A little goes a long way

Good news for ladies!! 
According to the information in this article obtained from a study done by the head of psychiatry at Stanford University; spending time with a female friend is as important to our overall health as jogging or going to the gym.
 

I just happened to have spent this past weekend with my good friend Roseanne.  We've been friends since  highschool and since we live 500 miles apart, weekends like this are special.  We talked, we laughed, we shopped, you know - the usual girl stuff.  So after reading this article, the way I look at is that we pretty much spent the entire weekend working out!! 

(That should basically off set all the wine we drank, right?)

I am actually going somewhere decorating oriented with this story so bear with me...

You see Rosie lives in a fantastic new apartment in Jersey City, but like most new homeowners sometimes a clean slate can feel somewhat daunting when it comes to decorating.  It's can be hard to know where to start.  So far she is doing a FANTASTIC job, but came to me for a few suggestions.

Here is what her TV wall looked like "before"

Nice wall, but with a few obstacles like the vents, the random light fixture, the temperature guage, smoke alarm, sconce etc.  Most of these things can't be covered up or need to remain accessible.

I sent her a few ideas and here's what she ended up with "after"

They simply added these two bookcases from Ikea, a few storage baskets and viola!

Such an easy change, but it made all the difference in the world!

She is considering some pictures over the TV as well to frame it out, but what a great start!! 
By adding a new focal point, everything else on the wall seems to blend right in.

We came up with a laundry list of other decorating ideas that she could do while I was there so hopefully she can convince her husband and will keep sending us before and after pics!