Room Envy: Revenge

So I fell down the stairs a few days ago and fractured my toe while in the midst of exams, which means that even though exams have just ended, I'm pretty much cooped up at home hoping to recover as soon as possible. Hopefully before Chinese New Year so I can actually wear shoes. #luckof2014

Being cooped up at home means entertainment is limited to books, watching Sundae sleep, or the internet. It also means continuing to watch shows that I had to put on hold during exams! My recent obsession has been Revenge. These days, it's so difficult to find shows that encompass both great style/decor and a good plot.

Charlotte Grayson is the rich girl who has everything a girly girl could want. Her bedroom is a mix of elegance and romance judging by the pink hues and cream-colored decor pieces. There're hints of floral patterns everywhere from the lampshade to her sheets. It does not look messy as accent pieces of dark furniture such as her headboard, desk, and couch provide a neutral color base. The entire room has a very Anthropologie feel which I love.

After scrolling through the photos, did you realize that her room seems to have changed quite a bit?! The color of the walls, headboard, desk, and wall decor made a complete change in the later half of the series! Wow this is such a revelation. Wondering if it has anything to do with the change happening within her family, forcing her to grow up... Okay shall not get too literary about a TV series.

Next is Emily Thorne's room which has a shabby chic and beachy touch to it. The main color scheme is white and mint/turquoise which always looks great when paired together as it creates a clean and soothing atmosphere, which is something I'm currently trying to achieve in my own room. I love the contrast of modern lamps and vases on vintage-looking furniture as it keeps the room from looking boring or outdated.

If you've noticed, warm lighting is a must in creating many different types of atmosphere. I am a personal believer in using warm lighting especially at home because it makes the place look so cozy and inviting, just like in a resort or a spa. Light a few candles and voila, your own personal sanctuary.

Besides the decor in Revenge, I love Victoria Grayson's and Emily's style. Was thinking if I should write up another entry on that but there're so many other websites that find the exact clothing piece they were wearing. Maybe I'll come up with a guide to channeling Victoria Grayson or Emily's style if I'm patient enough to go through the series again in order to take screenshots.

Thursday is almost over and it'll be Friday soon. We made it!

Room Envy: Pretty Little Liars (Part II)

Hanna Marin is a diva and she isn't afraid to let people know it. Despite how dark the show is becoming, her comebacks never fail to make me snort. Wish I had the guts to say half the things she says to people.

Her room reflects her tres chic wardrobe. She never fails to inject just the right amount of glitz and glamor to her outfits, for e.g. a plaid shirt with a chunky bedazzled necklace paired with skinnies and sky-high booties. Unfortunately, the photos captured below don't show any of that so maybe her room will do the talking.

The main color scheme of her room seems to lean towards the lighter side of the purple color spectrum, namely lilac. The pop of color seen throughout is yellow, which I wasn't sure about but it sure works for her room.

In the couple photos above, you can see pillow mountains both on her daybed and her bed. This is something which I'm gradually learning about. Pillows don't have to be the same shape, color, and design in order for it to work in a pillow mountain. The key is to identify the main theme of the room, and use pillows as accents. For e.g. Hanna's pillows are mostly silky-looking, which adds that glamorous touch, and they stick to the purple color theme except in different shades which keeps it interesting.

Her dressing table looks like an organized mess. It works because the main pieces of decor like the tall jewelry holder, tiny jars, and table lamp are all white or glass which always makes decor look so effortless. What I love is the filigree mirror, in lilac of course, and the vase with purple, white, and yellow flowers. I'm a sucker for things that match okay.

By the way, there's so much purple going on in the photo below lol.

The next couple of photos show Allison's room but I'm not going to analyze it. Just wanted to say that I OWNED THAT TABLE LAMP WHICH WE BOUGHT IN AMERICA (Target I believe) BUT MY MOM HAS BEEN CLEANING OUT THE HOUSE AND SHE THREW IT OUT BECAUSE IT WAS DUSTY! The fangirl in me wants to scream I HAVE THAT TOO but alas that's not going to happen.

Goodbye pretty lamp. It was glamorous while it lasted.

Room Envy: Pretty Little Liars

Does anyone here watch Pretty Little Liars and suffer from room envy? I'm not even going to talk about the styling because I'd kill for Spencer and Hanna's wardrobe and so would millions of girls out there. In terms of room decor, I think I'm more of a Spencer + Aria. Every time I see their rooms, I get some form of inspiration of how to tweak mine to have the same effect be it adding or subtracting stuff. If only Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters were easily available in Singapore. It also helps that my parents are crazy about decor so they'd just buy me stuff omg where art thou Anthropologie and UO?!

