LIFE AS AN EXPAT LIVING IN LONDON – WEEK 1

Wow! I feel LOST…

 

…And OVERWHELMED at my new home, London!

London Bridge_Life as an expat living in London

 

Now I know how you feel  when you tell me that you feel lost and don’t know where or how to start decorating and designing your home!   When you walk into your living room you want to walk straight out because it’s too much to handle!  Everything feels so overwhelming!

 

I feel the same way, I walk out the door of my apartment, and I want to walk straight back into the comfort of it.

Stanhope Gardens_London_Kensington

 

Everything in London is so unfamiliar to me that I feel like a dear in the headlight.   I can’t seem to grasp it and I don’t even know where to start!

 

I’ve lived in NYC for so long that I can wander around NYC with my eyes closed.  I know where the best cafe’s are, best brunch’s, where to go for artsy stuff, where to go for interior design stuff and here in London I am a total newbie! And I can’t stand it!

 

I can’t stand not knowing where things are!

 

I know the beauty of living in a new country is to explore and find its treasures, but I have to admit that I am finding this all too overwhelming!

 

Living in a new country and going on vacation in that country is two totally different story!

 

And in case you are suffering like I do, overwhelmed, with your new home or planning a re-decor of your home and you don’t know where and how to start lookout for a post before then end of this week.

 

I will give you 5 tips on beating overwhelm when decorating and how to do this with ease!

 

 

Happy Designing!

xx

P.s. If you do have any tips on how to get over the overwhelm of living in a new country please feel free to leave them in the comment section!

2 Responses to LIFE AS AN EXPAT LIVING IN LONDON – WEEK 1

  1. Pingback: 5 Smart tips to beat stress and overwhelm when decorating and save your sanity! - christinetse.com

  2. Kim
    - March 25, 2016 Reply

    Hello Christine,
    now by the time I leave a comment, you have lived in London for a couple of months and will likely have found out for yourself what I’m about to post, but hey ho – I wanted to leave a few encouraging lines anyway.
    As you probably remember, I’ve lived in the US as an expat, and the first thing I did to overcome my first feeling of newbie-overwhelm was to set up a routine. I looked up the places I would need during my first one or two weeks on a map, then drove there (and back home) during hours when not much traffic was to be expected, and I went back and forth until I could do it in my sleep. I checked out the grocery stores for familiar items, and then, from work day 1, I felt as though I was on sort-of familiar terrain. Within a week or so I felt comfortable and that I would at least be able to maintain a normal life (haha); so when I was at that comfort level, that’s when I started to try and find more new interesting places in my downtime.
    Take it one step at a time, and don’t do too much all at once. When I made the mistake of trying to walk all around a small town in one day and get acquainted with it, I felt overwhelmed and lost all over again.
    Now, London is not a small town….you have to take it in bite-sized chunks. And don’t feel like you have to know it like the back of your hands in a half year. I am impatient, so I’m talking from my own experience here. Give yourself a break…and let me know how things turned out. Can’t wait to read more from you!

I would love to hear from you leave me a comment below!