5 Awesome Budget Decoration Ideas for your hostel room

College days are indeed the best days of one's life. Those colorful and fun filled days make for amazing bittersweet memories. The same, however, cannot be said about the hostel in college. The interiors are anything but colorful; instead can be really dreary and austere with a gamut of restrictions and to – dos. So, let's get straight to it. Are you bored of looking at the same whitewashed walls all over your hostel? Have you been looking for ways to make your hostel room truly your own? Have your hands been itching to make your room different than the adjacent one?Then here are some ideas to jog your grey cells.

Polka Dot wall!

As a student, some leftover paper is easy to find. Maybe there would be some from the last assignment that you submitted, or the last gift you wrapped. Take your favorite colours, pick up a pair of scissors and get cutting. You can cut several layers at once, if the paper is thin enough, or if you have a circular punch then consider using that. For minimum damage to the wall, choose scotch tape to install your handiwork on the wall. Go wild with shapes if you wish and cover the whole wall. The entire process will probably take just a couple of hours and will be awesome fun in your BFF's company.

Tap it…Oops Tape it

Get used to using washi tape. It is literally one of the greatest gifts for décor. They come in all the possible colours and plethora of patterns. If you can't get your hands on washi tape then any colored tape will do. Choose your pictures, quotes, messages and doodles that you want before your desk each day. And owing to using tape, you get the creative freedom to choose the type of frame that you want around it. Check this image out for inspiration and get onto your own.

Insta-Wall instantly!

Social butterfly and proud of it. Why should you limit the fun moments on your Instagram just to the digital world? Print Polaroid and put them up on your wall. With only wall hooks, some rope and cloth pegs as required materials, you can be on your way to a beautiful display. If you feel like it – expand your range and include messages, artworks, notes, Batman and Ian Somerholder pictures – whatever you want. Light it up with fairy lights for a beatific sight when the sun goes down.

Canopy over your bed

No one can stop you from dreaming. Likewise let nothing come in between you and décor. Follow this step-by-step guide and create a romantic and dreamy canopy over your bed. Decorate with fairy lights for added effect. With the help of colorful cushions and throws - you are all set for a movie night with your BFF.

Come on in

To welcome one and to welcome all – give your dorm door a slight makeover. After all, it is the first impression of your room! Post it notes, heart shapes cut from old books, or magazine pages will be your perfect remedy– they are temporary and don't leave any tell–tale signs if used with scotch tape. So get started right away!

The Beginner's Guide to Cleaning Your Whole Apartment in Half the Time: 3 Rules to Live Clean By

There's a reason they call cleaning up a "chore." Nobody wants housekeeping to take up their whole weekend, so we all go looking for shortcuts to clean house in half the time. But here's the truth: The secret to a speedy cleaning routine is just that – routine. You need to establish a system of rules that gets the work done not just quickly, but efficiently.

Pick One Room, and Stay in It

If your goal is to get the living room and kitchen spic and span for guests, you should focus and concentrate your efforts, wiping down counters and picking up the sort of miscellany that magnetizes to the living space. When you (inevitably) find something that belongs in another room, like the bedroom upstairs, don't put it away. It seems counter-intuitive, but if you head into the bedroom to put the thing away, you might begin to straighten up upstairs. Instead, leave the things at the bottom of the stairs (or the entrance to the hallway, or wherever), and continue on your task.

Clean from Top to Bottom

Order of operations matters for more than math class. If you tackle your housekeeping tasks in the correct order, it will save you time and effort – I mean, who among us hasn't ever had to sweep twice because countertop crumbs got wiped off onto the floor? Start by dusting high-up surfaces, then work your way down to the countertops and tabletops before finally tackling your floor work.

Work in a Grid

The real secret to a quick, efficient house clean is building a cleaning routine. To make sure you hit every inch, imagine each room broken up into quadrants, then work your way around one quarter at a time (working from top to bottom, like the tip above). You can tackle anything in the center of the room last, then work on the whole floor as one fell swoop. The next time you clean, do the same thing, and one day you'll be as speedy as a professional housekeeper

The "Must Clean" Daily Routine: 4 Quick To-Dos to Keep Your Home Consistently Spic & Span

1. Clear the Dishes from the Sink

You know that relationship advice that suggests you should never go to bed angry? I think you should never go to bed with dishes in the sink. Wash what needs washing and clear the way for the new day.

2. Wipe Down Kitchen and Bathroom Counters

Without dishes and junk mail cluttering the counter, this should be an easy task. Grab a wipe or rag and wipe everything down, then...

