There's something about visiting the place where we grew up that just feels like home. Maybe it's the smell of the place, or the familiarity - whatever particular aspect stands out to you, the fact remains that nothing feels quite as good as feeling like you're at home.
The design of your apartment can speak volumes about how comfortable you feel there. If the furniture you have isn't comfortable, or randomly thrown together, it can make your apartment feel less inviting. Follow these simple tips, courtesy of renters.apartments.com, to start feeling at home in your new home!
Design for Use
The difference between a home and just another room is how much you really dwell in it. If you're ready to think of your apartment as a living space and not just where you crash at night, start designing your environments around their utility. Approach kitchen improvement projects around making it easier and more fun to cook and host company, tackle your bedroom as a pursuit of true coziness and relaxation, and think of your living room as a great leisure space just waiting to emerge from the blank canvas of the floor plan.
Color and Light
The cheapest, most functional way to establish a real decorative aesthetic is with careful color and lighting concepts. Look into whether your lease allows you to paint the walls. A fresh coat of the right color can really personalize a room. Even if you're not allowed to paint, you can start thinking of other kinds of decor along a color scheme that makes your home feel more intentional and personal. It's also a good idea to have plenty of lighting to open up each room and make the space feel more inviting.
Think Beyond the Now Even if a given apartment is just a temporary arrangement, that doesn't mean everything in it has to be temporary as well. When you furnish and decorate your space, invest in items you'll want to see in your next home as well. By putting the effort and money into your belongings now, you'll feel literally and emotionally more invested in the space, plus you'll be less likely to have to start from the beginning the next time you move. Every chair, poster and candlestick can be the start of a continuous story, rather than just a lost chapter.
Add Some Life Tending to your space or something within it is a great way to make your rental feel like home. When you're ready, bring a pet or some plants into the apartment so you'll have something you can help thrive in your environment. If you opt for something practical like a small garden of fresh herbs like mint and basil, you'll also have another reason to step into the kitchen and make your home a source of physical and spiritual nourishment. Apartment gardens are often as easy as a few potted plants on a windowsill, or even a small DIY project to install a floating shelf near a source of light.
Match the Mismatched
Especially when you're just starting out, it's pretty common to have a mishmash of furniture acquired more out of convenience than an eye for catalog perfection. Making a matching set just takes a little extra work, though. If you have wood, plastic or metal furniture, a fresh coat of paint can make them into companion pieces. Leather and fabric seating are good options for slip covers an upholstery, which will also increase the longevity of furniture that's either at risk of wear or is worn already. Taking on these small-scale DIY projects is not only a fulfilling and productive use of leisure time, it's also a great way to develop new skills that will serve you well when you're ready to take on larger home improvement projects in the future.
No matter how small your apartment or how short your stay, there are plenty of things you can do to improve and customize your space. A little effort and TLC will definitely make your rental feel like a home you're happy to call your own.
Is your bedroom keeping you awake at night? There are five reasons that may be the cause of your lack of sleep in your own home. This blog has a list of those reasons. It also includes a list of possible solutions that could help you in your quest for a better night's sleep. You can learn more at apartment therapy.
PROBLEM #1: ALLERGIES
Is your stuffy nose keeping you from getting shut eye? Seasonal allergies are one thing, but dust mites are with us all year round. Your bed is Disneyland for those little critters, who thrive on all the dead skin cells your body provides.
Fixes: Vacuum your room with a HEPA filter and clean your bedding as often as you can— including your pillows, which you can throw in the dryer for 15 minutes to kill off any existing bugs. Instead of scented detergent, use a few drops of eucalyptus oil in your laundry. Put hypoallergenic protective covers on your mattress and pillows. And lastly, strip your mattress before you go out of town to give it time to air out. (I won’t rile up pet owners by suggesting you ban furry loved ones from the bedroom, but it’s worth thinking about.) Read more onbedroom allergies here.
PROBLEM #2: LIGHT
Your room is too bright at night. Whether it’s coming from the outside, a nightlight, the television screen, or your blinking alarm clock, any light keeps your body fooled into thinking it’s not sleeping time.
Fixes: Buy really dark curtains, or add liner, to block out street lamps. Also turn off electronic devices and remove anything else that emits brightness. (If you’re worried about getting up in time, try covering your alarm clock instead.) Lastly, swap out higher watt lightbulbs in your bedside lamp for dimmer ones; these will aid the transition as you’re winding down from the day by reading in bed at night.
PROBLEM #3: TEMPERATURE
Some nights you're too hot, and other times, it's too cold. Sleep is induced when you are at rest and your core body temperature lowers. If your heat is on too high (or too cold for that matter), your internal thermostat fluctuates which leads to restless sleep.
Fixes: Everyone is comfortable at different temps, so experiment to find the right one for you. There's no right answer but cooler is generally better - start in the 65 degree range. There are always fans and blankets to help you regulate, but know that bedding material makes a difference too; memory foam pillows and mattresses, for example, are hotter than more traditional ones. If you are still having trouble staying asleep, look into bedding and pads that keep you cooler at night.
PROBLEM #4: NOISE
There’s the 5 am garbage truck variety that’s impossible to ignore. But when it'stoo quiet, the slightest disruption can reach epic proportions and you find yourself focused on that weird hum or dripping faucet. Either way, you need a way to soundproof your sleep.
