A new academic year is just around the corner and for me that means living in a student house instead of in college (aka halls) and also the extremely exciting opportunity to decorate my new bedroom. I did my best to make my room in college pretty and personal by putting up posters, photos and fairy lights but given that it was so small and had a lot of storage and shelving built in there was only so much I could do, whereas my new room is a lot bigger and barer so it's a real blank canvas.

It's been a long process of gradually buying bits and pieces and trying to bring it all together coherently (and it's a process which is still ongoing since I have a whole load of stuff at home than I'm going to take with me when I go) so I thought I would put together a post on how to decorate a uni bedroom to impart my wisdom and generally explain how I've been going about it. A lot of this can be applied to any bedroom but I'm focusing on a university room which assumes there is some basic furniture provided (i.e. a bed, desk and wardrobe) and that you have limited scope when it comes to how much you're allowed to do to it (i.e. no painting or major adjustments). The emphasis is on how to do it on a budget because lets face it, your student loan has to cover other things like food and ridiculously expensive textbooks. Also, this isn't a room tour because I'm not in my uni house at the moment but I'm definitely planning on doing one when I get there!

Get inspired. There's so much you can do to brighten up even the most drab uni bedroom and it definitely doesn't need to involve spending a fortune. Pintrest is ideal for providing visual inspiration for themes and colour schemes as well as ideas for DIYs so it's a great place to start looking - check out my 'bedroom' board, for example. Another place I often find inspiration is IKEA, particularly the showroom section where they have all the rooms set up because it helps to see ideas in the flesh and they're designed to make the best use of a small space. I also really like watching room/house tours on YouTube because I can do it without leaving my bed - as I mentioned in my summer favourites I've been loving Gabbie's (aka velvetgh0st) vlogs and videos and I really like her taste in homeware and the way she decorates her flat(s).

Plan it. If you're like me and you love shopping and homeware it's tempting to rush out and buy all sorts of stuff but it's so much more cost effective to sit down and really plan your room. Obviously it's helpful if you already know what the space looks like because you know what you've got to work with, but even if you haven't seen it there's a lot you can think about to start off with. The first thing to do is to decide if you want to have a particular theme or colour scheme because then you can have something to focus on while shopping. For my uni room I've decided to go with a dark pink, purple and turquoise colour scheme where possible, mostly because those are my favourite colours and also as it's relatively easy to find things in those colours - but I'm not sticking too it too rigidly. Theme-wise I've always thought it would be nice to do a sort of wanderlust thing as it would be quite easy to achieve: think maps on the wall, travel photos displayed, unfinished wood decorations and vintage-effect storage boxes.

Budget. There's no point spending a fortune on luxury furniture or decorative items if you're only living there for a year, so buy stuff that can be used again at some point in your life or that it won't matter too much if you have to leave behind. It's important to balance the potential cost with how committed you are to making your room look a particular way.

Make a shopping list. To start off with decide what you need aka things that are actually necessities. Some basic items which I think are essential for every bedroom include bed linen (duh), a desk lamp, storage boxes and a small bin/wastepaper basket. Once you have these essentials it's time to start thinking about things you want, by which I mean decorative items such as photo frames, ornaments and posters because it's all about achieving a balance between practicality and aesthetics.

Use what you have. Even if you don't hoard everything away 'just in case' *ahem* you've probably got some stuff which could be upcycled, repurposed or just plain borrowed. Odd sets of Christmas lights that aren't used all year round can become a set of fairy lights would around a curtain pole or draped over a wardrobe, while anything can be brightened up and given a new lease of life with a lick of paint including furniture and storage boxes. For instance, I'm planning to paint a wooden box that my grandad made for my mum's bedroom when she was little and use it as a bedside table! It's worth asking around to see what family and friends are hoarding away and would part with because you never know what you might find.

Buy from the right places. This goes hand in hand with budgeting, but do your research into where you can get the things you want for the price you want. I've found that Argos's ColourMatch range is brightly coloured and brilliant value for everything from rugs to lamps; Primark Home can be great for bright and fun duvet covers, quirky ornaments and little sets of fairy lights; and lets be real, IKEA is always a good idea, especially for furniture and storage solutions. Plus, don't discount places like Wilko and Poundland for basic things like cushions, and charity shops or car boot sales for unique vintage items with extra thrift factor.

