Nothing can give vibrancy and personality to a room like wall arts. If you have been following my journey on Instagram, you may know, that I have recently moved flats, and started a new chapter of my life - as a proud homeowner. 

It has been quite a journey getting paper working, bills and furniture sort out during this pandemic lockdown, but I have made and would say that the flat is about 75% done. Still missing few furniture and loads of decorations, but will take it slow now. But more on my progress later, this deserves a whole post about it, so follow on for some updates and inspiration!

Furnishing and decorating a totally empty place is for sure an excitement and frustration by itself. After sorting my furniture out, the next big step is to give a blank space some life. When it comes to getting some nice posters and art to a flat, I am always cautious about what I am going for so it matches to my overall look and feel of the room, as well as a poster or art that I won't get bored of it in few weeks or months. Of course, I will be expecting to change my decorations and colours of the room from time to time, but some pieces are made to stay for longer.  

There are plenty of outlets where you can purchase all sort of art and posters. However, I have collaborated with Posterlounge to showcase what great quality posters they got to choose from to suit every style, room and sizes. Posterlounge aims to bring a splash of colour into our life with a wide range of wall pictures and art prints. They ship across Europe and offers beautiful frames made by hand as well. Let me share with you a few simple steps of my thinking when it comes to getting an art wall. Because whether you purchase a printed poster, limited collection or an original art piece, it is an investment and it is what shapes the personality and flow of your room. So even though you have an opportunity to re-decorated or re-furbish it however you want, you don't want to keep changing the styles each month, right? So getting something to your core vision and values is as important as getting that nice cosy and expensive sofa.

1. Where it will be hanged?

When it comes to thinking about what artwork I want in my room, first ask yourself a question: Where it will be hanged or lean on a piece of furniture? Will it be in the living room? Bedroom? Kitchen? Hallway? Bathroom? Because the place may determine what you want on the picture, and it can create a flow through your home. 

2. What colour?

Next steps, what are the existing colours of the room? What furniture you have already? What colours do you like? What colours will match the colours in the room? Do you want to go with complementary colours or contrasting? Try to put together a small colour palette to identify the best art wall colour combination. 

3. What size?

Moving on, you will check what size of the frame you want to fit in there? Are you planning to have one single picture frame or a collection of multiple ones? How many frames you want there? How it will be organized? Try to sketch out or measure the space you have for your art on your wall. Write that all down so you will know what you will be looking for.

4. Look for inspiration

It always helps me to go on Instagram or browse through Pinterest and check some interior design inspiration of other people. This will help me to shape what I like, whether I want something similar to this, or I find some ideas I have not thought about. Save it or pin it for your reference.

What style do you like? What mood do you want to set with the art in that room? 

5. Browse through Posterlounge offerings

Almost getting to purchase your dreamy art painting or poster, now it time to browse through hundreds of options and find the perfect match for you. Filter out options to make it easier for you, look through your favourite artists, colours, style or type of the art wall you want. Do you want a poster, canvas, wood print or acrylic? Do you want it framed or unframed? And so on. It took me days literally to check through all the amazing work out there to choose what I want, and if I can, I would choose definitely more and find a place to hang them all somewhere. I have found several I like, and throughout the time or friend's opinion, I have slowly eliminated until one winner is being left. 

To conclude, it is fun to decorate those naked walls in your flat. It will give such a huge difference to your room, and don't be afraid to show your personality through your choice of art. Nevertheless, most often, we choose art prints and decorations based on our guts and mood, and then we sort out where they should be position. Either way, it is fine, as long as it will give your room some personality and brighten it up. 

For my living room, I wanted a large poster print that would fill my empty space in a corner. My room style is very minimal with limited tones. Therefore, I wanted a minimalistic art with a splash of colours that would give it to the room. I have opt-in for this Horizon premium print by Elisabeth Fredriksson. I have also bought matching colours cushions to enhance the colours in my living room. With the Horizon print, I have ordered a white frame build by hand from Posterlounge. Next, I have also got a smaller print of beautiful Flowering magnolias by Magda Izzard, which I am still not sure where it will sit. For now, it is placed on a sideboard in the living room and might move it to a bedroom once it will be more furnished. 

I would love to see other art walls in your houses and how have you decorated!

