& Other Stories: Grand Canyon West

Still in the land of 'Murica, this was the destination I had a privilege to visit during Summer 2015. Btw, I had this blogpost postponed for only God knows how long! So hopefully I could still picture you guys the story of this trip to the tiny details. Then again, I barely remember anything. So where do I start? Probably I should've explained how did I end up on the West Coast. There was a time I dreamed about traveling to all the 50 states, but now I honestly don't mind if the bucket list remains unchecked. Because, life happens that way. These days, I just want to count my blessings.  

As I was saying, my 23-year-old self wished to visit the other side of the US. With my sister living in New York City, I felt like I've had enough of the East Coast. HA. To pursue my lifetime dream, of course, I thought I should start off somewhere popular. I think it was a 14-day tour from Jakarta to LA, where everyone began the bus trip to Las Vegas, SF, and headed back to LA again. So this one trip was actually a part of the entire West Coast tour that wrapped in less than two weeks. Yes, you're reading it right since each flight took around 24 hours. 

Two different rims on the package were offered to us, although we eventually picked the west rim because it was the closest to Vegas and ahem, cheaper. I didn't care much about the view, it all looked the same to my eyes. Furthermore, I wanted to walk on the Skywalk where there was nothing much but, canyon. For some safety reasons, no one was allowed to take any pictures on the location, we had to put our gadget inside the locker. Numbers of photographers who sold your photos as souvenirs could be easily spotted, though. If anything was memorable about the trip, it had to be the intense Summer heat! Gosh! I'd never seen myself so tanned before. Oh and, the gift shop deserved its own highlight too. Thanks to the AC, I could just chill out and felt alive again. On another note, my mom and I purchased a variety of mineral rocks and we were so happy to bring them home as keepsakes!

Top-Rated Online Furniture Stores

Photo courtesy: Hannah Blackmore Photography

When purchasing new furniture for the home, of course you want quality and style rolled into one. With this being said, some online catalogues offer more products to choose from than others. For those who want style, form, and quality, you'd want to shop with a catalogue that has several options available for you to choose from. For UK customers who are ready to purchase new furniture, these are a few of the top catalogues from which you can choose to shop, for the latest styles and distinct patterns you want to find when purchasing new furniture.

Furniture Village has it all. Living room, dining room, bedroom furniture, and more. Whether you’re shopping for a new patio set to entertain as the summer months approach or want an eclectic style for your living or dining room area, there is something for every home. The selection of material, ranging from microsuede, to leather, to wicker sets has something for every shopper. The site also offers reasonable financing terms meaning you can buy now, pay later and furnish your entire home.

Graham and Green is a second site to visit. This site caters more to the outdoor furnishing shopper but does have a nice mix of pieces you can put throughout the home. Colourful, quality material, unique patterns, and thoughtfully designed pieces are a few of the many which you’ll find on this site. And, their pieces fit any budget so even those who don’t have much to spend can find something they’ll love online.

Gautier Furniture is another site for contemporary mixed with modern. You can find distinct designs, new-world material, stainless-steel finishes, mixed with a blend of old-world charm and elegance. If you like unique and prefer something that is somewhat different than traditional furnishings for the home, you can find it on this site.

Chaplins also carries more contemporary styles. The catalogue offers “contemporary style, for modern living.” Basically, the furniture has a ‘vintage’ charm, while still providing the newer design scapes, and colourful styles you might want to mix throughout the home.

There are many great places to find furniture when catalogue shopping. Whether you prefer modern, traditional, contemporary, eclectic, or a mix. These are a few of the best catalogues to visit offering great styles, elegant designs and affordability in pricing when you choose to go through the buy now pay later pricing scheme at checkout. Feel free to share you favorite sites too!

Inexpensive Home Décor Hacks

Photo courtesy: Bench Accounting

Are you on a tight budget, yet wanting to transform your home with a little makeover? You don’t have to forego decorating a room or upgrading some spaces in the home. With the right tools, using the right approach, and planning ahead, you can achieve the desired look or finish, without breaking the bank.

Try DIY jobs
Paint the home yourself. Build little tables, shelving, or other small items that are easy to put together. If you want to refinish or stain cabinets, try to do these jobs yourself. In addition to costing virtually nothing apart from materials, you can give the home the personal touches and nuances throughout, which a contractor won’t achieve. But on the other hand, I would not recommend doing certain jobs yourself as some things can be dangerous or will need to be certified by a professional, replacing a fuse box, for example. This is a job you should not undertake yourself.

Consider alternatives
Look for plank-flooring, choose a cheaper wood-grain, or go with linoleum finishes. The same goes with paints and backsplash for the kitchen. There are alternatives which look (almost as good as the original), and they often cost ½, if not less, than what you’d pay for the “real thing”. Shop around to see the great deals.

Keep it simple
Sometimes switching out a few knobs, painting or finishing the cabinets, or doing something small like installing a new ceiling fan, will make a world of difference. Look for smaller, cheaper projects you can do, which will have a great impact in the overall design, when you are re-modelling on a budget. These smaller jobs also take much less time for you to complete, so you are not going to spend weeks, or even months, like some of the larger re-modelling projects are going to take to complete in the home.

Just because you do not have much to spend doesn’t mean you can’t design a home you are proud of and love to be in. These are some simple ways homeowners can go about redecorating, not overspending, and achieving the finishes they desire, when trying to save on the cost of redecorating the home.