, which is meant to be beautiful, down to LA. Whilst driving along the coast, we'll stop at Santa Cruz, Monterey, Big Sur, Santa Maria, Santa Monica and Long beach. We'll also stop at other places, but they're the ones i'm most excited about. Then, we'll spend some more time around LA before finally heading home from LAX again. We were going to go down to San Diego but its too far down and we don't know if we'll get there in time. This whole journey will take 2 weeks, so it helps you understand the sheer scale of California, and therefore America.

Some of the places i'm most excited for are below - 

Venice beach.

Seeing the Hollywood sign.

Yosemite Falls.

Golden Gate Bridge, i'm actually really looking forward to San Fransisco in general.

The Coastal road.

Alcatraz Island and Prison.

California 1

So this post is some pictures of California that look beautiful, i'm just so excited for it! I'm also going to continue with some more posts about shops i'll go to and places i'll visit. Anyway its 9 days until i go so you can understand my excitement, can't you?

I'm not going to South Lake but just the road looks amazing.

I think this is Los Angeles

Palm trees make me happy.

I also love the American road signs, so much nicer than the English ones. Yes, that is how excited and how much i love america.

11 Things I Love

1. I love the beach in any weather, i would love to live near one. My favourite bit is the ocean though. I also love the hair the salt water gives me, it goes all wavy and i just love it.

2. Aero hot chocolate is the nicest thing ever, it bubbles up and tastes perfect when made with milk.

3. I am a keen traveller, the idea of discovering new places and doing adventrous things excites me so much. My list is very long but highlights are Australia, Dubai, Kenya and New York (If i take into account the fact that i'm going to California so thats off the list). Unfortunately, they're all very far away. I also really want to just do lots of activities like zip-wiring, scuba diving, skiing (again) and go-karting.

4. Reading, i read a lot but i haven't been reading so much recently. I recently read 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' which was amazing, but i'm trying to read all the classics like 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Little Women'.

5. Acoustic covers, this is so cliché but i do. The sound of the guitar is just so relaxing and the songs sound so much better, i'd love to be able to play a guitar but i'm so un-musically talented its ridiculous.

6.Milkshakes and frozen yogurt. I know this is two things but i thought i'd group them because they're both dairy. I'm not even going to try to justify this, i just love them.

7.  Adventorous things, i mentioned this earlier but i had to make a whole new point for this, but yeah stuff like zip-wiring. Especially (the idea of ) Surfing and Skiing. Okay so i'm awful at both of these sports but they are both so exciting i like to pretend i can. I really want to jet-ski one day and be good at water-skiing, also i love donuting.

8. Sloths and just funny animals in generals. I also love the way David Attenborough pronounces it 'Slooth'

9.  History, this has made me sound like a right geek but i love learning about History. I find it so fascinating and just learning about the past, its so exciting.

10.  Photography and photos. I'm not saying i'm good at photography, which i'm far from, but i enjoy taking photos. The idea of them being photographed and to remain a still memory of that moment makes me happy, and i have no idea why. I really like polaroids and camera films, i think its the vintage, classic feel of it that rather then being digital, its actually a memory in your hands. I just love making photo albums and looking back at old photos. I've made a pact this year that i'll take photos of all my memories and make lots of albums of them.

11.  Vintage things, i love vintage bits and bobs. I also love vintage cars and diners, so typically american yet i'm British  I so love the British phone boxes, they're vintage. I want to make one into a shower sometime. I also have a vintage book that I've turned into a scrapbook/photo album type thing and i love it so much. I also just love the vintage photo effect really, its so soft.I really love Cher Lloyd's US video for 'Want You Back', its in a diner and its got an amazing car in it, its just perfect. I think this love may link back to the history thing, but i'm also a sucker for modern things. I don't know, i have mixed likes. 

Sorry for the really jumbled up post today, it wasn't really planned so the sentence and paragraph structure is shocking and the sentences don't really link up but i was rushed.

My view on Feminism

There has been a lot of articles in 'The Daily Mail' recently about feminism and i thought i'd share my opinion on it. Of course, i'm not claiming to know alot on the topic since i am only a 13 year old girl, but my view has been collected in this years and its something that's never really been important to me but i though i'd share my view anyway.

I saw in one article that there was a small box with the fact '1 in 7 women don't label themselves feminists' (or something along those lines). The way the fact was phrased made it seem like this was shocking and they should label themselves feminists. I don't think the fact took into account that these people may not be feminists. I don't see anything wrong with women believing in womens rights and being equal but still not labeling themselves a feminist.