I have been definitely exercising on a daily basis and picked up yoga as well. Surprisingly, I have been keeping myself active like this more than I would have with my monthly gym membership. Now, with the extra times in the mornings and after work, I try to always dedicate at least an hour to some format of exercising. I love to join Instagram live workout from my favourite gym studios, exploring fitness influencer's videos on Youtube, created my own workout schedule or I have also downloaded apps for yoga. The resources online are endless, we can find both free or paid, and it is all about willingness to push ourselves and commit to it. I find myself the best time to exercise is either in the morning or straight after work during the early evening time. I tend to focus either on my full body, splitting and training each area of my equally or if at certain days my body doesn’t feel well, then I focus on parts of my body only, such as just arms and core or legs and butt. Most importantly is that you have to listen to your body and don’t do something that doesn’t feel right. 

Search for activewear clothing has definitely increased after Christmas time, but during this quarantine time, it is also an area where people spend money in. There are so many sports brands small and big that are innovating their activewear ranges to tailor to all of us, making us wear sportswear more fashionable and functional. I have explored some sustainable and non-mainstream activewear brands to inspire you, such as: 1) Nylora, 2) The Upside, 3) Free People Movement or 4) Nagnata. What is your favourite activewear brand?

Tourism has been one of the industries that have been hit in the first place when Covid-19 started to become a global health crisis. We’re still deep in the trenches of the coronavirus pandemic, so it’s impossible to predict when or how travel might resume, let alone the idea of people wandering the world carefree. Recovery will take place and mindset of people towards travelling will totally change. It is still an uncertain area for many of us and for many countries. Nothing is certain how it will be like, and here are few of my thoughts on that and I am curious to hear your thoughts on how travelling be like after Covid-19? When do you think you'll make the first trip? To where? What will you be doing? 

People would be willing to spend a bit more on their choice of seating, class or the way how they will commute and travel around. 

Airbnb type places that you can disinfect yourself and have the whole space for yourself will be the first potential place to go for many of people who want to travel, but still, have a fear of humans and crowded places. Probably people will start camping more or travel in their own vans and vehicles. 

Domestic travelling will be popular. It will give many of us a taste for adventures and travelling, and especially you are close to your home. Nevertheless, your own home country is always the least unexplored place, so definitely it is a good opportunity to know your home country a bit more. 

People venturing out to a less beaten path. Such as Africa, East Europe, islands or other countries that have been impacted the least with Covid-19, and those places that are not popular by tourists as much. Probably we will start making more nature vacations or hire luxurious places on a deserted island, there are plenty of ways of travelling how people can take. 

People will make travelling much slower, they will be more aware of their carbon footprint, the sustainability of the planet and health. Overall, I am curious about how it all will turn out. 

Sure, travel may not be an option for many of us right now seeing as we’re in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. But this will pass at some point or another and life will resume to normal. So you might want to start planning future travels! Not only will this give you something to look forward to, but planning can occupy your mind for a while during this lockdown period. Now, if you are going to travel the world, there are plenty of tips and tricks that can help you to make things a little simpler and more affordable for yourself - things we’re all looking for and can hugely benefit from! So, to get you off to a head start, here are a few that you should take into consideration and try out in the future!

Know When to Spend or Save on Accommodation

Most travellers opt for hostels. This is logical. It’s a lot cheaper and will free up more of your budget for more enjoyable things. Plus, if you’re out exploring all day, chances are you’ll literally be using your accommodation to sleep and then move on, so you don’t benefit from any perks that many hotels or other luxury accommodation may offer. But if you’re travelling for a long time, you may want to treat yourself every once in a while. Hitting a place on your bucket list that you’ve highlighted as you’re most wanted to visit? Treat yourself at this stop to make it even more memorable. Stopping off in an area with not much else to do? You could actually use a spa or pool on this break day, so invest here too! Stopping exclusively in the lowest cost hostels could make you feel drained or unhappy after a while.

Invest in Luggage Storage

Sure, world travellers are looking to save money at every opportunity and will avoid spending on non-essentials. But consider luggage storage an essential. Sometimes, you’ll have stops between flights, trains or whatever other modes of transport you’re opting for. During this time, you could head out and see local attractions or enjoy the local scenery. Often, you can’t do this or will have difficulty doing this, if you’re weighed down by all of your luggage. So, instead, simply pay the small cost to store your luggage in a secure and official unit. Most large airports and train stations will have these.

