Moving to Milan #3 | 5 things you can't miss for your home decor

This is the last post about my relocation in Milan, and I want to talk about home decoration.
You house should be your home, and there's nothing better than personal home decor in order to feel home in your new apartment.
My boyfriend and I tried to put some customization in our apartment, and I found out that there are 5 items that cannot miss in your house.


1. Plants
Fake or real, big or small, a beautiful and colorful plant is all you need to make your house look more fine. I would like to put some plants in the balcony too, but I have to think about what kind of flowers I can deal with. I have no experience with gardening and I think I will let my plants die... I know, I'm a disaster. But still, plants are a really good choice if you want something really elegant and never boring.

2. Courtains
You can trust me when I say that with and without courtains your house will look totally different. I wanted to decor my home with them, but I waited an entire week for my grandma to bring me ones, and I can easily claim that now that I have courtains, my living room looks a lot better. Since my wall is pink, I wanted a neutral color, so my grandma brought me white courtains and they look great.

3. Books
Even if you don't like to read, nothing is better than books, or comics, in order to fill your empty shelves. They're colorful, they're different sized and of course they are a good hobby. There's also a study which says that a child who growns up in a house full of books will be better at school than a child who lives in a house without books - sorry, this is my psychologist-side talking.

4. Pictures
I don't like empty walls, and I'm suffering because mine are still empty. I just wanted to wait and see what's better for my house. So far I bought a puzzle which shows a picture of Amsterdam (a city that my boyfriend and I love so much), and now that is done I think I will put it over the couch, or in my bedroom.

5. Centerpiece
Maybe someone don't think that this is important, but I totally do. There's a big difference in a table with ceterpiece and a table without it. I decided to buy a big plate in IKEA, some fake leaves and flower with green apple scent, and a candle, which I put in the center of this centerpiece. I think the result is good and my home smells like apple when I enter.

These are my must-have home decor stuff.
Which ones are yours?
Let me know in the comments below.
I hope you enjoy!

Planning a short trip

I'm going to Amsterdam in 16 days!
I'm so excited, first of all because I don't fly away from Italy since September 2013, and then because it's my first time in Amsterdam. There's a lot to see and to do, I can't wait!
It doesn't matter if I have an exam on the 26th: I'm totally thinking about Holland and tulips (my beloved tulips) and bikes and mills and so on.
Since it will be a short trip, I have to schedule it precisely and know where to go and what to do everyday. My boyfriend and I will stay in Amsterdam only for four days and three nights, in Easter, so we don't want to waste time, we want to visit as much as possible.

Through the years I got used to this kind of trip, I saw London and Madrid in four days and Paris in three days, so I know that if you want to see as much as possible you can't give some extremely necessary things up.
These are my five tips to plan your short trip.

1. Find the places, museums and attractions you want to see absolutely.
It's really important to know exactly what's inevitable for you: it's your trip, you must decide for yourself. These inevitable places will be your starting point.

2. Get a map 
With a map of the city you can see where are the places you want to go, and see if there's something near to something else, you can schedule your days by staying in a precise zone. I think that the more you stay on public transport the more time you waste: try to plan precisely every day so that you don't have to move from a place to a far one. Now you have your "trip skeleton".

3. Buy a guide of the city and look on the Internet.
This is a good way to find new attractions or places, you can fill your plan with new these new thing to do. The guide is also useful because when you will be there you can have some short description of the places and, of course, advice for restaurant, shop and so on.

4. Choose a day for resting a little.
A short trip is really exhausting: you'll walk so much and sleep so little. I like to choose one day, usually in the middle of the trip, to visit a park or a relaxing place and stay there. You can have a pic-nic or simply lay on the grass and watch the nature, it will be a really good experience and it will be useful for your legs!

5. Write your plan in a diary
A diary is perfect for your trip, not only because you can mark your plan, but because when you will be there you will be able to write yor emotions, your thoughts or draw something. Moleskine store sells some city agendas with maps and informations. I was so unlucky because when I decided to buy the Amsterdam one, it was sold out.