Tips For Decorating Your Apartment
Our friends at HGTV have some great ideas on how to make the most of your space in your apartment.
Our friends at HGTV have some great ideas on how to make the most of your space in your apartment.
Our friends at LifeHacker put together a great list on how you can live more harmoniously in a community living space.
One of our favorite tips is how to save money on your energy bills!
Like upgrading your fixtures, some energy-saving measures are more difficult to pull off in an apartment, but you can still do a lot. For example, you can still install window shades, install a programmable thermostat, use energy efficient light bulbs, and more. In fact, most of our best energy-saving tips should be applicable to apartment living—just make sure you check with your landlord before you start tearing anything apart or sealing up doors and windows.
Check out the rest of the article here!
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It is all too easy for closet clutter to take over your life. What starts off as a small amount of clutter can quickly escalate as you buy new outfits and create new looks. Before you realize it, you cannot even get into your closet, and finding your favorite outfit seems like an insurmountable tasks.
If you want to clear out the clutter and take back your closet space, you can use these tips to get started.
Organize Your Clothes by Type
Many ready-made closet organization systems employ this method, but you do not have to spend all that money to keep your closet neat and clean. Keeping your skirts in one part of the closet, your jackets in another and dresses in a third makes it easy to find something to wear. This method also makes is easier to create different looks instead of relying on the same old pairings.
Or By Color
If organizing clothes by type is not your thing, consider sorting them by color instead. Arranging your dresses, suits and blazers by color can make choosing the perfect outfit easier and spark your creativity.
Clean Out Your Closet with the Hanger Trick
You probably have lots of clothes you never wear, but determining which outfits to ditch can be difficult. One of the best ways to reduce the clutter and focus on your favorite clothes is the hanger trick. At the beginning of every season, turn all of your hangers around. Turn the hanger around the other way when you pull off a garment. By the end of the season you will be able to see at a glance what you can remove from your wardrobe.
Use Tax Season as Your Inspiration
You can help those in need and help yourself to a tax deduction by donating the unwanted parts of your wardrobe to charity. If you need extra inspiration to clear away the clutter, let tax time be your inspiration. Be sure to get a receipt for your donation so that the amount you report to the IRS is correct.
The coming of spring is a great time of year to spruce up your home and give yourself a change of scene. Now is the time of year to leave the gloom of the winter behind and get ready for the warmer weather. If you are looking for some inspiration this spring, try the following ways to spruce up your home.
Clean Your Apartment
We’ve all heard of spring cleaning, but the truth is, many of us don’t get around to it. Few people actually like cleaning, so it can be difficult to get motivated. Instead, think about the rewards and spend a morning cleaning your house from top to bottom. If possible, make it into a family activity in which everyone in the family gets involved. Put away things like old winter clothes and anything else that you’re not going to be needing for the time being.
Change Some Colors
Spring is a good time to do a bit of redecorating in your home, particularly if a change of scene is long overdue. Painting an average sized room need not take very long, particularly if there is no preparation work to do. Lighter colours are ideal for the warmer times of year and they can make your home feel a lot airier and more cheerful than the warmer, darker colors that make us feel cosier during the winter. Painting a room shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours, though applying a second coat the next day will usually be necessary.
Get Some Plants
As soon the plants start blooming, it is time to bring the outside into your home. Plants can help your home to feel green and cheerful. Think out of the box! You can include larger pot plants and very ornamental plants such as palms and miniature orange trees.
Get Outdoor Furniture Ready
If you have outdoor furniture, spring is the time to get it back out of storage. You should keep wooden furniture in particular under cover through the winter, since it will greatly extend its life. When the first warm days of spring come, however, it is time to take it out of storage and prepare it for the summer. Wooden furniture should ideally be restored every year or two with a new coat of wood stain. Not only will this make it look much better; it will also help to protect it against the elements.
Rearrange Your Apartment Furniture
You’ve cleaned your apartment and given it a bit of a facelift, but how about rearranging some things? Some ideas include getting some new furniture, new decorations or simply rearranging some of your furniture. If you have a home office, for example, then perhaps you should consider relocating it to the sunniest room in your house and the one with the nicest view. If you have thick and heavy curtains on the windows, you may want to consider replacing them with lighter curtains until next winter. The possibilities are endless, but rearranging your home all counts towards giving it a facelift for the spring and beyond
Decorating a small space is always a tricky proposition. With the right touch a small room can look quite cozy, but without that special touch it may just look cluttered. Making the most of small spaces and tiny rooms is an art form in itself, and one that can be quite difficult to master.
Fortunately for those with big dreams but limited space there are some ways to make the most of the room you do have. Some proven ways to make a small room, small apartment or small home feel cozy and charming include:
Think carefully about your lighting options. Lighting can provide a dramatic effect and give the illusion of a more open space
We’re always looking for an inexpensive way to get some exercise during the winter. One of our favorite activities is the FREE ice skating in Rice Park – and it is only $4 if you need to borrow a pair of skates (or FREE if you are a Wells Fargo customer). The rink is open seven days a week! Why not bring your friends and family and make a day of it?
There is nothing nicer than fresh herbs when you are cooking. Unfortunately, they just don’t last long in the refrigerator and a herb garden isn’t a practical solution if you don’t live somewhere with your own front yard
The perfect solution is an herbal window garden. If you have a kitchen window, you can grow your own fresh herbs right where you cook! Imagine just snipping a fresh branch of rosemary or parsley to toss in the soup pot or a bit of mint to add to your chocolate flan.