3. Sweep the Kitchen Floor

You can't do one without the other. Wipe crumbs from the counter to the floor, then sweep the floor clean.

4. Organize Shoes by the Front Door

Just like mail, here's something else that always seems to multiply. Before bed every night, gather the loose shoes and leave one pair per person by the front door, and take every other pair to the closets and bedrooms where they belong.

What tasks are in your must-clean daily routine?

Everything New: Re-imagine your living space

It is often said; “Don't look at what something is.  Look at what it can be”.So while you take another look at your home or even your office and re-imagine all that it can be, bear in mind that WE can turn all of your Imaginations into reality.

IL BAGNO is the Nigeria distributor for the world's leading manufacturers of premium sanitary ware, bathroom fittings and accessories. 

Beyond delivering the highest quality products, we are renowned for providing excellent customer service and are driven by the need to exceed customer expectations every time.

You should pay us a visit because with iL Bagno, the possibilities are endless.

Abuja: Rachel Court, B13 Gudu District, near Gaduwa Estate. Tel: 08027670197; 08035341111

Lagos: Ebenezer House, 1A Goshen Estate Road, Lekki-Epe Expressway: Tel: 08062981979; 08037420000

Ok, Cool. Now I'm Jealous Of These Toddlers (Seriously, Their Room is So Cool).

After living in our home for the last two years, we've slowly started renovating each space to suit our needs. For our two boys, however, I couldn't figure out what to do with their space. So it remained with builder grade paint and a few train posters on the wall. As it was time for my youngest to transition out of his crib and into a bed, I knew it was time to finally give their room the makeover that it deserved. From newly painted beds, artwork and innovative storage solutions, this room is now both functional as well as inviting.

The original inspiration came from the bedding that I found at IKEA. I absolutely loved the hip and quirky pattern that included animals playing instruments and sports, all on top of a soft teal blue grid line. The style we were going for was modern and neutral in the colors on the wall, while having pops of color throughout the space in various decor.

Photos: Son of an Armenian billionaire marries his fiancee in an extravagant $2 million wedding in Moscow

With the groom's father worth more than $4 billion, expense was never going to be an issue for his son's wedding. Sargis Karapetyan, the 23-year-old son of Billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who sits at number 28 on the Forbes Russian Rich List, married his 25-year-old bride Salome Kintsurashvili in a wedding estimated to have cost more than $2 million. 


Attended by the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargisyanu, the Moscow-based pair's celebration was held at the famous Moscow restaurant Safisaf and saw a performance by Maroon 5. It's been estimated that they were paid around $500,000-800,000 to play the gig, with additional entertainment provided by the Ukranian pop singers.

The bride opted for three different gowns, the first of which was a embellished Elie Saab wedding gown that reportedly cost $35,000 (£24,000), a lace, off the shoulder Alessandra Rich dress and a more traditional wedding gown.  Her accessories included a Tiffany Savoy headpiece made out of diamonds and freshwater cultured pearls in platinum, with a detachable spray of feathers brooch that cost $200,000 (£13,800).

The venue and decorations made the wedding look like a real fairy tale affair. As guests entered the reception, they walked through what looked like an incredible forest, complete with trees and flowers. Thousands of pink and white flowers decorated the interior of the main reception room, where 500 guests were seated and lined the elaborate staircase of the famous restaurant. The interior was also bathed in purple lights and a huge chandelier at the center. Their nine-tier cake created by Iyad Abusharaf, a world renowned chef who once worked for the Prince of Kuwait, was covered in flowers and at least two metres tall. 

More photo

Pattern Power GIFS: See How Wallpaper Completely Transforms These Rooms

Tired of staring at your beige or blank walls? Paint would be an improvement, but wallpaper could be just the thing your room needs to take it to the next level. Still on the fence about wallpaper though? I "erased" the wallpaper from these three rooms so you could see the dramatic difference that happens in a space when you add patterned wallpaper (even on just one accent wall!).

While full of a lovely selection of furniture, without wallpaper, the living room looks more like an unorganized collection. With the wallpaper, the furniture arrangement is anchored to the room, and a great texture is added to the space, infusing it with sophistication.

The sharp collection of colors (layered with show-stopping accessories) could have been enough to make the bedroom in Steve & Heather's Colorful San Francisco House bold. But when the two-toned blue palm-leaf print patterned wallpaper is added into the mix on one wall, the entire room transforms.

