Tips To Throwing A Successful Dinner Party

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If you’re new to the art of throwing a dinner party, taking that initial leap can be a bit daunting. The important thing to remember when inviting people over is that you’re supposed to have fun- don’t let the menu and trying to make your apartment spotless get in the way of your good time.

The basics that you need to remember are the gues list, the menu and how to be a good host. Thankfully, this article from renters.apartments.com has a great guide to getting your started on your way to dinner party success. Keep reading to learn a few tips and tricks to make your first dinner party go off without a hitch!

The Guest List

One of the most important aspects to planning a dinner party is inviting the right people, as well as inviting the right number of people. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, and to keep food costs down, invite a maximum of ten people. If possible, choose to invite people that will likely mix well, but are different enough from each other to spark interesting conversation. When inviting guests, be sure to specify the type of dress (casual, formal, and so on) so they can plan accordingly.

Plan a Menu

A menu that includes some appetizers, a main course, and a dessert is ideal for any dinner party. When selecting a menu for your party, consider any special dietary restrictions that your guest may have, as well as your cooking ability. If you aren’t that skilled in the kitchen, stick with simple recipes that everyone loves, such as macaroni and cheese. It is more important that the menu be well-prepared than to be fancy.

Beverages are also important. You may choose to serve wine, beer, cocktails, or even a single “signature cocktail.” If you are serving alcohol, be sure to offer water and other non-alcoholic options as well. If you find yourself having a hard time deciding what to put on your menu, try choosing a theme for the entire party, and then choose foods that make sense with the theme.

Be a Good Host

A good host has a clean home, a welcoming attitude, and is attentive to their guests’ needs. Greeting guests with drinks and a selections of appetizers is a good way to start the evening, and makes hungry folks feel at ease. Giving guests a tour of the house, or at least, directions to the bathroom, is always appreciated.

Keep the conversation flowing by bringing up subjects that everyone can relate to, or by letting people know things that they may have in common with each other. It is also a good idea to have some activities around in case you sense that people are beginning to tire of table conversation.

When the party is over, be sure to thank you guests for coming, as well as for any hostess gifts they may have given you. Depending on the formality of your event, you may want to send a written thank-you note to those who attended your party. By inviting a great group of people, planning a menu that you can execute well, and being aware of your guests’ needs, your first dinner party is sure to be a hit.

Finding The Perfect Vacuum

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A vacuum is one of the staples of apartment living. Whether you’re just engaging in your routine cleaning of your apartment, or picking up after having friends over for a game night, a vacuum is one of the few pieces of equipment it is difficult to get by without. Because the vacuum is essential to so many people there are many different choices and styles to take into consideration with choosing a new one.

The amount of space you have and how tidy you like to keep your apartment are all factors that you need to take into consideration when choosing a new vacuum. This article from apartmenttherapy.com walks you through the steps to finding the right vacuum for your needs. Keep reading to find out what important questions you need to ask before buying this essential tool.

Uprights

Many people prefer upright vacuums because they cover a larger area, they fit well in a largish closet, and they're generally the best option for cleaning carpeted rooms.

Desco Vacuum: Located in Manhattan, this store is a good source for reliable information and reasonable prices on high-end vacuum cleaners. They carry Miele, Sebo, Pullman, and Dyson, as well as specialty brands like American-made Riccar vacuums, which come with 5-year household warranties. (Shown left is the Riccar Radiance.)

Overstock.com: Always a good source for deals, Overstock has a rotating supply of upright, canister, and handheld vacuums. They sell new and refurbished models, which are offered at deep discounts since they've been returned by customers, then examined by Overstock to make sure that they're in like-new condition.

Canisters

The attachment makes it easier to clean upholstery, curtains, and other hard-to-reach areas. Canister vacuums are also recommended for bare floors, since they can easily suck the dirt that collects near baseboards, but are more difficult to maneuver over a fully carpeted room.

Best Vacuum: Based out of Chicago, this online store has detailed reviews of their products, as well as guides to which vacuum is best for pet owners, allergy sufferers, people with thick carpets, or people with wood floors. For instance, they recommend the $680 HEPA Miele Pisces for people with allergies. (Apartment Therapy blogger Aaron has one if you want to read his take on it.)

Amazon.com: This ubiquitous online retailer is a great place to comparison shop, since they carry most major brands. Do your research and check out the prices on Amazon versus other stores, since their deals vary. We found a good price ($330 compared to $400 and above at other retailers) on the Electrolux Oxygen, a canister vac that's recommended by Consumer Reports (although reader comments seem to be split between strong positive and negative reviews).

Hand-Helds and Small Vacuums

Handheld vacuums are good for light jobs, but don't expect the coverage or power of an upright or canister. They're useful in small apartments that don't have a lot of carpeting, and they're great for upholstery or curtains.