Always Have Spares

Of course, you want to travel light. But it’s good to have spares of certain things. Sometimes, it’ll be easier and cheaper to take a spare along with you than to lose or break something and have to replace it along the way. Examples could include having a backup phone, a backup portable charger or backup items like towels.

Of course, there are plenty of more travel tips out there. But hopefully, those mentioned above will help to get you off to the best start possible!

For myself, I always opt-in for Vitamin C serum, hydrating moisturizers with SPF for oily skin, and lip balm. These are my top 3 beauty products I use during quarantine at home or out for walks. I should not forget to mention that daily washing your face, weekly exfoliating and weekly masks are also a must to take care of your skin, so don't forget your usual routine just because you are home and with nowhere to go now!

“Vitamin C is one of the most effective antioxidants out there when it comes to brightening skin and preventing fine lines and wrinkles,” says dermatologist Shari Marchbein, MD.  It is suitable for all skin care types, and it helps to even out your skin, reduce redness and also reduce the appearance of black circles under your eye. Applied in the morning on clean, dry skin, vitamin C helps prevent free-radical damage from things like UV and pollution to keep your skin healthy and glowy. Currently I am using Dear Klarirs- Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop serum, it is a Korean beauty brand and so far so good. A tiny drop is all needed to cover the face with a serum, it is light weighted, and does not leave any oily marks during the day.

After applying a serum with Vitamin C, make sure to apply a moisturizer, and preferably the one with SPF one on. Even though you are staying home the whole time, you never know. Even if you go out for exercise, to a supermarket or just chilling on a balcony or a garden, you are exposed to sunlight, and you should protect your skin. The key to protecting your complexion from damaging UVA and UVB rays as well as pollution, wearing SPF 30 (or ideally 50) is every dermatologist's secret. No need for heavy sun creams that leaves you with a thick white layer, use SPF moisturizers that are lightweight and hydrating instead, to leave your skin more radiant. Currently I am using My Clarins re-boost hydrating cream and Olay lightweight moisturizer with SPF15. My skin tends to get very quickly oily, thus I always seek for moisturizers that are oil-free and give my skin a radiance glow and hydration throughout the day.

I often have dry lips, even outside of winter times. Therefore I often need to carry a lip balm or a lipstick that moisturizes my lips with me. At home, I can skip all sorts of lipsticks, and just stick with non-colored lip balms that do it jobs. The skin on our lips is the most delicate on our faces, which is why it’s one of the first areas to become dry. Lip balms are great to not only provide the shine and hydration for your lips but also it is a must-have for any base of your lipstick unless your lipstick has already hydrating substance in it. Subtle sheeny balms are the solution. Less sticky than a gloss, but more hydrating than a lipstick, they’re the ideal in-between. And they can even provide a pretty tint for no-makeup-makeup days, too. At the moment, I use various lip balms that I have close to my hand, and don't stick to one brand. I have lip balms in my bags, on my desk, bedside table, bathrooms, everywhere where is usually needed. At the moment, one of the lip balms I have currently is the one from La Roche Posay. However, have to also recommend Apoth and Co lip care trio products, one for exfoliation, hydrating and moisturizing, all the care you need for your lips. 

You are spending now a significant amount of time at home, but that's not to say you should stay in PJs whole day or can't look fancy. Whether you decide to actually wear clothes like you would go out with, you can also opt-in for some comfortable and yet fashionable loungewear outfits. 

Shop my edit of the best loungewear buys, from cozy sweatshirts, co-ords, shorts, jumpsuits to comfortable slippers. On the following pictures, I am wearing a range of loungewear from Femme Luxe Finery, from a black collection, ribbed loungewear to two pieces ones. I love to experiment with various textures and shapes, from basic to more fashionable pieces that are suitable to be worn out as well.  

Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt over thousands of years, it is a religious and historical epicenter of the world, with interlacing histories, clashing cultures and multisensory experience. Don't get me wrong, Jerusalem is a pretty advanced and dynamic city in Israel as well, but it has a totally different and more historical Old City. Exploring Jerusalem is a definitely must-see place whilst in Israel. 

