How to Create a Meditation Corner to Find Sanctuary from the Hate

Are you Black? Brown? An immigrant? A queer? Trans? Disabled? A woman? A migrant? Neuroatypical?

Yeah?

Do you have a safe, beautiful, sacred space in your home to pray to the God of your understanding for a better fucking world?

No?

WELL WELCOME TO THIS RELEVANT TUTORIAL.

I started my sanctuary when I got sober six years ago, and I cannot recommend it enough. Unless you want to burn the fuck out or turn into an extremist, if you are existing in this world today and you aren't praying and meditating or sitting quietly to reflect, I don't know how you are coping.

Let's make a beautiful space together.

Here are some of things we are going for:

http://blog.freepeople.com/2014/06/bring-5-feng-shui-elements-home/

http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=2354856595&group=0&frame_type=a&blog=1591075&link=aHR0cDovL2Zyb21tb29udG9tb29uLmJsb2dzcG90LmNvbS8yMDE0LzAyL2RvbnQtaGF0ZS1tZWRpdGF0ZS1jcmVhdGluZy15b3VyLW93bi5odG1s&frame=1&click=0&user=0

The principles of a mediation space can be summed up in this handy graphic:

Step One:

Find a quiet and clean corner of your home. Maybe you want a sun-drenched little spot, or maybe you want to do this in a closet where you can literally shut yourself away from the world. This is your spot. Make sure it is not in a frequently and commonly used part of your house, or, if it is, think about how you will make space and time to use it.


Step Two.

Get an old CD or DVD shelf, an empty drawer, or other wooden, upright empty shelf thing. You can find this on the street or in a thrift store for basically nothing. Also, you probably have one already. This is what I mean:

Step Three:

On the top shelves, put photos of people and things you love. Also put a photo of you as a child, smiling, to remind yourself of who you were before the world happened. You can also put momentos and beautiful things like sea shells or stones.

Step Four:

Put some plants and some candles or incense on the bottom shelves.... things that might seem like some hippy bullshit but are actually very calming and nice.

Step Five:

Sit or kneel in front of this shrine area, and find the shelf that is eye level to you while you are doing that. On that shelf put a sacred image or an inspiring and calming quote, or a beautiful painting. Something very dear to your heart that you can look at while you meditate.

Or, if you are using a small box, just put all the stuff together. Like this.

http://www.avablakecreations.com/

http://fuckyeahaltars.tumblr.com/post/30043595805/babalon156-this-is-out-small-living-room-altar

If you don't want the box, just display your plants, your little stones or crystals or coins or mementos, your quotes and photos, etc, in an aesthetically pleasing way.

http://anahata.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b62369e2017c389accf7970b-pi

http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2009/01/altared_spaces_how_to_create_a.html

Lastly, get a nice cushion or soft little rug and put it down so you feel comfortable sitting. You can stick the cushion under your bed when you are not using it, which is what I do.

Take some time for yourself, and remember the good in this world.

Xoxox,

Emily

Create a Marble Backsplash in Your Kitchen for Less than a Box of Tampons!

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wish my kitchen looked more like Kim Kardashian's kitchen. What a shame that my non-profit skills are so undervalued in the current job market as a result of being associated with the feminine sphere?"

Yes? Then THIS is the post for you! This is what we are going for. But fake.

There was nothing wrong PER SE with the backsplash in my kitchen.... but it was decidedly not marble. How were people going to know what exquisite taste I have, and more importantly, how was I going to incorporate white marble into my carefully curated home of blushes, greys and white with copper accents?

This is the color/pattern scheme I wanted:

   

This is from: http://whitspeaks.com/2015/10/recent-design-work.html, and http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/trend-alert-pink-marble-copper-217477?crlt.pid=camp.phMFzZxltvB2

And, more specifically I wanted this: 

http://www.mydomaine.com/ikea-kitchens/slide15

Ok, you get the idea. So this is what I was starting with: 

Basically, modern white kitchen shit, with a nice blond wood counter, some intense 70s floors, and a peach colored painted backsplash. Here is what I did.

I went to Brico, which is like the European Home Depot, and I bought some marble patterned contact paper for 5 euros. 

http://www.time-andglam.com/2014/12/diy-marble-desk.html 

Then I watched this tutorial on how to apply contact paper like a boss:

And then I went to town! The sheets are pretty easy to apply: the hard part is if the contact paper doesn't cover your whole backplash (mine did not), having to cut small pieces to patch the spaces that are not covered. I put the contact paper close to the counter so the empty space was near the top, under the cabinets, if you look closely while squatting up at the cabinets, you can tell its a shitty job, but if you are just looking at the wall, it looks decent, if I do say so myself!

Here is the finished product!

Not bad! My next project is picking up on the terra cotta color of the floor tiles and the table by adding some terra cotta planters with succulents and cacti around the counter. And um, cleaning my kitchen. 

What do you think?? 

xoxo,

Emily

How to Style a Bookcase

So, apparently for people with lots of extra time on their hands, there are special ways to style a bookcase. Who the F knew? Not me, that's for certain. Firstly, my major bookcase problem thus far in my life, which has caused me massive pain and heartache, has been that the vast majority of my book collection has been in a different part of the world than where I happen to be residing. As I found out the first time I moved abroad, shipping books is insanely expensive, which means my collection has been heart-breakingly sparse.

