After a week at my boyfriend's apartment, where the only decorative elements are a Walking Dead poster and lewd salt and pepper shakers, it really struck me how nice it was to come back to my room. It suffers from a bit of over-decoration, but being surrounded by so many nice things that I love always relaxes me and makes me feel at home.

Do you have a place in your home that relaxes you? What do you do to make an area feel more cozy? Share pictures and discuss your nesting tendencies.

I just took a picture of my new desk recently, so I'll share that

a woman's touch <3

Are you suggesting I decorate my boyfriend's apartment? I'm sure he and his roommates would love if I started setting out knick-knacks and hanging curtains.

One night last week we accidentally stayed up all night and the sun was coming up, making it hard to go to sleep. My solution was to try to tuck a towel into the top of his blinds. It stayed up, but it didn't help with the sun situation at all. Waking up sober the next morning I just looked at it and laughed. Maybe it would have worked if it had been a darker towel, and about three times as large... It's like a six foot tall window.

I've never understood how guys quite happily live in homes that are bereft of personal touches, or...hmm, what's a better way of putting it. Softer touches? Because I know a lot of guys really like visiting female friends because they enjoy their prettier homes. I suppose a lot of it boils down to them not wanting to clean it xD

The male/female divide is very obvious when it comes to housework I think. There's very few people who like cleaning or want to do it, but the gender difference is women do it even if they hate it, because it needs doing, and a lot of guys just don't xD

For some reason I seem to have got in the habit of attaching things to the shade on the lamp on my desk. I've no idea why I started doing this, but I like it. >< The pink clip on the rim I use for post-its. I hung the betta fish phone charm from it because I got that as a freebie in with something else and I wanted to put him somewhere as he's cute. The pendants are too big/bulbous to wear but I wanted to be able to see them. The Hand of Fatima Iku sent to me and I wanted that displayed somewhere too. From the lamp was the place, it would seem! lol.

I really want that little Dalek! Also, Jelly. why do you have a pin sticking in one of your pencils?

It's a homemade dotting tool for polka dots on your nails!

That's nail varnish on the end of it ><

Here!

Originally Posted by jellysundae

The male/female divide is very obvious when it comes to housework I think. There's very few people who like cleaning or want to do it, but the gender difference is women do it even if they hate it, because it needs doing, and a lot of guys just don't xD

Omg this. The three of them lived in that place over six months without vacuuming or mopping because somehow none of them own a vacuum or a mop. Mind you, one of the bf's roommates just turned 30. So finally I bought them a cheap mop with a microfiber cloth head (for spray mopping - can't expect them to be bothered to do wet mopping when I can't even do that). Mopped once, the cloth was filthy almost immediately... and then my boyfriend refused to wash it because he didn't want the dirty rag in with his clothes. So it hasn't been mopped since. @_@ Then his roommates, ah... "acquired" a broken Dyson vacuum, but never actually fixed it. It drives me crazy - I try to at least wipe down the kitchen counters when I go over there, if nothing else.

It's just frustrating because nothing about being a man makes it actually harder to clean. It's 100% gender roles and being told all their lives "that's what women do, men don't have to do that," to the point where they're not even confident operating a spray bottle and paper towel. Society is 100% ridiculous.

Back on topic, that lamp idea is pretty cute! I've never seen that done before, but it looks neat! and I love that hot air balloon pendant.

Alexander - Keen eye you've got there! It was a Christmas gift. He talks when you squeeze him, too! Knocked him over the other day and accidentally tripped the switch when picking him back up and he shrieked "YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DALEK!!!" at me and I about jumped a mile.

I bought the pendant purely because I thought it was cool, with zero intent of ever wearing it, because it's way too big xD I was going to attach it to my handbag, then decided to hang it from my lamp instead. ><

I've dug it up on Ebay for you. The store with the best price/shipping/feedback rating combo :)

Fashion Jewelry Crystal Paved Lovely Hot-air Balloon Pendant Necklace | eBay

Thanks! Unfortunately, it's telling me in big red letters "DOESN'T POST TO UNITED STATES." But I'm sure I can find it from a million other sellers on the US site.

That tool would be fantastic for painting!

I feel so rare knowing I alternately obsess over cleaning and obsess over napping for 12 hours in a row.

Oh, I'm sorry D: How annoying that that store doesn't ship to the US >< But yeah, loads of sellers stock it, all the ones who have a bunch of other cheap and cute stuff too. =3

I love the idea of napping for that long! But not the headache I'd have ><

I don't even want to think about cleaning for 12 hours!

I've accidentally slept for more than 12 hours before. I woke up and it was dark out and I was so confused. Most nights I'm not getting enough sleep, so when I have a day off... I just use it for sleeping. Then I'm wide awake that night, can't get to bed at a reasonable hour, and yet still have to get up early the next day for work or school. You see how the cycle perpetuates itself.

Back to cozy talk... I've just cleaned my room and lit a candle, so I thought I'd take a snap.

The string lights honestly don't make my room that blue... that's my camera being bad. I also like how the lights make it appear as if David Bowie has beads in his hair.

It does make it look really blue, doesn't it. Cheery's room is really a cool jazz club!

I like how your plant and lamp have morphed into one from that angle. Now that's a useful houseplant if it can have a blossom that doubles as a light source! xD

In reality, the lights do tint my room blue, but not nearly that blue. Enough to make it sort of dreamy and cozy, but not enough to make anything in the room look blue. Though it does have a semi-blacklight effect that makes certain neon colors just glow. Like any yellow books on my bookcase just light up, as do the little neon tab/flags I use in my books. You can also see a green thing in front of my plant - that's an antique green glass holder thing shaped like half a log that I keep my keys and sunglasses in. The edges of that, where the green is most apparent, just light up.

