Saturday, September 28, 2013

home decor

It's been over a year since I moved into my own place and I'm still in the middle of getting it to look the way I want. So far, I'm happy with how my living room looks, especially after I bought this awesome black and white graphic rug from IKEA! I wanted the black and white striped one, but the colour combo was more of a black and cream, which I didn't like. Then, my mum spotted this one and it was love at first sight.  As they say, mums always know best :)
{Red couch - IKEA // Pillows - IKEA, Pier 1, West Elm // Silver owl stool - Urban Barn // Coffee table - CB2 // Silver floral bowl - IKEA} Sorry for the blurry photo; I took this on my iPhone late at night.



I spent a Saturday moving my desk around. It use to face the wall, but I wanted to take advantage of the natural light coming from the window, so I moved it to face the other wall. The downside is that I have no room to put the printer beside the desk. I might have to do some inventive maneuvering but I like where the desk is now. We'll see how long this will last :P
{Cork board - Staples // Filing cabinet - IKEA // Picture & frame - auction}
{Desk, waste basket, chair, lamp, sheepskin rug as cushion - IKEA // Pillow - West Elm // Blue & aqua stationary set - Chapters}
Now, I need to find a picture to put up against this blank wall... Any suggestions?

Sunday, September 15, 2013

dying to try it out

This is the first time that I've ever dyed my hair. I've always been curious about dying my hair but every single time, I would talk myself out of it, citing my low-maintenance hair habits and not wanting to bother with re-touching the roots every 4 weeks. However, after nixing the idea of dying my hair aqua (which would require copious amounts of bleach and tears), I decided to try a blue/black tint, just to give my hair more dimension and interest.

I didn't really research which hair dye to use, I just picked up whatever was on sale and this happened to be it. Knowing that this would get a little messy, I cleared off my counter and laid down a towel. I also wrapped a dark-coloured towel around my shoulders and wore a black t-shirt, so if there was any staining, it would be virtually undetectable.

"Blue black, intense colour cream, vibrant colour." Sold!
What was in the box and where the magic happens.
The aftermath: Besides a few splatters of hair-dye in the bathroom sink and tub (which washed off easily enough), I didn't make that big of a mess! High five me!
You can kinda see the blue tint when I use flash photography. However, in natural lighting, you can't really see it very well. But my hair did turn out the BLACKEST of black. Before, I did have some natural dark brown tones in my hair, but now it's pitch black. I kinda like it, and I don't mind if it grows out because it will just blend in with my natural base colour.
My thoughts: It was fun to try it out. It was also a lot easier than I thought it would be. Would I do it again? I wouldn't mind going lighter, maybe to a brunette shade, in the spring/summer months. However, the one thing that I couldn't stand was the SMELL of the hair dye. UGH. It had such an unpleasant smell to it that after I disposed of the hair dye, I lit a candle to get rid of the remaining odor. So, if I do decide to go lighter in the spring/summer, I might get it professionally done. Also, I feel like there's a likely chance that my hair will turn orange if I try to lighten it myself at home. And I don't want orange hair.