Abt Electronics and Appliances: Headquartered outside of Chicago, this online store has received good customer service reports from Apartment Therapy readers. They carry the full range of vacuums, from uprights to handhelds, and their prices are on par with and sometimes below other electronics stores. The popular Dyson Handheld DC35 Multi Floor Vacuum is listed at $329.

Fry's Home Electronics: On the West Coast and in the Southwest, Fry's is a go-to source for household electronics. They sell a bunch of different vacuums, including the $100 Electrolux Ergorapido 2-in-1 Sweeper, which is actually a stick model with a built-in handheld vac. Gregory has one and he recommends it for pet owners with hard floors.

There are TONS of product reviews and information out there on Vacuums. Here are a few good sources if you want more information and recommendations.

• Vacuum and Floor Care Stores on Marketplace

• Best Vacuum Roundup: Dyson, Miele, Electrolux, Airider...

• Vacuums on Unplggd  

Is Your Apartment Pet Friendly?

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Adding a pet to your home can be a great change. You’ll always have someone there to greet you when you come from work, and having a pet can make your apartment feel more like a home. As many long time pet owners know, though, bringing a pet into your home requires more than just love- there are some very important steps that need to happen first.

Caring for your pet in an apartment is different than caring for your pet in a home. When you bring a dog or cat into the picture, even the set up of your apartment can change. This article from renters.apartments.com walks through the steps all pet owners (new and old) need to take to make sure their apartment is pet ready. Keep reading to learn more.

Pet supplies: Before bringing your new pet home, you need to have food (and a bowl to put it in), somewhere for him to sleep, a collar and leash if it’s a dog, and maybe some treats and toys to help ease his transition into his new space. If you got a puppy that will need to be housebroken, a crate is a good idea to help prevent accidents in every corner of your apartment (not to mention a serious dent in your security deposit). Other necessities may include medicine, poop bags, a hair brush, shampoo and toothbrush.

Cleaning supplies: As cute as they are, pets can also be messy, especially a dog who needs to be walked in all types of weather, thereby bringing mud, ice and snow back inside with him. Stock up on carpet and floor cleaner for whatever he tracks in, as well as inevitable accidents and sickness. Another key factor is hair – consider investing in a heavy-duty pet vacuum if your new companion is a big shedder, and stock up on lint rollers for your clothes and furniture.

Pet proofing: Another thing to consider before bringing your pet home is what hazards he could get into. Anything that lives close to the floor – like trash cans, power cords, stuff crammed under the bed – could look like enticing chew toys to your dog or cat. Get as much off the floor as you can, especially potentially hazardous items like pills, cleaning supplies and electric cords. When you’re not home, be sure to close off any rooms you don’t want him in unsupervised. And if he learns how to open cupboards and trash cans, it’s time to get some locks to keep him – and your stuff – safe.

Training: Just as important as making your apartment suitable for your pet is making sure your pet respects your apartment. Sign up for obedience classes right away if you get a dog, and set limits for what’s OK and not OK at home. It may be cute the first time your dog grabs a sock out of the laundry basket, but your roommate won’t be happy if she comes home to a half-eaten shirt. Make your house rules – whether the pet is allowed on furniture, if he can eat table scraps, etc. – and stick to them to maintain a happy household.

Learn more about living with pets in your apartment.

Life With A Messy Roommate

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We all are comfortable in our homes in different ways. Some people find peace when they keep their possessions organized and clean, and others are more comfortable living in a more chaotic fashion. When you live with a roommate it can sometimes be a challenge to mesh these differing views on organization.

Though, everyone’s style is different it is not impossible to reconcile these differences and live together comfortably.This article from renters.apartments.com has some good tips to navigate your way through the roommate minefield. Keep reading to learn how to diffuse a difficult situation:

Make Sure You Each Have Some Personal Space

The most obvious way to ensure that you each have some personal space is by having separate bedrooms. Decide that each of you will be responsible for cleaning your own bedroom. Your messy roommate can then keep that one area of your apartment as messy as he/she wants, and you can be as tidy as you want.

Establish Ground Rules for Common Living Spaces

If you’re going to get along with your roommate, one of the first things you need to do together is establish ground rules for common living areas. It isn’t fair of your messy roommate to turn the kitchen into a disaster area so that you can’t find a clean plate or cup, and there isn’t an inch of clean work space so that you can make a sandwich.

Decide from the get-go that you’re each going to clean up after yourselves, or create a kitchen cleaning plan so that you clean up on alternating days. If you intend to eat your meals together, you might want to decide that when one of you cooks, the other does the clean up.

Create Storage Areas Throughout the Apartment

No matter where you live, how big your apartment is, or how much you’re paying for rent, there is probably a serious lack of usable storage space. If you don’t want to see shoes piled up everywhere when you walk into the apartment, put a bench and shoe shelf as close to the door as possible. That way, people can sit down, remove their shoes and put them on the shelf.

