Decorating Your First Apartment

Find tips from the net on putting together your first apartment. Get strategies for storage, decorating ideas, furniture sources, and more! Good info as well as some fun stuff!

If you need a quick and easy makeover for a room or need to freshen up drab furniture, you might want to consider slipcovers! A slipcover can really transform a dreary piece of tired furniture to look fresh and new. Many homeowners turn their noses up at slipcovers at first mention. But after getting an over-the-top bid on having a piece of furniture reupholstered, a slipcover becomes a very reasonable alternative.

In addition to being a budget-conscious way to freshen up a piece of upholstered furniture, a slipcover can hide unattractive upholstery, add a dash of color to a room, introduce a new style, or perform a seasonal makeover by adding a holiday mood to a room.With so many choices on the market, you can find slipcovers in colorful washable cotton, durable denim or faux suede, elegant velvet, snuggly chenille, faux leather, and many more.

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Whether you are male or female, a mom or a dad, balancing career and family can be really difficult. When you’re a woman, though, the choices you have to make seem especially difficult and the responsibilities all the more great. For some reason, women are guilt-ridden with their career decisions and the choices they make about working while trying to raise their children, providing nutritious meals for their family, keeping a respectable house and keeping their husbands happy. Last on the list, of course, is finding some time for themselves. So how does a woman find time to actually feel happy with her daily activities while keeping up with all of the responsibility?
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As I went out to feed the birds today I sunk up to my knees in snow as I made my way to the bird feeder. And more snow is expected for the end of this week. I know this kind of weather makes some people have cabin fever. Do you get cabin fever?

I was working with a woman who said her therapist told her to get organizing. He told her even if you don’t do any more than move one can to the other side of the shelf you have done something and that is a good thing. Read the rest of this entry »

“My neighbors are harassing me. How do you deal with difficult people like these?”

I’ve been asked this question SEVERAL times now, so I thought I’d write an article on the topic.

The word “harassment” is a very broad term. For different people it can mean anything from neighbors who are verbally abusive and deflating your tires to people who are just plain nosey.

It’s a little like saying, “My dog is misbehaving”. You wouldn’t start right away by working on your dog’s “misbehavior” in general. You’d want to focus on the SPECIFIC forms of misbehavior that are causing a problem, such as jumping up on people, or barking too much, etc… Read the rest of this entry »

For children, play is naturally enjoyable. And since it is their active engagement in things that interest them, play should be child-led, or at least child-inspired, for it to remain relevant and meaningful to them. Children at play are happily lost in themselves; they are in their own realm of wonder, exploration, and adventure, pulling parents in at times with a frequent “Let’s play, mom!” as an open invitation into that world.

As early as infancy, children immerse themselves in play activities with the purpose of making sense of the world around them. Play gives children the opportunity to learn and experience things themselves, which is vital for their development. Although peek-a-boo games seem pointless to adults, tots are awed by the surprise that awaits them as they see the suddenly emerging faces of people they love. Read the rest of this entry »

Limit the number of objects in the collage and arrange them in an irregular pattern for a contemporary look. If you prefer a traditional approach that covers the wall more densely, choose objects that are all the same color; this provides impact without creating chaotic clutter.

Add dimension to the display with items that project from the wall into the space of the room. Brackets, architectural salvage, or wall sculpture add interest by keeping the collage from feeling too flat.

Layer on Style:

Step 1. Centering the largest piece over the sofa creates a balanced composition. Hang it low enough to relate to the furniture. Flanked by a chest of drawers and a low table, the sofa is the axis for the wall display. Molding divides the wall into four panels, which guide the placement of objects. To create a similar effect on unpaneled walls, use the edges of furniture to suggest imaginary vertical lines that divide the wall space into sections.

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Ten, Very Easy-to-Grow Houseplants
If your experience growing plants indoors has been less than successful, you can increase your success rate with any of the following ten, almost-indestructible houseplants: Chinese evergreen (Alglaomema modestum and A. simplex), cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior), spider plant (Chlorophytum elatum), dracaena, philodendron, grape ivy (Cissus), umbrella tree (Brassaia or Schefflera), arrowhead plant (Syngonium or Nephytis), and piggyback plant (Tolmiea menziesii).

