House Furnishing for the weekend

This last Sunday was an official islamic holiday which extends our weekend by a day I knew I won't be spending out. I was just not mentally prepared to go out and needed couple of days to meditate at home and just focus on internal organisation of my life at home. I'm not the super mom when it come to house keeping and never will be like my dear mother who dedicate every possible break to clean and sweep the floors even when they're shining bright; but I do have a sense of responsibility to lift the dirt and tide up my house when needed. LOL

if I were a magician at home.. LOL

Last couple of weeks I headed to IKEA at Dubai Festival City with a mission ( and measures of course, never ever go without those two!) to design a huuuuuge clothes closet for future investment and finally get rid of my husband complaining about his clothes right of holding a space in our closet.*angel halo* I also had a small bookshelf and a desk in mind if I lay my eyes on any good designs.

I do admit my husband and I got carried away a little and got 3 meters set of two bookcases and a desk to hold our antiques, books, paper documents and well be a decent study area for both of us. We went to bed feeling accomplished and proud to finally get what we had planned for months ago and couldn't sleep thinking about when it will get delivered to our empty room.

IKEA Designing system, totally loved it!

so this weekend I had a welcoming task to do for my IKEA purchases! :D

The delivery service was so reliable and respected time just the way I love it. Although the installation of our new furniture took a while for bringing two staff only, they cleaned their mess and that was enough to forgive them :P

Here's my wide big closet ~

I love the mirrors in the middle which substitute any need for stand mirrors and a great motive when I exercise woohoo!! 

I designed a part to be for my baby's stuff which is a lot more space efficient than having those small expensive baby closets and had it provided with baby hangers, baskets and glass shelves that are not in stock right now but will go to get them later in June. probably gonna post about it later when all is well organised..

  

and here is my desk and bookshelves!

To me this is a dream perfect desk with a perfect lightening coming in, I can't wait to study and write in this corner. The place still looks empty as there're a lot more to add here and there but its a motivating start ..

Thank you IKEA for being so creative and making our houses prettier! Now all I need is a good quality time to get everything in place in those shelves *cries* 

Peace,

Amna Al Dhaheri

Welcoming 2013 !

Happy New Year~

2012 is not the end of the world and I'm still alive :D haha in ur face you.. donno know whoever was claiming its the end lol ~

I know its kinda late but there was no way I'm gonna be able to write a decent blog after arriving on new years  to my home country 

The tiredness, cultural shock and formalities kept me from having any fruitful time with my blog

Now that I'm back on my feet again I thought I'd write a new post before January passes by!

First and before I spill out my plans I wish to thank 2012 for being a year filled with adventures and a year that is a blissful gift from god. I met so many new people, learned a lot of things, visited new places and become a satisfied calm person

in 2012 I started writing in this blog more seriously and I'm willing to keep it up during 2013 :)

In 2013 I wish to be the change for every single day

I want this year to be more organized and awarding

 and for a change I want to relax and let life take the wheel from time to time :)

so for the time being I'm on vacation and I came up with this list to fill my time and plan well for the coming year! There are many interesting stuff over the internet but I loved these the most and started applying them myself !

1- 2013 Diary/Planner

Yes its a must and it works amazingly well for busy people like me! 

technology cannot replace written papers! I find it more enjoyable to hold a book in my hands instead of an electronic reader

I can edit my notes much faster 

& I can flip back and fourth to feel the sense of time with papers !

so go to the nearest bookshop and pick your one !

Tips: 

• choose a light weight diary if you will carry it in your bag and always pick an elegant one that you will love to open every single day

• avoid super fancy tho and never buy the most expensive out there.. in the end its just a planner !

• oh and always check the paper pattern from inside, diaries comes with different style! I rather get those with enough space for each day (almost half page) and I love the maps attached at the back it gives me a space to dream about traveling to places I've never thought about :) *childish lol*

2- Happiness Jar

I've seen so photogenic pictures of Dreams Jar but I didn't like it as dreams should be written clearly in front of you not folded into a jar ! However this year I heard of the happiness jar where you can place all the happy moments you had through the year and then by the next year you can talk about and review all the happy moments in the past year !

Tips: 

• you can get the shape and size you prefer or which you think will fit perfectly on your desk. Nice cheap jars are hard to find in bookshops so I suggest visit the kitchenware section in any homecenters you will find plenty, colorful and cheap jars !

• decorate you jar with ribbons, stickers and writings this will not only makes the jar beautiful but enchanted~

for my case I went for simple cylinder shaped plastic jar so it won't break if it fell from the table :3 

3- Pictures on the wall

I've always appreciated pictures as a happy thing in life. I'm not into buying very expensive professional heavy cameras to take a picture of a tiny bug ( although I admit its worth the quality). However, I believe that no matter how ugly or hilarious you look in a picture it will never matter in the future when you look back at those pictures ! So with the growth of my gallery I wanted to keep my dear ones around instead of piling them in harddisks that I only check every couple of months

and I know I kept bragging about Korea so much now but honestly those people know how to design their cafes and restaurants with photographs, art crafts & simple antiques !

and it got me wondering why mom is so obsessed with white walls? if you can utilize the white spaces in a right way it will not look beautiful but will have a touch of personality and uniquness !

and so I'm filtering some pictures this weekend for printing and gonna buy some ropes and nails to get the work done !

Tips: 

• Don't stick to colored pictures even black n white ones will give you a sense of elegant vintageness! 

• if burning images in studios are expensive print them at home! 

• for more crafty touch you can design paper frames around your pictures and leave a little cute note !

 4- Books, Books and more Books !

We are a nation that reads, maybe the past decades weren't our best but that's only because our grandparents didn't get the chance for proper education and worked hard for their family survival. No matter how developed we get or how many technologies we invent the book is still a valuable piece of knowledge that won't be replaced.The beginning was tough with books for someone who started reading late but now its a daily pleasure.   

Tips: 

• take your time when you want to borrow/buy books, the secret to love books is to follow your field of interest. I realized this late cuz I depended on others' choice at the beginning.

• Novels are wonderful source of amusement but read an educational or inspirational book for a change.

• When you're done reading a book write a review for it, give it to a friend or neatly put it on a shelf for others to read ! 

• Some book fairs and libraries allow books donation or exchange so make use of such places if you didn't like a book you poses or read it many times !

5- Own a business 

University is the best place to test your capabilities of running a business. Of course people would say that the real world is completely different from this controlled environment but where else can you try your skills in marketing without being punished ?! After many presentations, workshops, projects maybe you can make use of your knowledge to go for the next challenge of opening your own business ! Currently I've been enrolled in a small business with a group of creative local ladies and I hope we will establish the company we dream of soon enough :)

Tips: 

• Always keep yourself inspired by attending talks about others success story and find the time to think about what you want to do after graduation. 

• If the road is not clear ask your friends for ideas you will be surprised by their responses or maybe you will find a person with a gold worth idea but was waiting for a strong person like you to take the lead !

• A business doesn't have to be an individual work it can start with the hard work of a group!

• Focus on what you are familiar with as its a strength point for you! Innovations and ideas can come running after you formed a strong basis for your business 

All in all, never give up to the depressing routine always find a way to appreciate, love and change ~

Be a person who lived every single day and tried as much things as possible than others from your place !  

Happy New Year Everyone !

Amna ❤

p.s: let me know about your 2013 plans, your opinion about my blog and what you love to read in the future ;)