To get started, all you need are some containers, soil, and some herb plants or seeds. Seedlings are recommended since some herbs are difficult to start from scratch. Your local nursery will have seedlings for sale. You can buy a small bag of soil while you are at the nursery as well. Potting soil is perfect for your new plants.
As for containers, which ones you choose depends on the size of your window. You can get nice plastic or wooden planters at the dollar store or any large craft store if you want to plant everything together. Or you could go with smaller, individual planters. Add a couple of hanging ones in the corners of the window for extra herb-growing space!
Once you have your supplies, all you need to do is transplant your seedlings from their little cups to the planters. Put a layer of stones or gravel at the bottom of each plant pot to aid drainage and fill to within two inches of the top with potting soil. Now make a hole for your new plant.
Seedlings are delicate, so don’t be yanking them out of their cups. Instead, put your hand over the cup, allowing the seedling to stick up between your fingers so you can support the stem. Turn the whole thing upside down and use your other hand to gently loosen the cup from the plant. Many seedlings will be somewhat root bound, so it might be difficult to get the cup off. As long as you are supporting the fragile plant, you can shake the cup a bit to get it off.
Now, turn your plant over and stick it in the hole you made in the planter soil. Gently tamp fresh soil down around the roots and give it a bit of water. Being transplanted can be a trauma to a small plant, so make sure it has enough water to recuperate.
Your new plants won’t need much care. As long as they get daylight in the window and you keep the soil moist (not wet), they should thrive. Once they have reached about five inches in height, you can start snipping. The frequent cuttings will stunt their growth and make the herbs bushier, perfect for indoor growing conditions!
Sharing a laundry room with other people requires that everyone cooperate and act courteously towards one another in making sure that everyone has a chance to get their laundry done.
Here are some tips on how to be a good laundry neighbor:
These few little things can make sharing a laundry facility with others a much easier thing and keep the building nice and clean!
It is cold out by the standards of those not native to Minnesota. If you would like to show your guests a good time, City Pages has put together a great top ten list of places you can have a lot of fun! One is even outdoors!
If you don’t have the money to buy that original Picasso, there are still ways you can low cost art to adorn the walls of your home and apartment. It’s just a question of using a little creativity and elbow grease. Cheap original artwork can be had for a fraction of the cost of what you’d buy at an antique store or art gallery. Here are some ideas for creating your own low cost art:
Decorate your walls with vintage LPs
You can buy old LPs from estate sales, garage sales, and thrift stores for pennies on the dollar. Nail old LPs to your wall to give a room a touch of musical nostalgia. You can also attach favorite album covers to your walls from such artists as Elvis Presley or the Beatles.
Create a nature collage.
Go outside on a crisp fall day and collect some of the handiwork of Mother Nature. Select the best examples of fall leaves, pine cones, and seeds to take home for your collage. Once you return home, arrange your nature finds on a matt board background. Once you’re pleased with the arrangement, use a hot glue gun to permanently attach your pieces to the board. Mount it to the walls and your have a one of a kind piece of low cost art. You can also explore other nature themes such as a beach collage using seashells collected on your seashore explorations.
Hang a series of flags.
Hang flags from your favorite countries on the wall in a pleasing fashion. Do you have interesting travel photos from these countries? If so why not intersperse them among the flags? You can also frame vintage maps from around the world to complete the travel theme.
Hang book dust jackets.
Are you an avid reader? What way to have cheap original artwork is to frame the dust jackets of your favorite books and display them on your walls. If you have a separate room that houses your personal library, framed dust jackets would be perfect.
Use your camera.
If you any skill with using a camera, you have instant low cost art for your walls. Simply grab your camera and photograph scenes that interest and intrigue you. How about photographing some of the local architecture in your city or animals at the zoo? Nature is always a good target for the camera’s eye. Once you have your photos, take them to a print shop and have them printed out professionally. Pick up some frames at a local thrift store or garage sale and you have cheap, original artwork for almost nothing. Who knows? You may discover that you love photography.
Frame vintage postcards.
Interesting vintage postcards can be found quite inexpensively at local antique shops. Choose some interesting ones and frame them for your walls. You’ll be surprised at how much interest and beauty this can add to your walls.
There are so many more wonderful things you can frame to use as low cost art. Old restaurant menus, botanical prints, fabrics, lace, old concert tickets, letters, magazine covers, and much more can serve as cheap, original artwork. Use your imagination and you’ll have beautiful walls without spending a fortune.
There is so many options for having fun in the Twin Cities as the leaves start to fall! Be sure to check out this events calendar to keep abreast of all the good stuff going on in your own neighborhoods!
Like the Our Mighty Mississippi this weekend!
Everyone loves a good night’s sleep. As someone living with neighbors there are some very simple things you can do to be a good night time neighbor and make sure everyone gets their time with the Sandman!
We were unfortunate enough to have a fire in one of our apartment communities. It is incredibly important that we are all vigilant in protecting ourselves and our neighbors from damage to both our physical health and emotional health when we live in such close proximity.
Please be careful. This is what can happen if you leave your stove unattended for even a short period of time:
For those of you effected by the fire, here is some important information on how to get help if you need it.
Tomorrow we will be posting a refresher on fire safety for all tenants to review for their own safety and that of their neighbors.
We are here to help all of you effected by the fire. Please let us know if there is more that we could be doing.