CIBN re-opens its office with Eezy office furniture

 The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria(CIBN) on Thursday the 18th of February, 2016 reopened thenewly renovated state-of-the-art 1st and 2nd office floors. The ribbon was cut by HRH.Oba S.A.O. Sule, OON, FCIB. The ceremony was attended by past presidents of CIBN, members of the Institute and guests. It was a captivating ceremony, and guests expressed their surprise that the furniture was actually made in Nigeria, noting the superb finish. The ultra-modern work stations were manufactured and supplied by Eezy Office. They created a colorful, durable and inspiring office space in line with CIBN’s brand.

Eezy office produces clean design, value price furniture for brand-conscious organisations. A proven track-record of success in office furniture and are the only e-commerce online office furniture company in Nigeria. They are also the brand behind the ultra-cool Jobberman office space, recently voted one of the 5 coolest places to work in Nigeria by Techpoint.

You can place orders online at www.eezyoffice.comand have your order delivered to your shipping address, which eases thestress ofprocuringoffice furniture. 
Address: 39, Osolo way, Off International Airport Road Isolo, Lagos State. Email: -sales@eezyoffice.comPhone: -08058883399, 08188813399.

 

Eezy officeis a brand of the parent company ‘HousessoriesLimited’ that is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing of premium space solutions.

5 Essential Rules for Surviving in a Small Kitchen

 I like to joke that I'll know I've made it in Lagos when I can stretch out my arms in my kitchen and not be able to touch both walls at once! In other words, I know my way around a small kitchen. Here's how I survive it.

Hang everything

Why wouldn't you use your wall space? There are so many ways to hang up your bulky and space-sucking stuff — pot racks, magnets and, our personal favorite, pegboards — that there's no excuse to waste that wall. Bonus, it also keeps everything you need accessible all the time!

Use the oven as storage

It was good enough for Carrie Bradshaw and it works for me (although I use it for pots and pans, not shoes). The oven is a huge cavern of storage space. It adds a few extra minutes of emptying to any baking project, but the space it saves in my cupboards is well worth the hassle.

Burner covers are your friends

Try this: make yourself some additional counter space with butcher block. I have an electric stove so I just wait for it too cool and use a large wooden cutting board over the top. If you have gas, try this tutorial from the Kitchn to make yourself an elevated version.

Cabinet shelves, cabinet shelves, cabinet shelves

These little workhorses are easy to find, cheap and they can double the amount of storage in your cabinets. What's not to like? Get some right now.

Ditch your single-use appliances

The rule around my house is that if it doesn't do at lease two things, it doesn't stay (even my espresso machine also has a milk frother!). It's fun to have kitchen gadgets, but it's more fun to be able to close the cabinets.

Okay fellow small spacers, chime in. How do you make it work with a tiny kitchen?

Don’t Forget the Service Charge

A lot of people want to live on serviced estates but fail to realize that the estate needs extra funds apart from the rent in order to run the estate properly. Many conveniently forget to pay their charges after the first few times. Service charges can be expensive and can vary from N200,000 per year on medium income estates to N2.5million a year in highbrow areas like Ikoyi and Banana Island. The most common services can include general repairs and maintenance, cleaning of the communal areas like the roads, compounds and staircases, paying for the security, even if it is a mallam, also paying for the maintenance of the boreholes and water treatment. Residents can usually get away with paying minimal service charges for just the above mentioned services only. When residents expect swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, club houses and 24 hours power, air-conditioners etc they must expect to pay heftily for these.The service charge is usually an estimate prepared each year of the running costs of the development. These could include for example Landscape Maintenance – from cutting the grass, maintaining communal gardens, watering and sweeping. This is particularly important in multi tenanted developments and those with commercial properties such as bars, restaurants or retail outlets that have communal areas accessible to non-residents.

For high rise blocks of luxury flats, window cleaning would typically include all external windows as well as internal windows in communal areas. Lift Maintenance is another service that would require huge payments for servicing and repairs. Fire Equipment Maintenance in high rise blocks of apartments, offices and leisure facilities need to be installed and serviced regularly which adds to the charges. Buildings Insurance – in the case of apartments, full buildings insurance is required under the terms of the lease to cover the risks relevant to the development. Standard insurance risks might include fire, explosion, flood, sprinkler leakage, subsidence etc. Audit fees, management fee and salaries of all onsite staff must be factored into charges. Most estates in high brow areas are rented to multinational companies who pay rent and service charges three to five years in advance so it is easier to manage their services.

