Personal Space

Ok, so we all know that crazy frustration of living in a rented apartment with awful, mismatching furniture and not being able to paint the walls white. I mean, I've never understood, why would you want them any other colour?! I've suffered greatly, you look at every room and just think, why? And you can't help but imagine how beautiful the place could be if you were let lose with a paint brush, despite dodgy DIY skills. The pain is all too real.

However, I must say that this year I have truly fallen in love with my room in my rented French flat, quirky as it may be. I mean, aside from the one white wall, they're ever so slightly pink, and one is a very dark pink (I know what you're thinking), but with it's beautiful hardwood floors, super high ceilings and big open windows, the space is the perfect light trap with a view out onto the lovely street below and gorgeous french apartment buildings you see in Paris ads (yes, there are other places in France, and yes, they are just as, if not more beautiful than Paris).

Although yes, I would paint all the walls white and change some of that furniture if I could but I've quite happily dealt with it for these big windows and the light streaming in.

As far as my desk space is concerned, I've opted for hiding all my grammar books, dictionaries and uni work this year and kept it clean, neat and practical; aside from a lovely aloe vera plant gifted to me by some friends from my birthday and of course obligatory specs, cup of tea and my trusty diary and notebook, without which my life would crumble and fall apart. 

So this was when I first moved in, since then I've moved this lamp to near the head of my bed for easy night time reading and basically, pure laziness. My collection of books has multiplied over the course of my time in Lyon; I'm a real sucker for a nice book and I can definitely class it as "educational" if it's in French, right? And although I didn't want to waste too much money on things I couldn't take with me when I move back home, I couldn't resist a little cacti trio- aren't they like a bedroom staple now? Plus, the shop I bought them from was too beautiful to walk past. The crate was a cheeky steal from the remnants of the weekly Sunday morning food market; we've acquired many over the past few months and they are perfect for storage in any room! Having a clothes rail is a real treat, considering my built-in sliding door wardrobes at home. I hate big bulky wardrobes and like that I can see everything so clearly on a morning; I'd like to say it saves time too but I don't think I could honestly say it does. And no, I'm not one of those people who will rearrange their rail so it's colour coded, perfect looking and well, bare just for a photo- it's about practicality for me I'm afraid. Although I must admit, my personality tends to lend to strict organisation anyway so my rain is in a particular order from skirts to shorts, shorter to longer, to trousers, folded over, to t-shirts, short sleeve to long sleeve, to shirts, to dresses, following jumpers, to jackets and coats. Yes, I'm a bit particular, shall we say? Moving on, I love a free-standing mirror, this one wasn't my personal choice but actually I've really warmed to it- it's white so I can't complain.

Something I have started doing this year is buying flowers for my room. They're the perfect way to brighten up a room and give a breath of fresh air to any space. I struggle to be in a space with no green in it. As well as this, I can easily get a lovely bunch from the market for a couple of euros and they will last a decent while! So totally worth it I'd say.

My room is always something I am very protective of, a space that's mine, that reflects me as a person and where I can just be. I always try to make the most of spaces and being a student, it is sometimes tricky! There's always going to be things I want to change and until I get my own place, it's always going to be like that. It's never going to be one of the picture perfect rooms you see online because it needs to be practical (although, yes of course I want to try and make it look nice and cool and Instagram worthy). But for me, most importantly, it's a place where I can rest, work, hang out, enjoy and put my feet up!