Be creative. It's so easy to add a personal touch to a room with minimal cost and maximal effect. My number one tip is to print out photos! I do this using photo printing websites (Photobox and Lalalab are my favourites) but you can do it at home too providing you have photo paper and permission to use all of the printer ink. Then the possibilities are endless: frame them, use blu-tak to create a photowall, arrange them in a pattern, or use string and pegs (these ones are an ideal size) to make a 'washing-line' of snaps to a wall. You could also create a display wall or pinboard of things that inspire you, a sort of collage of prints, posters, photos, postcards, magazine pages - anything that will make an impact. If blu-tak isn't strong enough an alternative is command strips (which I am fully intending to buy because it actually says I can use them in my house contract so I'll blame it on that if they take the paint off, but hopefully they won't).

And that's it! Maybe all this stuff is completely obvious but I just really love decorating things and making my bedroom look nice - I hope someone found it helpful!

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This time next week I'll be back at uni, probably unpacking the contents of my room from where I had to store it under my bed over the Easter holidays (sigh). Until then I have another week to try and actually progress on some revision, which has been painfully slow so far!

Anyway, in the meantime here's another collection of inspiring or just aesthetically pleasing images I've been collecting up over the past couple of months.

It's probably an understatement to say I've been obsessed with Instagram these past couple of months: these days I apparently can't go for more than a couple of hours without feeling the urge to check it which to be honest is getting quite unhealthy, but I just keep finding more and more beautiful feeds to follow! I'm a very visual person and nothing thrills me more than coming across someone who manages to have their whole life coordinated around a particular aesthetic (or at least gives off that impression). So today I decided to share a few more of my current favourite Insta feeds with you - you can see part one and part two here.

Fahimah // @fajitayy

I've been following Fahima on Tumblr for what seems like years but it was only recently that I came across her fabulous Insta (she's actually deleted a lot of posts since I decided to include her in this list, but she's still totally deserving anyway). I love the neutral tones with pops of colour and all the really beautiful details she has going on - in my opinion it all works beautifully together.

Abby // @abby8ken  

I've followed Abby on Polyvore and Tumblr for ages and I'm now slightly obsessed with her insta aesthetic. It's so beautiful and rosy, I don't know how the pictures work together to produce that effect but they do! I feel like I'm in a hazy, rosy wonderland looking at her feed.

Shelly // @shellekatt

Shelly is one of the first people I ever followed on Polyvore over 4 years ago (argh can't believe it's been that long already!). Her feed is also utterly dreamy and full of rosy details, but in a totally different way from Abby's - it's more pastel and vintage-y. I also think the white borders around photos give a unique and distinctive look.

Ruby // @rubyetc_

While I can't say much about the aesthetic of Ruby's feed, her hilarious drawings totally make up for it! After seeing her little sketches popping up on Tumblr for years I only started following her recently, but it's entirely worth it - every new drawing is a tiny pocket of joy and never fails to make me laugh/snigger when I'm scrolling through Instagram.

Emma // @themindfulstudent

Emma is actually a friend of mine at uni and I came across her Insta the other day while I was having a stalk (whoops). Her account is dedicated to mindfulness, healthy eating and slow living, which I find so interesting and appealing despite not being an avid follower of the whole idea myself - I wish I was though! Her photography is truly stunning too, and makes me feel inspired to make bowlfuls of healthy creations.

Who have you been enjoying following on Instagram lately?

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Since we're now getting stuck into 2016, I thought it was about time for another 'instafaves' in which I share my current favourite instagram accounts with you. The first post I did like this was way back in March last year, and while I still follow all the people I featured then I thought it was only fair to switch it up and include a range of different accounts this time around.

I've also had to try a different method with the screenshots since the instagram website was obviously updated a while back - I hope it looks okay!

Elizabeth // @elizabethseal  

Elizabeth is someone I've known and followed for a pretty long time both through Stardoll (where she used to inspire me with her amazing interior decor ideas) and then her beautiful blog. Her instagram feed is the cutest thing ever, full of little romantic pink details, nature pics and photos of her adorable baby, Oscar.

Louisa // @louisagrogers

Louisa's feed is bright, bold and sometimes completely bizarre - something interesting and eye-catching of hers is always popping up on my follow feed! It's a weird and wonderful mixture of vibrant high-contrast shots of high fashion, abstract photography and vintage goods.