This whole issue with men holding doors open  for women is a matter of opinion but i don't see anything wrong with it, i don't feel its demeaning to women in anyway. Its showing respect for women. I feel like its a traditional part of our English culture, because its always been something that's quite British  If people from abroad think of England  especially america, they think of 'Ladies' and holding doors open for 'Ladies' is often associated with this. Its not a massive issue if you don't want the door held open for you but they make quite a big deal out of it.

(We can hold doors open for men too)

I suppose i do see the counterargument that these feminists have, that the women are strong enough to pull it open themselves. We as a nation are quite stereotypical and often we see women as having the more dainty, less physically demanding jobs. To a certain extent this is true because men are usually stronger than women, but women are capable of being strong and doing physically demanding jobs. I can pull a door open and always will, but if a male has gone to the effort of holding the door open for me, then i'll take it. Its a polite thing to do, whether you're male of female. I don't see it any different depending on what gender it is, at the end of the day someone is holding the door open for you, so just take it. Gender is just a way of grouping people, its not anything much more than that.

Obviously i do think women should be treated as equals to men. We should be allowed to get paid the same amount of money for a job as a male does. I read a shocking fact somewhere that says for the same job (forgotten what the job was) and same hours of work, men get paid more for the job than women. I also think we should be able to pick whatever job we want, not be restricted depending on gender. I believe this for both men and women, i think that its right that men can take maternity leave. I'm don't just believe this for women. I just think both genders should be treated equal because i don't see why gender should be such a big issue, its just to differentiate between who can have a baby and who can't. I do get quite worked up about women having to stay at home whilst men work, although its is part of our culture and i understand that. Times have changed and we've become more developed as a species and this is no longer true, i think male or female can be the housewife/househusband. Although women do carry the baby, you couldn't make a baby without a male so he's just as important.

One thing that really pushes my buttons though, is when people say 'Get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich.'. No, you can make your own sandwich. I'm not going to go any further into it, because i'll write a lot but i just get extremely annoyed.

So maybe, looking back, i am a weak feminist. I do believe in women's rights and being equal but not quite so extreme as others.

Anyway, this was my view on feminism and so on, I'm glad you took time out of your day to read this and i hope it made you think in any way. Or in the best case, shaped your opinion on feminism further. Hope to see you again soon, bye!

California Outfits

In March i'm going to California for 2 weeks which i am so excited about that i can't contain it, but anyway i thought i'd make a post about some outfits that i'd wear. This has actually surprisingly taken some time and i love all the outfits. In an ideal world i'd own them all but the items are a little steep for me to buy them all so i'm going to have to settle for a few items. I may also do a post in the future with some outfits that i plan to wear since i own all the clothes. I don't know what the weather will be like in California in the end of march/beginning of April so do correct me if i'm wrong. Anyway, without further ado i shall showcase my outfits to you!

Skirt - £20 from Topshop   Top – £11.99 from Missguided   Belt – £6.99 from New look 

Necklace  - £4.99 from New look   Nail polish - £2.99 from Rimmel

This outfit is perfect for warmer days since you've got your arms and legs on show. Its quite a bright outfit and the acid bright pink and orange just remind me of sunny California. I love the contrast between the orange and pink because i'm in love with those colours together.

Top - £22 Topshop   Jeans - £19.99 H&M  Shoes – Toms.co.uk £34.99    Cardigan – £14.99 New Look   Rings - Urban Outfitters £12

I am in love with toms but i fail to own a pair yet because i worry that my feet will grow, which i guarantee they will, but i didn't let that stop me from using them in this outfit! I used a burgundy colour to match the burgundy cardigan, i thought medium wash jeans suited this look best and i thought stacks of colourful bracelets finished it off with a California vibe. 

Shorts – boohoo £20       Top – Topshop £15     Cardigan  - Urban Outfitters £48       Cross necklace - River Island £4     Angel necklace - River Island £8   Sandals - (forgotten where from, sorry)   Lipstick - Revlon £7.99

I love how the black, the suede brown and the fringes all work togather to create a really relaxed boho vibe which is a another way i picture California. I love wearing black tops with denim instead of white so incorporated that like of mine into this outfit. I love the pop of red in the lipstick and the cardigan, i think a red nail polish would be perfect with this outfit aswell.

Thanks for reading this post, I hope you liked it, bye!