Haha, I hadn't noticed the lamp/plant thing! That's because the base of my lamp is just a clear glass globe - if you look carefully you can see it. But yeah, now it's an illuminated aloe vera, I suppose!

My aloe needs thinning out >< It started off like yours, but more and more "pups" sprouted, and now it completely fills a pot the diameter of a dinner plate.

Give me some! Mine's been struggling for a while now. It got left out in the rain once and took just ages to recover. It used to have more leaves, now it's just got the five or so. And of course my cat is trying to make that number even fewer.

Aw, I'd send some if I could! But I'm pretty sure that it's one of the things that you're not allowed to post overseas. :( And they'd probably not be in a very good way once they arrived even if you could.

It's hearty and is on the up lately. It started putting off a new leaf earlier in the year, so I'm happy about that. But then I sort of forgot to water it for a few months. It didn't really hurt it, it only got slightly wilty just recently, but it definitely slowed its progress. Got to remember to get back on watering it weekly to biweekly.

I'm just thrilled it's alive at all It gets absolutely no sunlight, just light from that lamp. Getting plants to survive in my room is an absolute struggle. I recently lost my fluffy asparagus fern that I had had for a few years. It's probably for the best, though... I didn't really have anywhere to put it anymore as it's poisonous to cats. My kitty is much more important to me than a plant. But still... I bought it as a little thing at a home improvement store and grew it to over a foot tall, and it was so bushy.

My apartment was only partially furnished for most of the years I've lived here. >__>; I just don't care that much for decoration when I know my living situation is only temporary. After leaving home for college, I realized how much of a relief it is to not have "stuff" laying around that I simply don't need, so I try to avoid buying anything that I think will cause clutter.

That said, I like anything that is practical/utilitarian so my favorite areas are things fitting that description. I have a bulletin board that I converted into a necklace holder that I'm quite fond of. Seeing all of the necklaces together looks nice since they vary in colors, lengths, and styles and it's helpful to keep them organized. I also have a set of shelves that I purchased in 3 different colors (there weren't enough of one color left in stock) but mixed and matched the back panels so they now look like they belong in a set.

I'll be moving in with my fiance this summer so I think it will be nice to have a place to organize properly now that I know I'll be living here on a permanent basis. But so far we're mostly looking at practical things like appliances, so I think decorations will be the last thing on our list.

A corkboard is actually how I displayed my necklaces before recently buying a necktie organizer for them!

I don't like being in a place without decorations, and even if it was only temporary, living somewhere would make me want to decorate it. I think I'd also be likely to pick up little decorative things for a new place even if I hadn't bought all the essentials yet. It's necessary for my emotional and mental health, really. It helps me feel more relaxed and at home.

I finally dragged the (now empty) fish tank out from behind my desk, and put the shelves in the corner so they can lean into it and not fall over! lol. Now you can indulge in some aloe envy, Cherry. ;D



I like pretty boxes and tins to put stuff in, as is pretty evident here. >< My mum gave me a set of 3 nesting ones for Christmas, and she got things spot on with those. The biggest is on the typesetter's cabinet on the floor there, next to the desk, and the other 2 are on the shelves. The smallest and largest have the same pattern and the middle one is a nice contrasting pink with various colours of polka dots which don't show up in the photo.

I'm intending for the two baby spider plants to get nice and big, and share that top shelf with another that's currently in the kitchen, and have their babies hang down the front. Time will show if there's enough light for them up there, or if they're going to get all leggy and spindly.

I'm hoping the philodendron will start to trail soon, it seems intent on growing round on itself at the moment instead of going downwards. I want to try and grow a cutting from it, but I don't dare attempt it yet. I read up on it and everywhere says it's easy...pfft! You take a section of stem with a leaf joint and put it in water. Fair enough, but it says you're more likely to have success with rooting if it's a new section, but my plant only has one bit, and if I break anything off that it will stop that bit from growing, as I discovered before!

So it needs to grow longer before I chop a bit off and prevent it from growing further. It will send out a new shoot then but I'd like it to end up with several traily bits of a decent length, not some stubby part that just sits there.

Aloe envy. Actually, just sunlight envy in general. So many plants! I recently discovered that the grocery store I work at marks down old floral bouquets to one dollar for employees only. Some of them have a surprising longevity once you snip off the wilting leaves or pick out the one or two droopy flowers. I've had these pink carnations sitting on my desk for... two weeks now? A week and a half? And another arrangement of lavender-tinted daisies with some greenery has been here since the beginning of the week. Add to that a fresh-clipped peony from my mom's garden, and I finally have some greenery in my room! I may hate my job a lil bit, but I love these flower discounts. Bouquets are ridiculously expensive.

I'm also digging your posters! That Cuba one is really pretty.

Aw, I'm sad you have a bit of hate for your job, but cheap flowers do offset that a little bit. You got no windows in your room or something.

Lol, the Cuba "poster". That is a vintage travel poster, that I found on Google and printed off on photographic paper. I did the same with a San Francisco one too. This one.



I hate the greasy marks that the stuff I stick things up with makes on the paper : /

Jelly, what's that cute little storage box you've got, with the thin drawers, next to your desk?

It's a vintage typesetters cabinet. Cost a lot of money. Just over £100 on Ebay. I got it because I love those kind of things anyway, but I needed something to keep beads in.



It's all beautifully dovetailed, I'm so glad I got it. It was about the 6th one that I'd bid on, and they nearly all go for 3 figures, they're a really sought after item.



See it's got the typeset/font names written on the edge of the drawers.