Renee // @reneenicole

I've been following Renee on tumblr for a while now and recently came across her photography instagram account. The most recent section (shown here) is pink and cutesy, but there are slightly creepy vibes that get a lot more evident the further down you scroll, where you'll find photos of graveyards and abandoned places. In a nutshell, she is basically what would happen if Melanie Martinez and Nicole Dollanganger had a daughter! 

Sonja // @vainjala

Another long time tumblr follow is Sonja. In my opinion her feed is breathtaking: it's almost colourless but full of stunning grainy shots of nature, buildings and her beautiful face. Her aesthetic game is unbelievably strong!

Lua P // @luanna90

Lua is a recent follow but someone who I now realise I've been using photos of in my Polyvore sets for years. In a way her feed is the typically fashion blogger mix of selfies, outfit photos, beauty and details but for me her photos just have a special quality to them, I can't really explain it - it probably has something to do with her gorgeous red hair and impeccable makeup.

Who have you been loving lately on instagram?

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As September draws to a close and the date I'll be heading off to uni looms, I'm entirely conscious that I've done nothing productive this summer (apart from a few driving lessons) and have in fact spent most of my time on the internet. Having said that, the product of my endless hours of tumblr scrolling is a second round of inspiring/aesthetically pleasing images for you to enjoy!

I recently finished reading Rookie Yearbook Three and I realised there are so many educational, informative and just generally useful lessons to be gleaned from the Rookie Yearbooks' beautifully illustrated pages that it was worth documenting in a blog post. I'm probably not what you would call a die-hard Rookie fan in that I don't regularly go on the website, but I do love the Yearbooks with a passion - I mean they have stickers, what's not to love?

Even for those who don't suffer from anxiety-related issues, being a teenager is often cringe-worthy, awkward and embarrassing. It's a time of changes, both physically and metaphorically, and is filled with figuring out who you are, what your interests are and how you want to present yourself to others etc etc. But the thing is that the traditional image of teenagers that society gives us isn't all that appealing - we're supposed to be moody, angry, self-absorbed narcissistic adolescents, full of arrogance and raging hormones, not to mention the idea that we apparently know nothing about anything and our opinions are worthless. But obviously the vast majority of teenagers don't conform to that stereotype in the slightest, as even Rookie itself (a magazine for teenagers written by young people, the brainchild of then-teenager and editor extraordinaire Tavi Gevinson) demonstrates. The moral is this: don't let anyone make you feel inferior because you haven't lived as long as them or seen as much as they have. Embrace being a teenager!

If you put time and effort into creating something, whether it's a poem, story, painting, drawing, play, song, video game etc, it's worth something. If you have sacrificed your time, energy and creative spirit for the sake of something, it deserves to be recognised, even if you don't think it's any good. Because it isn't always going to be objectively good: maybe your painting has the wrong aspect or your photos are slightly out of focus or your poem is full of dramatic clichés - but it's important to be proud of your creations, because they are a part of you and you will only learn through creating. This realisation encouraged me to dig out some of what I fondly call my Bad Poetry and rework some of it, despite major cringing.

With the advent of the internet the amount of 'culture' (not sure if that's exactly the right word but anyway) has skyrocketed, and sometimes it can be scary to realise just how many songs and albums and books and stories and films and TV shows and artists there are out there. Because not only are we talking about contemporary pop culture (which is hugely diverse to begin with), there's the whole of human history to consider, from ancient civilisations to the 90s and everything in between. And when someone makes a reference to some 80s movie you've barely heard of or quotes some existentialist philosopher or sings along to a song you don't recognise, and, most importantly, makes you feel like an idiot for not being in the know, it's easy to feel small. I was never very into music until a few years ago and I always used to feel ignorant for not knowing even the most well known songs and artists of the moment. But not picking up on that reference doesn't make you any less intelligent or decrease your worth, and if it really bothers you why not write it down and look it up later. Personally though, it's the excitement of discovering new culture/content through my own research that motivates me to keep sifting through the internet to discover my own tastes and interests - which in the end is far more rewarding than just liking what everyone else likes.

I was going to publish this a while ago as the end of the summer is already in sight, but since I for one still have six weeks of holiday here you are anyway. I know as well as anyone how difficult it can be to motivate yourself to get up and do something productive during the summer, and I tend to get stuck in unproductive ruts which last for days or weeks. So here are a few ideas of things to do that are easy, (mostly) free, and best of all don't require leaving your house - but hopefully they'll also provide you with a sense of actually having done something that day.

