Cloud Nine

   This is the first post of my three-part miniseries on Tyndale House! First: Flat Nine. Or as I like to call it, Cloud Nine. =) Welcome!

We are on on the third floor of Tyndale House proper. The (literal) floor is quite creaky . . . everywhere. I've complained to mom that I can't sneak out to meet any boys now. Bummer. I've kind of made the floor this game where I try to get around without anything creaking. Hopefully I'll find a way after a few months . . . (Not to meet boys, of course.)

   When you first walk in there is a short hallway with other (very) short hallways branching off of it. To the right is the bathroom. It's nothing special, but I figured I'd make the tour complete. 

To the left of the hallway is the living room/kitchen. (The door that's shut is sealed off because it goes to Flat Ten.)

 View outside our window.

If you continue down the short hall there is a book case on the left. I've taken it over since I have very limited shelf space in my room. 

At the very end of the hall is my parents room. I envy them all their shelves! 

   And on the right is my room! I really like it. When we got here a week ago, everything was off-white on off-white. I knew I had to do something to change this, but I'm on a very tight budget & we can't invest in much since we'll only be here for six months. So I've been working on, what I call, Scarf Renovation. 

BEFORE:

(I will add that, since I'm in the middle of unpacking, all my clothes are adding a lot of color that really wasn't there...)

AFTER:

You see, what Scarf Renovation is, is you decorate with objects you use daily. Obviously, I started with scarves, but I've started to use my jewelry too! 

See? My pretty floral scarf!

And I hang my necklaces on my mirror.

And scarf doorknob bows.

Scarf Renovation not only makes things more colorful and prettier, but it keeps your accessories in front of you. I often forget what I have, but now I can just look around!

I'm going to keep decorating though. I'm in the process of making a super cute bunting (more on that soon) & I'm going to make some wall art.

   Super sad story though. When we got here a week ago, I excitedly unpacked my stuff and tried to make my room as cheerful as possible. And then I pulled out my secret weapon, my twinkle lights! They were my one big splurge that I'd brought with me. They were the little bit of home that I'd used precious suitcase-space to bring. 

   So I happily plugged them in, using a convertor of course, since the plugs here are different. For about forty minutes I love my room! My twinkle lights were perfect! And then half the string went out. I was horrified. And then five minutes later the other half went out too. Turns out you need specific kinds of convertors for certain things. I literally burned up my twinkle lights. I was pretty devastated. They were my piece of home! But my parents have told me they'll buy me some more, so I'll have a happy ending soon. =)

   I've "stolen" several of our flats furnishings for my room. When we got here all I had was my bed and the three-drawer bedside table. Now I've "stolen' a chair, a mirror, & a tiny bed side table. 

   I've turned the mirror and three-drawer bedside table into a vanity. I'm learning to use whatever I have. It's almost kind of fun, to see how innovative you can be. I've used the long blue ribbon that tied up our towels & draped it across my window. Even a little piece of twine I got I tied to my window knob. There are so many cute things you can do with random stuff! I would never have realized this if I hadn't been (sort of) forced to decorate like this. 

   It's all about being thankful for what you have, which I really am. You have to look on the bright side of things. Sure I have to hang my bath towel in my room on a drying rack, but it adds a lot of blue!  =)

Anyway, this is the view outside my window. 

   And that's it! We are so thankful to be at Tyndale House. There was a possibility that we weren't going to be able to stay here & we might not have been able to come at all if we had not been granted a flat. And the community here is just amazing. 
   And as for our flat, some things don't work as smoothly as we'd like, but we're learning to live with everything not being perfect. I mean, everything was never perfect back home either, but there's this mentality that things should be. Things should be as convenient as possible. Things should be super customizable. Things should be as perfect for you as they can be. You simply have to get tons of more stuff so everything can be just perfect.
   But being here has taught me a different way of thinking. Sure it might be nice to have a toaster with a million settings so that I can pick exactly how I want my toast toasted. But just having a few makes life so much . . .  simpler. Just having a few dishes makes life simpler. Having just a few toiletries in a tub you have to carry into the bathroom makes life simpler! 
   It's so freeing & we are loving it.