Caught the love bug yet? Shop MarBal this Valentine

Practical or fanciful,  whether you subscribe to the 'valentine's day is an invented holiday' school of thought or not, this special day is a chance to celebrate your relationship- old or young, long term or just getting started. Valentine’s Day isn’t just about the roses and romance though. Take the opportunity to show your family members and dearest friends how much they’re loved and admired with a thoughtful gift from "MarBal Shop: the valentine picks", they’ll cherish it well past the day.

MarBal shop has some gifts for you and your loved ones and you know what else we offer that you may not get elsewhere, our AVANT GARDE GIFT PRESENTATION/WRAPPING.

Get in here lovelies, you should take advantage of this.

Present an outstanding present!

SHOP MARBAL

☆☆☆ Gift boxes
Product description: these boxes are the chic way to present gifts now because bags are just so 2014. Get into 2015 already. They can later be used for storage purpose as they are not a waste. Ladies, don't you want cute jewelry boxes?

☆☆☆ Perfumes
Product description: take advantage of our perfume collection (male and female) this Valentine.  No one can have enough bottles of perfume. A wide variety of perfumes available to choose from. If you want more pictures of perfumes available in their different price range, please indicate in your order.

☆☆☆Personalised Cards
Product description: why not say your feelings through a personalised card? The card has sentimental attachment because the receiver's picture is on it, no one would throw that into the bin, right? The cards are from www.fairysistersng@blogspot.com and you get them from us to be included in your hamper at the same price they offer.

☆☆☆Personalised Mugs
Product description: our very unique magic mugs. They change colour, bring up notes and pictures that have been inscribed in them when hot water is put in. Did I hear you say awesome?
N.B PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN BULK QUANTITY FOR SOUVENIR PURPOSE (THAT IS, FOR OCCASIONS AND BUSINESSES)

☆☆☆Personalised Notepads and Journals
Product description: what better way to write down your thoughts and take notes than with our beautiful notepads and journals. ALSO AVAILABLE IN BULK QUANTITY

☆☆☆CupCakes!
Product description: Valentine's day isn't complete without our box of 6 and 12 cupcakes in red velvet, chocolate and vanilla variants.

☆☆☆ Lipsticks, Lip pencils and Lip gloss.
Product description: for our ladies, we have gorgeous and long lasting lip sticks in stock.


Notes:
-we provide gift wrapping service at an affordable price. If you have your gifts already but want them to stand out and remain memorable, send to us and let's ensure your presents have presence.
-all orders should be made, sorted and paid for before 12th of February (in readiness for 14th)
-delivery service available
-refer your friends and family
-hampers also available on request

HOW TO ORDER:
-pick the product you want and send to mariambalogun14@gmail.com
-wait for a response on the price(s)
-pay for your item(s)
-send a message to confirm payment
-VOILA! Get your product on agreed date


Contact information:
mariambalogun14@gmail.com
08054888686 for WhatsApp and Calls
Instagram page- @marbalng
www.marbalng.blogspot.com

Decorating 101 : Tips on how to start a decorating project. Thank me later.

Congratulations!!! You are probably planning a new life with bae/boo of life or you’ve just decided to decorate your home.

Now what?

Whether you’re furnishing your first place or redoing the house you’ve owned for sometime , decorating can be a challenging task, filled with costly decisions whose outcomes could haunt you for years.  Many nigerians run from this and would rather just 'do anything, its a roof over the head at least'.

How do you figure out what style is right for you?
Should you tackle the job yourself or hire a pro?
How much should you spend?
And what steps can you take to ensure you’ll be happy with the results?

In this series I’ll take you through the entire decorating process, from initial inspirations to final floor plans. We’ll talk about choosing colors, shopping for furniture, arranging furniture, where you should scrimp and where you should spend.


But before you do any of that, look around you.

☆☆☆Take a critical look at your current home or new space. What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Are your feelings prompted by the aesthetics of the decor? The comfort? The fabrics? The colors?  Which is your highest point in decorating?
Learn from that. Repeat the things you like, and don’t repeat the things you don’t like just because they’re familiar to you.

☆☆☆Write your list for Santa. Create a wish list — your Santa Claus list. Write down everything you would like to do if money were no object (money na serious matter wey dey discourage our people for this house decoration matter, abi I lie?). Then figure out which things you can do, which things you can’t do, which things have to be done now and which things can wait.

“If you don’t have that master list, it’s hard to prioritize,” says  an interior designer, Amy Luff of Viva Luxe Studios in Bristol, Virginia.

☆☆☆Collect photos. Start collecting pictures of rooms you like. Even if you’re going to hire an interior designer, this will help him or her get a sense of your taste.

With time, MarBal through this blog site and our other social media hope to provide you with a thousand and one decorating ideas in pictures.

Don’t try to do this in one sitting — give yourself a few weeks or months to compile your photos, as your tastes might evolve during the course of the exercise. Something that appealed to you on Day 1 might seem trite by Day 23.

☆☆☆Get your bae/boo of life involved. For many couples, there’s often one person who’s more interested in decorating than the other. The other person might say, “Do whatever you want.”
Hhhm when he/she says that (abeg) do not do whatever you want. Because as soon as you start buying things, Mr. or Ms. No Opinion will suddenly have an opinion. So make him or her spend some time with you at the very beginning just looking at pictures of interiors.
 “Spend an hour or two to look at some things together and talk about them. You may get some ideas from bae's fashion combos too. As you review each room, ask your partner, “What do you like about it? What don’t you like about it?”