Start a blog

I started bibliophilia at the beginning of summer 2013 as a kind of project for the summer and it was such a nice way to fill the days. What I love about blogging is that it can be anything you want it to be: some people blog solely about beauty and/or fashion, others do reviews or DIYs or more writing-based posts. And don't ever feel like you have to follow a strict formula or stick to a certain type of blogging that you've seen around, just allow yourself to get inspired to be creative in your own space.

Clear out your wardrobe

I do this fairly often even though I don't always throw much out, and I'm actually planning to do a thorough clearout sometime in the next few days. My standard rule is to get rid of anything that I can't remember the last time I wore it, or if I know it's not my style any more. Best of all it means you're making space for new clothes!

Make an account on a new social media site

Maybe this isn't the most productive pastime in the world but very few people who don't enjoy scrolling through some type of social media and it can definitely while away the hours. My favourites are tumblr, polyvore and instagram, but there are so many more to get stuck into including twitter, pintrest, wattpad, goodreads and lots more.

Try a new recipe

I love baking when I have a lot of time on my hands - I find the whole process really therapeutic and best of all you get to sample the results! Cooking is such a life skill and what better time to master a few simple recipes than over the summer holidays.

Do something creative

e.g. tie-dye a T-shirt, make a birthday card, create a scrapbook page, do a photoshoot etc. I'm currently in the process of making some aromatherapy candles from a kit I found in my basement, it's been really fun to decorate the little jars and such.

Challenge yourself to read a whole book in a day

I often do this on days where I have literally nothing to do, usually when it's too hot outside to consider doing anything other than lying in front of a fan. If you pick one you really get into, you'll be surprised how easy it is to whizz through a novel.

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with all the visual inspiration the internet has to offer, especially when it comes to tumblr which has a staggering quantity of content uploaded each day. I tend to save pictures to a folder called 'inspiration' whenever an image strikes me as particularly unique, interesting, or just aesthetically pleasing, and the other day I realised I had a wealth of what I consider to be inspiring images saved up that I might as well share!

1. School day

Mia goes to Albert Einstein High School in New York City, and the uniform is described on a couple of occasions as being blue and gold in colour - here's the blue, anyway. Books, pencils, a sturdy backpack and sensible school shoes are all essentials for surviving the school day, especially when you have to go straight from school to princess lessons in the afternoon.

2. Royal engagement

Naturally I had to include some princess-wear here, so this is my take on the pink poufy dress Mia's cousin designs for her to impress her long term crush (and best friend's brother) Michael Moscovitz. Mia isn't the most natural princess, so I feel like she would have benefitted from The Girl's Book of Glamour. A tiara completes the outfit.

3. At the loft

When she's not at school or learning to be a princess, Mia likes to wear her overalls and trusty Dr Martens, and write in her diary. She gets a mobile phone of her very own for her 15th birthday from her parents (bear in mind this book was published in 2001), so I've included a brick here. Notice the detail of the snowflake necklace, a present from Michael also for her 15th birthday which symbolises the Winter Dance when they first declared their feelings for each other.

4. Party at the Moscovitzs'

This is quite a specific reference: in the seventh book Michael throws a party while his parents are out of town, but Mia worries she isn't enough of a 'party girl'. She turns up to a party in quite an uncharacteristic outfit, drinks a beer, and naturally the whole evening ends in disaster. The beret deserves a special mention.

I recently finished reading Fleur de Force's book The Glam Guide and I thought I'd do a quick review of it here on my blog. I bought it a few weeks ago on a trip to the UK - it wasn't exactly at the top of my absolutely-must-buy list but I've been kind of intrigued about it since it came out (incidentally, on my birthday) so I thought I'd get it and have a read. Although I have to admit I'm slightly sceptical about all these YouTuber books that have been coming out lately, I've been watching Fleur's YouTube channel for years and in my opinion she does a great job of giving actually useful beauty advice and tips so I was really hoping that would come across in the book.