Anyway, luckily for us, styling a bookcase, counter-intuitively, requires barely any book at all! This, I have learned, is because when styling your bookcase, minimalism is your friend. Here are my how-tos, racked from Pinterest and assorted style blogs.

Firstly, I found this inspo pic from https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/. Notice the absence of actual books, and the presence of random objects, like a big tree branch. This is important.

Step One:

Make sure you have several bookcases. You are going to need one for your actual books, and one that just looks attractive and is basically for show. Bare with me here.

Step Two:

Pick a color scheme for your styled bookcase. As I had one of those IKEA white box things (the Kallax), I decided on classic black and white.

I got some black fabric boxes from IKEA, but if you own a Kallax, you have lots of options. For example I LOVE this little guide to cheap storage box options put together by Brown Sugar Toast.
 http://brownsugartoast.com/storage-bin-options-for-kallaxexpedit/

Also, if you own an IKEA Kallax or another boxy bookcase, there are lots of great tutorials on how to make it look beautiful:

Here are my favorite ones-

http://theeverygirl.com/3-ways-to-style-and-use-ikeas-kallax-expedit-shelf

http://www.boxwoodclippings.com/2013/04/my-living-room-tune-up-on-a-dime/

Step Three:

Look through your books and separate out the ones that are the colors of your color scheme. No one explicitly mentioned this in their tutorials and it took me a while to realize that these people were actually hand-picking books that fit their fucking color schemes. Remember, its not about the actual books. That is what the other bookcase is for. Find some books of varying heights... you want a small stack of books all the same height, and then some other larger, coffee table size books. 

Step Four:

Pick three or four sections of your book case, and in the compartments that do not have boxes in them, carefully arrange the books, some in small horizontal stacks, some in vertical stacks.

Step Five:

In the remaining empty space, put some framed photos, and some knick knacks that vary in shape, size and height. You want at least one smooth round thing, and one kind of geometrical thing. They have this kind of shit at Target or any other home goods store, like Pier One Imports (does that still exist?). I never knew how you were supposed to use them, but NOW I DO! In a bookcase that has no purpose other than to look attractive. 

So, here is my finished product. Notice I used a small marble vase and a geometric copper bowl to bring contrast. I also displayed my pretentious vegetarian cookbook, which just so happens to be white and gold, fitting perfectly into my color scheme! Simple, and elegant.

Here is what it looks like in the studio:

The desk is covered in papers, but I'm a real human, and super lazy. But how great does that bookcase look?

Now you may be wondering, ok, cool, but what do I do with my ACTUAL BOOKS? 

Simply, shove them all in a small bookcase, like so. Then, on top of that bookcase, you put 1) a small plant, 2) a small classy knick knack and 3) a small lamp in the color scheme of your room. It's that simple.

BOOM.

Truly Home B and B, a Little Eden in Southern Italy

One of Vito's best friends from Puglia, Davide, has a lovely girlfriend named Daniella, who has just opened the most adorable and fabulous B and B in the southern Italian country side.

The rooms are in traditional Puglian Trullis, and the hotel itself is located in the middle of the most beautiful orchard and garden. The whole place feels like Eden... you can reach out with your eyes closed, and you will come away with a handful of fruit.

The air smells like summer, and there are little fairy lights that wrap around the tree. When I first went to this gorgeous homestead last summer, Daniella's entire family welcomed Vito and I with homemade panzeroti (kind of like mini calzones) which they made on a long wooden table. I wandered around barefoot in the twilight through the vegetable garden, picking pears off of the trees and eating them, while the sound of hearty laughter filled the air. It was magical. So without further ado: Truly Home B and B!

Fourth of July: Expat Style

It's the fourth of July and I am filled with either REALLY INTENSE FEELINGS about not being on someone's yaught off the shore of Sprite Island or BBQing on compo beach OR I am sailing into that time of the month. Either way, I need my America fix. Vito has come home feeling moody and since cooking always cheers him up, suggests a homestyle favorite: cornbread. Yasssssss. I am very down.

He will attempt the classic Betty Crocker variety, without buttermilk, because that doesn't effing exist in this country, like so many other very useful things (more on that later).

So this is what it is supposed to look like-

UPDATE: We made some delicious cornbread. We spread Vito's mother's homemade cherry jam from their trees in Puglia on it! See below!

The Rose Gold Nest: Our Art Deco Apartment in Blush, Charcoal and Copper

I've always dreamed of being able to decorate an apartment that was larger than my  $1250 a month room in Brooklyn, (which nevertheless absolutely SLAYED by the way) and when my partner Vito and I found our dream apartment in the hottest neighborhood in Brussels, I was beyond ecstatic. At 120 square meters, it made all of my previous apartments look like dorms in comparison, and even my local friends admitted it was huge. HUGE.

Falling in love with a new apartment is a bit like falling in love with a new partner.... dating, jobs and apartments are, as my mother always says "a numbers game", and it was not until the 7th apartment I saw that I had that "I would totally see this again" feeling that is so rare in love and real estate.

Here are the before pics:

Annnnd, some initial after pics! 

:

We worked with the light blush pink of the walls, adding neutral taupe, white and grey pieces and neutral woods.

Meet Emily

Hello world! My name is Emily, and I'm a young New York-born European expatriate who has always dreamed of writing a lifestyle blog with no apparent sense of irony. This is that blog. Welcome to Ma Vie en Rose Gold.