Fixes: If it’s too loud, wear earplugs as a first resort. Or, try a white noise machine or app —or even a basic fan— to drown out any noises that violate your REM cycle. If it’s really bad, get as far away from the offending noise as possible. Either move your bed to another wall to dampen neighbor noises, or, if you have the option, try swapping your current bedroom with another room entirely. Read more on bedroom noise here.
PROBLEM #5: MATTRESS
Having a healthy, comfortable, supportive mattress is critical to a good night's sleep.
Fixes: Flip your mattress with the seasons, alternating between end-over-end and side-over-side rotation. If it's time for a new one, check out Danny Seo’s great tips on mattress shopping. A couple of years ago, Maxwell also experimented with different mattress brands for twelve months and wrote about it in his Year in Bed series.
Do you enjoy comfort food? Here are some great recipes from around the world. Each of these recipes is considered a "comfort food" in their country. You can learn more at The Kitchn.
Are you tired of washing the dishes? There are some great tricks that will help you reduce the amount of time washing. Apartment Therapy has seven different tips that will cut down the time it takes to finish the dishes after meals. Keep reading below to learn more! 1) Start clean. Cleanliness begets cleanliness. Starting with a clean kitchen motivates you to keep it as clean as possible as you cook. For example, a clean counter makes your dribbles obvious and helps you wipe them right away. Also, prevent a backlog by making sure your dish rack and dishwasher have enough empty space to accommodate new dirty dishes.
2) Don't stack. Stacking dishes almost doubles the amount of surfaces you have to clean. Have everyone clear their own dishes and place them on the counter near the sink or in a soaking tub.
3) Clean as you go. The more you clean as you go, the less you have to clean at the end. Aim for no dirty cooking utensils by the time you begin eating your meal. You'll have enough to clean afterwards.
3) Prepare a soaking station. Although it's best to clean as you go, you can't always clean every single thing as it gets dirty. To corral dirty cooking utensils and keep messes from drying on them, prepare a soapy side of the sink or a tub placed in the sink. Do the same for dirty dishes after the meal. If possible, put dirty dishes in the dishwasher right away, but if you can't, keeping dishes submerged will also prevent caking on of food and save you lots of time scrubbing.
4) Fill pots and pans with water. Again, the idea is to keep food from crusting, which takes significantly more time to clean. While you're eating, fill dirty pots and pans with water so they can soak. Note: Don't put cold water into pots or pans until they've cooled. The sudden change in temperature can warp them.
5) Keep dishes to a minimum. Unless you're entertaining, don't dirty more dishes just for serving. One solution is to serve portions in the kitchen or bring pots and pans to the table. Another solution is to serve from containers that can double as storage for leftovers, such as glass tupperware.
6) Wipe it while it's wet. Swipe counters, appliances, the floor, and the stove when spills are fresh. This will keep your space clean and will keep the mess from spreading (like to the bottom of the spice jars that you place on the counter when you're cooking, for instance). Perhaps most importantly, wiping while it's wet will keep you from having to scrub dried-up messes.
7) Spray and wait. Inevitably, you'll have some spills to clean up. Spraying with your cleaner and giving it some time to soak in a bit before you wipe usually softens the mess and makes it much easier to wipe away.
We know you’re all busy. With an endless list of things to do and places to be, technology like cell phones and iPads keep us connected to everyone at all times. During the day being connected can make our work and social engagements easier, but at night it can mean the difference between a goodnight’s sleep and no sleep at all.
Instead of sacrificing your sleep, why not separate yourself from your cell phone? One blogger did just that - at night she began putting her phone away in order to get the optimal level of sleep. In this blog from apartmenttherapy.com she takes a look back at the last four months to document how her routine has changed. Keep reading to find out what she discovered:
About four weeks ago, I declared that I was going to stop keeping my iPhone at my side overnight. I'm happy to stay that I've stuck with the plan, and the results have been positive across the board.
First, thanks to everyone who expressed support for the idea. Telling you about the plan and knowing I wanted to report back were key in getting me to stick to it.
These days, my lonely little phone spends nights on the TV room coffee table, or on a particular window sill in a well trafficked hallway of my house. On the few nights where I've gone on autopilot and brought the phone into my bedroom, I've tucked it into the top drawer of my dresser so I won't be tempted to waste time looking at social media feeds before sleeping or when I first wake up. I've used my laptop from bed at night once or twice more than I would have before, but never for as long as I'd use my phone (which I'd attribute to the device's size).
While I expected to notice the change the most at night, the morning has been the biggest improvement. Using a dedicated alarm clock has actually helped me get up earlier. I'm hitting snooze less often; the alarm has only one, pretty annoying sound. But really, it's the peacefulness of letting my mind ease into wakefulness, rather than checking to see who's shared an interesting photo of flowers or dogs, that makes me happiest about reshaping my habits.
What do you think? Would you be able to unglue the phone from your hand to help your sleep schedule? Leave us a comment and let us know!
1) Start clean. Cleanliness begets cleanliness. Starting with a clean kitchen motivates you to keep it as clean as possible as you cook. For example, a clean counter makes your dribbles obvious and helps you wipe them right away. Also, prevent a backlog by making sure your dish rack and dishwasher have enough empty space to accommodate new dirty dishes.