First things first, I really like the cover and whole aesthetic effect of the book. I remember Fleur showing the original cover in a video, which wasn't nearly as nice and didn't really have much of her personality in it. The final version, however, is really lovely: I love the shiny gold lettering, the little stars, the pastel watercolour effect and the way the pictures don't overcrowd the space. Inside it's much the same story, there's a nice mixture of photos and illustrations and it's all quite minimalist with clean lines. As a whole I think it works really well.

The actual content itself is divided up into seven sections: beauty | hair | fashion | travel | health and fitness | life, love, dreams and everything in between | YouTube and blogging. Each section starts with an introduction and ends with '10 quick tips', which I suppose is a way of including the things that didn't really fit anywhere else. I thought I'd review each section individually, as I think some are a lot better than others.

Beauty

This is easily the most detailed and comprehensive section, which is only natural as Fleur is primarily a beauty blogger/vlogger. It's kept deliberately quite basic and general and she makes the point several times that make-up is individual and it's all about finding what works for you etc, but at the same time there are a lot of useful tips and advice, especially if you're still relatively new to make-up like me. I especially liked the sections on which brush to use, how to choose a concealer and when to use blush, bronzer and highlighter, as I feel most beauty bloggers/vloggers assume their readers/viewers know those kind of things already. There's also quite a lot on skincare, and a scarily scientific bit on which ingredients to avoid when buying products. I found that while useful, a lot of the advice was stuff I'd heard before on her YouTube channel, but admittedly condensed into one easy to read and compact section.

Hair

This is the smallest section, as I suppose in comparison to beauty there's only a limited amount to say unless you're actually a hairdresser. But there's still some useful info on dyeing and growing your hair, and I might actually try some of the 'quick  and easy hairstyles' one day.

Fashion

I really enjoyed this section, perhaps because Fleur doesn't talk about fashion all that much on her channel so most of her own personal advice was new to me. Again, it's generic, but there are some sound tips and advice, especially when it comes to handbags, shoes and accessorising. Having just acquired my first designer handbag, I found the 'Handbag 101' pages really interesting! I also enjoyed the bit on 'How to Make High Street Look High End'.


Travel

Maybe I've been doing it wrong, but I had no idea there was so much (or indeed anything) to say on travel! For something which is really just a method of getting from A to B, Fleur has a lot of advice including how to pack, how to travel in style, how to beat jet lag, in-flight beauty etc. To me most of this section seemed like fairly obvious logic, but maybe I've just become a pro traveller without realising it...

Heath and Fitness

I'm got to admit, I skimmed over this section because I am one of the least fitness-orientated people ever. However, I did like the look of some of the recipes (most of which were veggie, yay) and the bit on juices vs. smoothies with the advantages of each was quite interesting. As with most fitness things, there seemed to be a lot of contradictory advice and things to remember, so I just flicked through those pages and tried not to get confused.

Life, Love, Dreams and Everything in Between

In my opinion this was kind of a pointless section. Fleur explains in the introduction why she felt the need to include a kind of miscellaneous section and she does touch on some key areas, but in all honesty its done so fleetingly it wasn't even worth it in my opinion. Her self-confidence advice is standard and I was disappointed not to see more of her own personal advice rather than the generic tips and tricks, while the body image bit (SO important!) was ridiculously brief. I mean, the tips are things like 'take a closer look at nature's imperfections' and 'admire successful women', just to give you an example. The 'first date etiquette' pages seem superficial, but I suppose it's an example of her own experiences and an attempt to not be too generic - it's a tricky balance to strike but I feel like she misses it here. I actually really enjoyed the 'reading your dreams' bit, but that's because it's probably something I'd happily sit and google for hours on end, not because Fleur included anything particularly ground-breaking.

YouTube and Blogging

As a blogger I was really interested to read this section, but most of it is actually geared towards YouTube, which was a shame, although if you are a budding YouTuber it would probably be quite useful. Personally the advice was nothing I'd not read or heard before, but it was still nice to hear it directly from Fleur.

There's not a whole lot of criticise about The Glam Guide (unless you had really high expectations, in which case you might be disappointed), but neither is there much to really rave about. It's essentially the contents of Fleur's channel condensed into a pretty book, with some nice photos and a couple of personal touches. I think the people who would most enjoy this book are the hardcore fans who support her in everything she does and people who have never heard of Fleur and haven't necessarily heard her advice, but for anyone in between it doesn't pack much of a punch. But maybe I'm sounding too critical, because I honestly did enjoy it on the whole.

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