Feeding
With roots restricted to a pot, houseplants are totally reliant on you to provide them with the nutrients they need for healthy growth. There are any number of excellent, all-purpose houseplant fertilizers on the market. Most houseplant aficionados favor liquid formulations for their ease of use and flexibility: Instead of a once-a-month full-strength feeding, houseplants benefit from the consistency of a every-two-week feeding with fertilizer mixed at one-half the recommended rate. And even though they are indoors, houseplants respond to the seasons just like their outdoor counterparts. Because of this, withhold fertilizer during the late fall and winter months, when plants are relatively inactive, and resume again once the daylight hours lengthen in spring. Read the rest of this entry »

Set the Theme
Shelves should be eye-catchers, not clutter-catchers. Turn a mess into a masterpiece using a little shelf-arranging know-how. Here are some attention-grabbing arrangement tips.

Keep it neat. With pieces arranged by color, purpose, or size, your displays will enhance rather than clutter your decorating scheme. Well-scaled for the narrow shelf, this arrangement of simple spinning spools from textile mills is orderly and rhythmic.

Support a style. Display collections that reinforce a theme, like this collection of homespun redware pottery. Chrome and Fiestaware mix it up for a retro look; baskets, whirligigs, and primitive wooden bowls combine for casual country.

Arrange Tastefully
Don’t overdo. Avoid a jumbled look by giving each object piece some space to shine. Dark frames boldly set off these photographs against a light-color wall. Each photograph is given a generous mat and isn’t crowded by other objects so as not to detract from each piece’s individual value. The narrow white shelf limits the size of the grouping and doesn’t steal the limelight.

Establish balance. Line up like-size objects along a shelf, or think right, left, and center when planning displays. Pieces placed to the left of center should mirror the proportions of those on the right. The balance doesn’t have to be exactly symmetrical, but neither side should look heavier than the other. The pitchers, plates, and cup-and-saucer sets in this shelf arrangement are all roughly the same size, but the different shapes and heights add enough variety to make the arrangement visually pleasing.

Spotlight. Install small, puck-size lights or halogen strip lights to highlight your displays. Directing the light adds emphasis to special items. Even inside this glass cabinet, spot lighting attracts the eye to colorful pails.

Use odd numbers. Arrange objects in groups of odd numbers for a more visually dynamic display. Putting these pieces on pedestals adds more height variety for intrigue.

Storage Tips 1-5
So much stuff, so little room. Stuff you need, such as food and pots and pans. Stuff you collect, such as pottery and cookbooks. Stuff that seems to multiply overnight, such as bills, recyclables, and rubber bands. Fortunately, there are plenty of solutions to help you store your stuff — and quickly retrieve it. Check out the following custom cabinetry ideas, easy-to-install products, no-install containers, and tips about organizing that will help whip your kitchen into shape.

Bring the pantry closer to you. A pullout pantry system has wire shelf sides that prevent items from falling out and allow easy viewing of the contents. Pullout pantry systems, especially those that extend into toe-kick space near the floor, must be installed perfectly level and plumb to operate smoothly. Read the rest of this entry »

Studies show that many times indoor pollution takes more of a toll on your health than outdoor pollution. As we walk through our homes, the air turbulence created by our moving bodies stirs up a combination of dust and debris that can be very irritating to the lungs.

Indoor Air Pollution and Irritants
Human skin particles, pollen, and smoke are all part of this bothersome brew of irritants. The most irritating are dust mites. Dust mites are microscopic creatures that feed on dust-especially flakes of skin.

Household cleaners and pesticides are full of chemicals. People are even bothered by low levels of these compounds. Ironically, indoor air is now recognized as being full of many of the same chemicals we’ve spent so much time reducing outdoors. Read the rest of this entry »