Like hundreds of other middle-lower class Americans, I rent an apartment. A tiny, one-bedroom with very little character. There is no lengthy rental agreement, just a month-to-month lease, which pretty much eliminates the possibility of painting or in other ways customizing the rooms. After seven years of living between drab off-white walls, I've discovered a cheap, effective way to bring them to life. I invested less than $20 in some crystals from Swanky Nest, hung them from invisible thread of varying lengths across my large picture window. Now every afternoon my walls (and floors and couch) come alive with dancing rainbows. My windows are so drafty (again typical of these sort of places) that I don't even need to open the window for the crystals to gently spin, swing, and sway.

I used the 1 1/2 inch lead crystal Swedish ovals, but there is a wide selection of shapes and sizes available. I think I'm going to buy some more to put in the bedroom since it catches the morning sunshine. I guess it's lucky I live in Southern California where there aren't many days without sunshine!

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