Add A Dash of Freshness To Your Apartment

Image courtesy of renters.apartments.com

Our apartments need to be somewhere we come home and relax at the end of the day; for some people, that means coming home to a neat, clean apartment. For others, that means bringing in some take-out and sitting in front of the TV for an hour after work. And for some of us, that means adding a little sweet something for us to breathe in - something that will make us exhale all of our stress away.

If you’re looking for ways to make your apartment smell fresher, here’s a couple tips on how to do that - they may surprise you!

Bring in Nature
Bringing in nature is easier than you think. Sure, you can open windows to freshen up the rooms and make sure to dust in order to remove allergens, but there are other natural ways to freshen the air. Consider green plants throughout the apartment. Even in small studio apartments, there are areas that green plants can become beneficial. Hang plants in kitchen areas, place them on shelves as a decorative item in living rooms, or place a large green plant in the corner of a bedroom. Green plants will automatically allow nature to take charge and clean the air throughout the apartment. The plants remove odor, clean the air, and release it back into the environment without the use of harsh chemicals or overpowering scents.

Stop Misting and Spraying

If you have tried the air freshener route to no avail, then you know misting and spraying only offers a temporary sweet scent fix. Instead of using chemical mists and sprays, try using a fabric softener sheet in air vents. The fabric softener sheets will last for several days and keep the air circulating with a fresh and clean scent. If you are not comfortable with the fabric softener approach, there is still hope. Scented oil reed diffusers, wax simmer pots and potpourri simmer options will also create a sweet scent that will keep your apartment smelling clean and fresh. Just remember to keep simmer pot options in safe locations and to extinguish them at night or when you leave the apartment.

The best ways to keep your apartment smelling fresh and clean are to open windows at least once a week, vacuum rugs to remove debris, locate any odd odors, and of course add green plants for a natural odor eliminator. If you combine those basic methods with a light scent from diffusers and simmer options, then the scent will take care of itself.

Read the original apartments.com article to learn a little more about how to make your apartment smell fresh!

*Photo Credit: apartments.com

4 Easy Ways To “Go Green”

Image courtesy of commons.wikipedia.org

Even today many people seem to think that “going green” is a difficult, monumental task. It’s such a shame that this idea persists when everyone can go green, easily, in different ways and to different degrees.

We’ve posted in the past about ways to greenify your apartment, but now, we’re giving you four more super easy ways to make your life a little greener - these are so easy, you probably forgot they were options!

● Recycle. Find out what your apartment building’s recycling program is and make sure that you have a container. Donate gently used items rather than throwing them away. Check with the village or town hall and find out how to dispose of items such as batteries, paint and cell phones in your area.

● Ride a bicycle. Saving gas, reducing emissions and getting a little exercise are all positives. If biking isn’t practical or it is too cold out, see if you can start a carpool to work, take the bus or ride the train.

● Reduce junk mail by using the Direct Marketing Association’s consumer section on the Internet to take yourself off of mailing lists.

● Bring a canvas or cloth bag to the grocery store instead of using their bags.

What do you think - had you already embraced some or all of these tips? Do you have any additional ideas to add to this list? Tell us in the comments!

Do you have photos of these items on your phone? You should!

Image courtesy of commons.wikipedia.org

Phones today are the most useful and necessary tools that a lot of people have at their disposal. Forget voicemails and texting - our phones now help us navigate, find new music, calculate how much money we should leave as a tip, and a whole plethora of other things.

But are you taking full advantage of one of the simplest features on a modern day phone? It’s not a secret that many people use their phones in place of a camera. It’s also not a secret that many people use their e-mail or a Notes feature on their phone to keep track of little details. But why not combine the two into a far more useful reminder?

A picture is far more vivid and helpful than a few words that you may misspell or forget the meaning of. So what should you be taking pictures of and saving in your phone? Apartmenttherapy.com has the answer:

Here are a few things that can easily be remembered with a quick snap of your camera phone's shutter button:

• A reminder of where you parked. Parking in the city is no joke.

• Your printer cartridges. Make sure you can see the refill numbers.

• Your family members' clothing sizes.

• The measurements of your air filter.

• Travel confirmation numbers. Take a screenshot of the email your airline sends you. When you check in later and need to find confirmation numbers, your photo album will be less cluttered than your inbox.

• Pictures of current medications. Make sure you can see the prescriptions' names and dosages in the photo.

• The types of lightbulbs that fit your home fixtures.

• A recipe from a book or magazine that you want to use soon.

• Anything "borrowed" that you might want to buy later, like the brand of a smooth-writing pen at the bank or a great-smelling hotel shampoo.

• Expensive home furnishings you just know you can DIY at home. Get shots of all the important angles for when you're ready to DIY.

Read the full original article here - and tell us in the comments if you use your camera to help you remember anything else that’s not on this list!

Tips For Keeping Your Apartment Allergen Free

Image courtesy of pixabay.com

The late spring and early summer months are both wonderful and brutal. There’s so many fun things to do now that the snow is gone and the days are getting longer - but the side effects of allergies can easily get in the way of anyone’s enjoyment.

The allergens in apartments can actually be more troublesome than the ones outdoors. We won’t pretend that making an apartment totally allergen free is a realistic dream, but using a few tricks will definitely make a huge difference and will make any apartment a far more enjoyable place to be for those that deal with allergies.

What tricks do we recommend? These, as suggested by apartmentguide.com:

• Dust your apartment - and do it a certain way to ensure that you don’t kick up more dust in your place. Apartmentguide.com writes that you need to “Use a wet or treated cloth that attracts dust, minimize dust-catching clutter and clean dusty surfaces, such as ceiling fan blades, regularly so that dust doesn’t have a chance to accumulate.”
• Use a vacuum that has a HEPA filter.
• Go green and use environmentally friendly cleaning products that have fewer harsh chemicals.
• If you have a pet, make some parts of your apartment pet free (or vacuum even more often).

Want more details on how these tricks more - and to see what the final two tips are? Click here to read the original article!