If you will be entering the Jerusalem Old City, you will most probably go through Jaffa Gate. Jaffa Gate is one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate from 1538, and for the wide gap in the city wall adjacent to it to the south. Many tours have the meeting point just here outside of Jaffa Gate, and it is the gate nearest to the city center of Jerusalem as well. 

The Old City is just 0.9 square kilometer walled area within a modern city of Jerusalem.  This area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem until the late 19th century. The Old City is the main tourist and historical attraction of Jerusalem due to many key religious importance. The Old City is divided into 4 uneven quarters - Muslim, Christian, Armenian and Jewish Quarter. You will see different religious monuments in each quarter, together with different distinctive shops or decorations on the street. 

The Via Dolorosa is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. Now, the path is packed with many small shops and monuments marking Jesus pathway. The road is stretched from Lion's gate, passing Muslim quarter to the Christian quarter, just under one kilometer. The route is established by tradition rather than archaeological evidence. The final stations of the crucifixion and burial are within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. You can visit it yourself or join a walking tour.

The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram esh-Sharif and the Al Aqsa Compound, is a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem that for thousands of years has been venerated as a holy site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike. The pretty golden globe that is a symbol of Jerusalem and is visible for far. The Temple Mount is a holy site within the Old City for Jewish, Christian and Muslim people. All visitors are able to tour the compound and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the exception of the Dome of the Rock, you can enter only if you are Muslim. The Temple Mount is the third holiest site for Muslims after Mecca and Medina. Within the area of the Temple Mount, there are about 100 different structures to see spanning different time periods, including prayer locations, arches, and fountains. Make sure to dress modestly before you enter Temple Mount, whilst the admission is free, check the opening time before you go, as it is always close for prayers hours, as well as it is closed to visitors on Friday and Saturday. Moreover, there is only one entrance for visitors from Western Wall, so be aware of it before you go. The best time to visit Temple of Mount is in the morning time. 

The Western Wall or so-called the Wailing Wall is located just underneath the Temple Mount. It is a limestone wall, a segment of a wall what existed during the Second Temple Period. This Western Wall is the most religious site in the world for the Jewish people. Each Friday on Shabat, hundreds of people come to the wall and recite prayers or write down on a paper and place it into the cracks of the wall. The wall is divided into two sections, for males and females. Make sure to visit the Western Wall during Shabbat, as this place turns into a religious destination for all Jewish people. Visitors can also visit the Western Wall tunnels, as archeologists have uncovered layers of the wall underground through years of excavation. 

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located as a final stop on Via Dolorosa, in the Christian quarter. The church contains, according to traditions dating back to at least the fourth century, the two holiest sites in Christianity: the site where Jesus was crucified, at a place known as Calvary or Golgotha, and Jesus's empty tomb, where he was buried and resurrected. The large complex of the church now shares part of the such for Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic, and to a lesser degree the Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox. 

The City of David, is in a neighborhood of Silwan. Its a Palestinian Arab village intertwined with an Israeli settlement, and the archaeological site which is speculated to constitute the original settlement core of Bronze and Iron Age Jerusalem. The City of David is highly controversial in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; it is located in the area of the West Bank that was annexed to Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War and 1980 Jerusalem Law. Make sure to book a tour to visit City of David. 

The Tower of David also known as the Jerusalem Citadel, is an ancient citadel, museum and archaeological site located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to western edge of the Old City of Jerusalem.

MahaneYehuda Market, Jerusalem’s largest market with over 250 vendors. The Machne Yehuda Market is one of the most vibrant parts of the city, offering a place to buy groceries and household items, delicious hole-in-the-wall style restaurants, and great bars for nightlife enthusiasts. Located in Jerusalem city center, it is a perfect place for dining or buying some grocery souvenir home.

The Israel Museum was established in 1965 as Israel's foremost cultural institution and one of the world's leading encyclopaedic museums. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighbourhood of Jerusalem, just opposite Bible Lands Museum. 

The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. The southern part of the Mount was the Silwan necropolis, attributed to the ancient Judean kingdom. Book a tour to get to Mount of Olives and explore many interesting small churches and holy places, as well as the magical viewpoint on Jerusalem Old City at the background.

The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem in the West Bank, just a short driver from Jerusalem. The grotto it contains holds a prominent religious significance to Christians of various denominations as the birthplace of Jesus. The grotto is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land.