Alternatively, you can each collect a file of images independently, then sit down and compare what you’ve chosen. This way your initial selections won’t be swayed by the other person. As you review your selections together, your differences and similarities will immediately become apparent.

(Warning: make this a fun thing to do and don't brew a fight from it because of your partner's preference. I sabi my naija people)

“I don’t know what I like.” Many people find it difficult to articulate what they want. Don’t let that bother you. Let those photos you’ve collected convey that information for you. Look at the characteristics that pop up again and again: the style of furnishings, the color palettes, the patterns, the materials, the quantity of furniture in each room. Let those characteristics guide you.

Most people have a basic comfort level. They know what kinds of rooms they like to be in and what kinds they don’t like to be in. Although it’s good to venture outside your comfort zone every now and then, it’s unlikely that you’ll enjoy living in a minimalist contemporary space if your natural predilection is for French country. So trust your instincts.

☆☆☆Take another look around. Now that you’ve started to zero in on the look you want your interior to have, make a list of all your significant pieces and figure out which items should stay and which should go. Keep in mind that if you love a piece of upholstered furniture but hate its fabric, it can be reupholstered. Wood pieces can be painted or stained. Objects can be repurposed. And if there’s an inherited piece that has great sentimental value but you can’t stand to look at it … well, life’s too short to live with things you don’t love.

☆☆☆All at once or in stages? If you have the budget to do everything at once, by all means go for it. If you want everything done at once but can’t afford that now, save your money and do it all at once later. If you can’t afford to do it all at once and don’t care if everything is done at the same time, then you’ll be better off doing the project in phases. Complete one room before moving on to the next one, rather than doing a little bit in one room and a little bit in another.

Living in a half-finished space isn’t going to make most people happy. I think it’s better to wait and do your project in phases.

The living room is a good place to start, as it will leave you with something you can be proud of and can share with friends — a good launching point for the other work ahead.

Thank you for stopping by to read today's post.

Did you like it? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section. 

Any tip you think should be added? Had to decorate your space before? 

Watchout for #thewelcomehomeproject. Coming soon. 

Xoxo

MarBal

Our Services at MarBal

MarBal is a enterprise made up of three distinct entities, yet I believe they are related. They are extremely different yet they are so alike. I know what's on your mind now, how can they be so different but yet alike? Let's use a set of identical twins as an example, they look very much alike but you can still tell them apart. The same way you know Adaora from Adanma or Taiwo from Kehinde and can tell them apart because of their personalities and attributes. I think this same scenario applies to MarBal.

Enough of that story for now..

So what exactly do we offer:

☆☆☆ Exquisite gift wrapping and presentation.

☆☆☆ Unique gift items and souvenirs for all occasions: parties, corporate,  business and so on.

☆☆☆ Sale of home products and home decorations.

☆☆☆ Interior (Home) design and decorating service (home makeovers)

☆☆☆DIY interior (Home) design tips and projects.

☆☆☆ News and Trends from the interior design world.

☆☆☆ Closet remodeling and organization.

☆☆☆ Health tips, best drug and food-use advice.


Presently, these are the services we offer. There will be projects under each of the three categories and it's in your best interest to join the train now.

We look forward to serving you.

Xoxo
MarBal

The genesis of MarBal

Hallos,

Thank you for stopping by 😊☺
MarBal is a dream I have always had. It signifies my determination to create a household name. From the days of secondary education at Federal government college, Odogbolu-when I had an idea of what I wanted to be in life, I birthed the dream. I remember when i had to fill 'slum books' as we were about graduating, I wrote in some that I could, that they should never forget the name MarBal as it wasn't just a nickname but also a brand name.

How did I come about the name MarBal???
Very queasy easy! 'Mar' is from my first name- Mariam while 'Bal' is from my surname - Balogun.
There you have it!
Hi, I'm Mariam Balogun and it's so nice to meet you.

So what is MarBal about?
As the second and last child of my family, I had just my brother to play with at home. It wasn't so much fun for me especially when he was on his computer playing games.

So what did I do?

Nope you guessed wrong, I didn't play with teddies. I simply went into my room, for some days, and rearranged my wardrobe. It wasn't like it was scattered but I enjoyed the art of arranging, folding clothes and remodelling my space. For some other days, I simply took up the job of making-over rooms in the house and decorating them. Fast forward to years later, i had to discover myself to know who I really am and what I love to do. After searching and searching my life as to what I'm talented in,  (as I can't be Tiwa or kaffy - guess you know why)  it dawned on me that the flair in me when I was younger is definitely something to be worked on. I decided to know more about gift wrapping and presentations, and interior design.  To widen my knowledge in the aspect of designs, i took up a certified interior design course. Today, I refer to them as my passion.

 I believe my passion and the career path i chose make up who I am. I always  knew from a much tender age that I wanted to cater for people and have an impact in my own little way. I wanted to help people live better and healthier. I opted for pharmacy. This paid off for me as I enjoy every bit of it now.


In summary, these two sides of me met and gave rise to MarBal - a blend of my passion and profession. I tell myself I can't leave one for the other, I love them equally. MarBal is a dream, it's a goal and it can be achieved.

Join me as I go on this adventure. I am sure it will be challenging but fun. We can do
it - YOU AND I.

P.s I may be an interior designer and a pharmacist, but I lay no claims on being a writer.


Xoxo
MarBal