Aria's room is so cozy and bohemian chic. Her room reminds me of mine because of the amount of woodwork in it. Besides my bed with a mixture of steel and wooden frames, everything else is pure wood. The color scheme of her room seems to be mostly warm colors like different shades of purple, brown, cream, etc. The different shades of warm colors used contributes to the perception of depth of her room so it's not too monotonous and dark. The only thing I dislike about her room is probably the small closet. Realistically, I don't think the amount of clothes Aria has can fit in there but we all know this is just a show.

Spencer sometimes reminds me of myself. The OCD, the bossiness, the perfectionist, and of course her style. Her room has more of a preppy glamorous theme with the four-post bed, mirrored furniture, closet with french doors, and the numerous floral prints everywhere from the walls to the sheets. I'd love to have these elements in my room but sadly, my room isn't big enough and my parents are more into wooden furniture. If my house had a termite infestation, the entire thing would be gone. That's how much wood there is.

The color scheme of her room is very light and incorporates colors like shades of pink, white, and the occasional injection of red and black to tie everything together. There's a mish mash of prints in her room but somehow everything seems to go together because they either match in terms of prints or color, for e.g. her bed.

The color and decor elements of Spencer's room is something I'm trying to achieve. It's possible to add elegance and glamor to a room just by maybe adding some photographs with black or white frames to the wall, stacking coffee table books on the bookshelf as decor, and adding a lot of white to the room in general. I have done that by using only acrylic Muji drawers on my dresser to store makeup, standardizing my storage system by mostly using Muji's linen boxes which are cream colored, and storage boxes from Ikea in pink or red. I feel that standardization is key to achieving a Spencer-esque room. It's more visually-appealing too.

Love her outfit so so much!

As I go through the series, I hope I'll be able to capture more screen shots of their rooms. The last photo is so lame because it's so dark but it's a study desk so I thought I'll get away with not mentioning that since not everyone has a study desk i.e. me!

Hopefully this post has been of some help because I had fun breaking it down for you. Have a lovely day!

Things I'd rather be doing

Partying my ass off

Look who was waiting up

You're so cute

I am SO gorgeous when carved in wood

That's what a pile of new clothes is meant for

Sending scruffiness off to the spa

I think we've found the perfect groomer for her. It's a freaking spa experience. Dental works, basic grooming, dead sea salt soak... I want it too.

Him cheating on me openly again

Look who got a pretty cute man purse!

Sister coming back from Aussie so happy to see the furry one

You're the perfect distraction

White collared sleeveless: H&M
Navy sweater: Forever21.com
Pants: FirstDay awhile back
Bag: Forever New
Watch: Fossil
Anchor studs: Forever 21
Necklace: Tiffany & Co.
Heeled oxfords: Soeurs at Cineleisure

New jewelry armoire which I love so so so so so much

Was so excited when this arrived! Immediately started fixing it up myself and luckily Darren popped by and did the later part of the heavy lifting so it got done faster. Extremely happy organizing everything which's my favorite pastime. The awesome thing is how this closes up to be a sleek full length mirror that I can take OOTD shots in. You would never imagine the amount of jewelry that's actually stored inside.

No longer do I have tarnished jewelry hanging on various hooks around my room and on my tiny dressing table waiting to fall off. I can now see everything at one glance and easily decide which accessory to finish off my outfit with. YAY!

Honestly cannot wait to have an actual walk-in closet of my own.

NEAT LIKE HOW I LUVVIT

My friend sent me this because I was cursing and swearing things about school ♥

Daily Grind

A short mishmash of things I've been doing lately that are pretty meaningless.

Like surprising Darren when he was still at the gym. Bought donuts for the other trainers and they seemed to appreciate my effort more than he did. But it's okay because he has big biceps #shallow

Waiting makes you do crazy things

It seems like I've been to my hairdresser's so many times lately. Wonder if she's sick of seeing me there. What can I say, I love her!

Just can't deal with roots showing

It's unfair how my sister cut her hair recently and now she looks like some cute Korean girl, while I look like I starred in a Japanese horror movie. As the horror of the movie. This will be the face that haunts you in 2013. Coming soon to theaters near you.

