What's Hygge and why is it important?

Hello!

Today I would like to share my experience of living in Hygge, if you are wondering what in the world is Hygge? well, Hygge is a Danish term, that is all about enjoying the everyday, community, comfort & feeling good. It is the Danish way of life, a verb, a noun & a very good way to appreciate life.

I have been a practitioner of Hygge for a year now. I discovered it one day while browsing on Pinterest, the word Hygge was all over the place, from decorations to recipes, so I started wondering, what is this Hygge thing all about and how could I apply into my life? I live in a Tropical weather, where you can wear a sweater maybe for two weeks in the whole year, and I have never experience winter, so how I was supposed to recreate that cozy feeling that Hygge is all about? For some reason I thought that Hygge was meant for colder countries, I always associate it to getting cozy in a cold winter night, but not at all. You see, Hygge is more than an aesthetic. It is ultimately about being happy, and I find that practicing Hygge has made me happier and it has really helped me to enjoy  life.   

There are two books that helped me understand this lifestyle better, the first one is The Hygge Manifesto written by Meik Wiking (The Little Book of Hygge) & is a ten point Hygge action plan to achieving everyday happiness.

The Hygge Manifesto by Meik Wiking

As you can see above, the manifesto calls for us to really be present in the moment & fully engage with life. By achieving physical comfort, connecting with others (not on a screen), being grateful & creating a beautiful atmosphere we can achieve Hyggelig feelings. 

This is why Hygge pays attention to atmosphere, creating a soothing space in which to relax is important. It also requires that we take time to find & enjoy pleasurable things. You don’t need to spend money to do Hygge & it is not just about Scandi interiors. It is about your attitude to life & how much attention you pay to enjoying everything.We all need to take care of ourselves. Sometimes that can be a few small things which really add up to feeling better & being more able to deal with life’s pressures. 

The second book that helped me a lot is "Hygge: The Danish Secrets of Happiness: How to be Happy and Healthy in Your Daily Life."

Is a very straight forward guide to live your life in Hygge, this book is full of small steps you can incorporate into your everyday patterns to help you on your hygge journey like:

•How to create a Hygge Home

•Why allowing clutter in your home, office, and mind is hurting your progress–And what to do instead

•How to gain time and energy without doing anything drastic

•Ways your hectic lifestyle can sabotage a hygge lifestyle

•How to save time, money, and stress with just a few simple changes in your routine

In conclusion, there are guides and books that teach you Hygge but at the end of the day is your conscious choice of living in mindfulness. Most important rule of all is enjoy your time, your time is precious and is important to make time for yourself. So go home, light a candle, get into your coziest pajama and read a book, no one deserves it more than you!

Love,

S.

Budget Friendly Bathroom Makeover

Good Evening everyone,

I want to share with you some ideas  of how to give an inexpensive makeover to an otherwise dull bathroom. As most of you know, living in a rented unit can be a pain, so many restrictions! for me it's torture, and just because I can't afford to live in the house of my dreams at the moment  doesn't mean I can't love my home.  Let's start by introducing you to my old bathroom.

Not very impressive huh? Told Ya!

Moving on, as you can see it's a tight space and very outdated, so how can you make this look better? well, first instead of seeing the flaws in the room, focus on the positive side; tall walls, white ceramic  floor, a white bathtub, and a vintage bathroom vanity. I decided that since the vanity was so outdated or may I say vintage? the rest of the decoration needed to be modern but with nostalgia, best of both worlds.

After deciding what to do with it I started to think of the uncomfortable part, budget; but hey! don't get me wrong, I love working on a budget so to me this was a challenge, how can I make a drastic change without breaking my bank account?

Well for instance, the focal point when you go inside the bathroom is the toilet, not very charming but how can you improve it? well what about changing the towel rack? I could hang them on the back of the door and Voila! Awesome Silvia, great thinking now what? That's right! it's time for an IKEA trip, when in doubt go to IKEA, so easy and cheap.

After explaining to my husband why it was very necessary to wake up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday and drive to IKEA (he knows better than to get in my way when I have a project) I ended up buying only 8 items, I spent around $50 ($60 if you count the hot dog and soda, mandatory for an IKEA trip)

I got home and my personal handyman (shout out to my hubby) started my project right away.

It took me about an hour, mostly because I am a perfectionist and couldn't decide which bathroom items that I already had went perfectly with the aesthetic I was going for.

At the end of a very productive day, this was the result:

TA DA!!

How interesting that by changing and adding a couple of things you can transform a room and still have money for the rest of the week. Of course that didn't end there, once I had the main focus ready, I started to see other flaws that needed to be improved (thanks OCD),  so my next project was the bathtub, which you may wonder, what can you do to a bathtub? well...

Very sad, Very messy :(

For instance the parade of brands and colors had to go, and what best idea than to buy matching containers? I bought mine through Amazon, I decided that I wanted vintage looking bottles, so I choose amber color glass bottles (don't worry we don't have kids and we are very careful, you can buy plastic ones instead if you don't fell comfortable) and to add a little bit more and have an excuse to use my vintage label maker, I personalized the bottles, the end result? magical of course.

                                                 

My bathtub has a tall wall with a mirror at top and a lot of space, I wanted to give the bathtub a spa feeling and add more green to it, so I added a fake plant and a set of ceramic cactus and I must say I was very happy with the end results.

               

Very cute, very nice lol I am very proud of my bathroom as you can notice, but wait! there's more, after all this beauty, I had to fix the mess that I called "my vanity", don't judge I had a lot of things and you know how it is when you just move in and don't know how to organize.

Solution, boxes! when you put loose things (perfumes, creams accessories, etc) in boxes it automatically looks organized (thanks Marie Kondo) so I bought a box set from IKEA and a little jewelry box to match, see below to be amazed.

And with this last informational/selfie picture  I conclude my rental bathroom makeover, see you soon...Fall is coming!!!

Love,
S.

The Starting Point

Hello! 

Well, I finally got the courage to start a blog and here I am! nice to meet you, my name is Silvia (or Silverz if we are close) and I want to share my day to day discoveries with you. So get ready for an all over the place experience, where I will share my recommendations on various subjects like, Home Decoration (Holiday freak right here!), Travel, delicious "not so hard to make" Recipes, and the occasional food for thought (no pun intended) so follow me in this new serendipitous journey.

Welcome to my Silverz Linings.

          Love, 

          S.

Entering the gates of the unknown...wish me luck!