Service charges are typically paid monthly, but on some estates, commercial and leisure facilities; this is requested in six monthly intervals or yearly, to prevent nonpayment from residents. Even with these steps in place, it is common to get residents who will not pay or challenge the authenticity of the bills they are presented with. This can cause a breakdown in service provision as service provision must be continuous and if some do not pay the ones who pay will have to cover those that have not paid. It is therefore wise for the service providers to ensure a quarterly or bi yearly audit of service costs and present this to all residents individually and at Residents meetings. Services should as much as possible be collected in advance

Diesel amounts are best paid separately from service charges to prevent confusion with the two amounts. Diesel is usually on an as used basis and can vary from week to week depending on consumption and price, so auditing of diesel amounts needs to be accurate and detailed. Unless the estate provides prepaid meters that run on a fixed amount for both PHCN and generators power, it is usually a battle to get diesel payments from residents. A number of large estates have installed prepaid meters in individual home as a fixed amount per kilowatt hour. The residents are usually made aware of this when buying or signing up to their tenancy, so there is no dispute about the amounts later into the tenancy. On a particularly large estate in Victoria island, Service Charges has been a major source of dispute between the residents and the Management Company overseeing the provision of the services. Diesel and Service Charge amounts and have increased many times since inception, causing residents to challenge the amounts and services. This has become so bad that both parties have instituted legal action against one another. On another smaller estate in Lekki, service provision has broken down completely due to nonpayment of charges from some residents. The communal generator has stopped running and all the residents now have individual generators in their flats and terraces.  The borehole has not been serviced for months, a mallam now opens and closes the gates. Residents are not happy but realize that unless they all agree to pay collectively for the services and the staff, they will not enjoy living on the estate.

Service charges need to be factored into the rent and household budget in order to cope with the added costs of living on a serviced estate.

Double your chance at actualizing your rent...

It’s bigger and better! It’s double the opportunity, double your chance at accessing Rent Loans, double your chance at leaving comfortably in any location in Lagos and Abuja. Propertybankgives you a double treat as Page Microfinance Bank has joined the league of funding partners on the “Rent Actuation” Scheme. 

Now you can access rent loans from Page Microfinance Bank or TrustBond Mortgage Bank Plc under very convenient terms and conditions. How? It’s Easy, 

By just being a salary earner, you automatically qualify to access a 1 year rent loanpayable between 9-11months (depending on the funding partner).This takes away the stress of running round looking for money or settling for inappropriate property due to lack of cash.

Propertybank has a very rich vault containing let-able and sellable properties in super locations within Lagos and Abuja. These properties are pooled by direct agents and inspections are always prompt, such that busy executives don’t have to waste the whole day waiting for the “keys” or the “agent that has the key”.. No long thing……  

Rent Now, Pay Later…..

Contact PropertyBank for more details and enquiries

Call 07002224444, 07045749996, 08127000082, 08029691850, 08067135943.

Twitter: @thepropertybank

Facebook: facebook.com/propertybankng

Linkedin: PropertyBank Ng

www.propertybankng.com

Think Property, Think PropertyBank.

High to Low: 8 Clever Ways to Transform the Inside of Your Drawers

So a kitchen remodel isn't in the cards. No problem. If you can't have the drawers you want, you have to love the drawers you've got. Give them an inner makeover with shiny new organizers (or crafty, repurposed ones).

Pegboard Dividers

A pegboard cut down to size and fitted with long dowels could be used to keep dishes sorted just like the (probably custom) peg drawer in Martha Stewart's kitchen, above.

Vertical Cutlery Storage

If the drawer is deep enough, you need to think tall, like this drawer from Better Homes & Gardens. Sorting silverware like this could literally double the amount you can store

Diagonal Dividers

Another angular option that instantly adds space? Diagonal drawer dividers, like this one from Diamond Cabinets. An insert like this gives you lots of different sized cubbies to store all your gear.

Knife Block Inserts

These enviable drawers from Elle Decor via Country Living can be custom-made or you can buy a knife-block insert to make it happen.

Spice Rack Inserts

You can also buy spice rack inserts for drawers, or make your own, like these wedge-shaped pieces in this drawer from Better Homes & Gardens

DIY Dentil Molding Dividers

You can bBuy dentil molding cheaply at a home store and, with a few pieces of acrylic or another material cut to size, have a great-looking adjustable divider for any of your drawers at home. The tutorial is over at I Heart Organizing.

Tension Rod Dividers

Better Homes & Gardens shows us that all you might need to keep a drawer sorted is a pair of tension rods

Shoebox Organizers

If nothing else, you can at least make use of shoeboxes or whatever other cardboard boxes you have at home to sort out your clothes or kitchen drawers, like here on Real Simple.