Oh and I've been forced by my mom to do groceries at the wet market and I must say I'm pretty impressed by the variety and prices of food. Bought 2 huge bags of vegetables for only $13, the same amount would've cost $20 at NTUC okay. I've been cooking a lot at home and it's really a good way to save money and lose weight if you're watching your diet. I tend to eat a lot less when I'm home because I control the portions instead of being served a fixed portion at a restaurant and 'needing' to finish it.

Another thing I've been excited about is this new clothing rack I just put up in my room. Thought it'd be a good idea to hang new clothing items that have been stuck in my closet out in the open for easier viewing and access. Getting clothes out has been a nightmare recently because the already super thin hangers are packed so tightly together. Besides, I love staring at clothes so why not?

Inside My Closet

Not sure if anyone cares about what's inside my closet but since I'm proud of the way it's currently being organized, no harm in sharing. Hopefully it'll be somewhat useful for you.

I used to shop a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean helluva lot. Like not being able to live a day without buying an article of clothing/shoe/bag. That situation has improved over these past few months ever since my financial consultant started talking to me about savings and helping me to calculate some goals and whatnot. She's really really good at what she does. Not saying this just because she's my aunt!

Anyway, I don't have heaps of clothing sitting around because I believe in clearing the old so there's plenty more space for the new. Started selling some of my clothes online early this year as well as taking part in fleas in the past. (Did a mental calculation and think I've sold close to 400 items not including those that were given away omg!) Bottom line: clearing out your closet is vital to having an organized one full of clothes you'll actually wear. Makes it easier to look for stuff too.

My closet is a 3-door one that's from IKEA. When the delivery guys came over, I got to choose where exactly did I want the poles, shelves, and baskets. Really liked the idea of personalizing the inside of the closet instead of just buying a standard one with built-in drawers that will never be enough.

Inside the 1st door

Tops that are hanging are organized by:

1. Cutting (sleeveless to the long sleeved)

2. Color (light to dark and vice versa)

My dressier non-denim shorts are on the bottom left. Some newer skirts next to it on the right. I love keeping the sparkly one out there just because it looks pretty. Keeping newer items visible serves as a reminder for me to wear them soon.

The whole area behind is full of knits and tops that will stretch and spoil if they're hung on a hanger. I'm extremely anal about caring for my clothes because I value them a lot and it'd kill me if anything went out of shape just because I didn't store it properly. Do note that knits should always be folded and never hung unless you want to stretch a top into a dress! When you're drying them, drape it over a hanger instead of hanging it normally. Always make sure they're completely dry before keeping them. If not, the smell will literally take your breath away. A lesson I learned first-hand.

The shelf below holds my very limited collection of denim shorts. Need more for school but if I'm going to work in a year's time, would I wear them much? Next to it is a pile of lighter colored cardigans. The row behind (not pictured) stores darker colored cardigans and a huge Victoria's Secret box full of new lingerie. #tmi #hoarder

In the top metal drawer, there's my rainbow collection of camisoles and tank tops on the bottom left. Folded them such that colors can be seen easily. Above my camisoles and tanks are plain tee shirts that I need more of. Next to it are dressier skirts I should wear more often. Casual long sleeved shirts are folded below.

The bottom metal drawer houses my jeans and pants. On the left are jeans and on the right are pants.

Inside the 2nd door

Skirts are hung on the clip hangers in order of length. On each clip hanger I try to hang about 3 skirts. Always make sure the skirt the hanger is coming in direct contact with, will not have the imprint of the clip left on it when you take it out. I've seen so many skirts ruined at shops because of this. The storage hanger thing houses some of my smaller bags. My mom got it from Target in Australia. The purple hanger next to it is actually a belt hanger and I've many of my thinner belts hanging from it. You can't really see it though. The hot pink hanging storage houses some short sleeved outerwear and lingerie.

Inside the 3rd door

Blazers are hung in order of color on the left and dresses on the right are in order of color also. Below, I've 3 big Muji linen boxes that store clothes and my sheets.

If you've noticed, hangers I use for tops and blazers are the super thin kinds. Using these hangers has saved me so much space. If not for them, I don't think I'd have enough space on the pole to hang more clothes up. Also, standardizing the color for hangers makes everything seem more organized especially since the color of the inside of my closet is black.

So that's all my closet has to offer. I hope you've enjoyed reading this wordy entry and picked up some tips on how to treat your clothes right. Keep dry from the 4pm storms and have a not-so-shitty start to the week everyone!