Anytime you subscribe to a magazine or ask to receive catalogs from different companies, you are opening up the possibility that paper clutter will accumulate very quickly in the apartment. Put baskets in a space close to the apartment entry so that garbage can be thrown into one, and things you need to look over and sort through can be thrown into the other.

If you don’t have a coat closet at the entry to the apartment, you might want to consider purchasing a coat rack, or some sort of hook system for the wall that will allow you and your roommate to hang your coat up as soon as your walk into the apartment. This will make it easy for both of you to hang up your coats as soon as you walk in the door.

Decide on Laundry Arrangements in Advance

If you have laundry in your apartment, you should each have a sorting system for sorting your laundry. You should also clarify your expectations about leaving stuff around. Since you have to share appliances, you should both remove your clothing from the washer or dryer when it’s done. Help your messy roommate get into the habit of cleaning the lint trap after using the dryer, and decide in advance whether you’re going to share laundry supplies or buy your own.
Be as clear as possible about your expectations of one another before moving in together. If necessary, put things in writing. A mutual understanding of what you expect from one another will prevent many potential fights that would otherwise be inevitable when a neat freak tries to live with a messy person – kind of like Felix and Oscar from The Odd Couple.

Turning The Old Into The New

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Renting an apartment has quite a few advantages- you don’t have to worry about major maintenance issues and you’re not tied down to a specific area longer than you want to be, just to name a few. But sometimes there are a few drawbacks as well, such as being unable to design your place exactly how you want it to look.

Though it can get frustrating to try to update the look of your apartment due to your landlord’s restrictions, there are a few simple ways to change the appearance of a space without upsetting anyone in the process. This blog from renters.apartments.com teaches a few simple ways to modernize your living space, all without spending a bundle or breaking the rules. Keep reading to learn how:

Personalize With Photos

Most apartments come with neutral walls and carpets to accommodate for all renters, but this means that they come with little color to fill the space, leaving it all up to you. To add more color to your space with your own personal touch, use your own pictures. Hang them on the walls or stand them up on end tables to make your apartment truly feel like home. For tips on how to arrange your photo display, read this article.

Spice Up Your Bathroom

One of the easiest areas of an apartment to decorate without breaking any rules is the bathroom. Check out these several ways to spice up your bathroom’s decor:

• Change the toilet seat and replace it with the old one when you move out.
• Add color and personality to the room with a creative shower curtain.
• Cover up the ugly tile with tile stickers.
• Add artwork to the walls.

Add Window Decor

Adding elements to your windows is perhaps one of the best and the easiest ways to bring color and personality into your apartment. Decorate the windows with curtains or even window decals to change the appearance of the room, and for a spectacular look and a modern feel, install roman blinds. You can even add plants to the windowsill to bring even more color and life to the room.

Cover Up With an Area Rug

If you’re stuck with an ugly and out-dated carpet, you can easily cover it up with an area rug. Use these tips to find the best area rug for your space:

• Pick a size that’s slightly smaller than the area that the furniture covers so that it’s not too overpowering.
• Choose bold patterns for something unexpected and full of personality.
• Bring in patterns and colors for a room with neutral walls.
• Use a neutral rug if you have bright furniture.

Update the Light Fixtures

Most of the time, landlords don’t have a problem with tenants replacing light fixtures as long as they replace the original ones when they move out. Not only does upgrading your light fixtures help change the appearance of the place and give it a more modern look, but new fixtures can help brighten the entire room without blocking out any of the bulb’s light. The best part about it is that you can take the fixtures with you when you move, so you won’t waste money on something you can’t keep.

If you’re stuck in an outdated or neutral apartment, these few tips should help brighten your home and bring some color and style into the place without upsetting your landlord.

Table For One?

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Living on your own can have some very distinct advantages. Some people like the luxury of moving around their apartment without the worry of stepping on someone else’s toes There’s also quite a bit that can be said about the freedom to design your home all on your own. And who can forget the freedom to come and go as you please? However, at mealtimes, living alone can becoming a bit daunting, especially if you’re not planning on entertaining friends every night.

The recipe choices for those living the solo lifestyle are somewhat limited and often times it can be difficult to make it through a family-sized container of leftovers. This doesn’t mean that living by yourself means you can’t cook for yourself! This article from Apartmentguide.com offers some simple and cost effective tips for creating great meals that are the perfect size for one person. Read on to learn some great ideas to keep cooking for yourself from becoming a chore.

Buy easily-scalable amounts

Shopping in bulk bins lets you control how much food you bring home. From beans and grains to sugar, you can buy just enough and then prepare only as much as you need.

Eggs, individually-wrapped cheeses, microwaveable bacon, canned items and single-serve condiments like jalapenos can be used in a single meal — without leftovers, if you prefer.

Just don’t get too carried away with packaged single-serve items, however, as they often cost more for the convenience. When possible, buy items in their whole state, only look for the smallest sizes. When it comes to produce and fruit, buy separate pieces, rather than bags, which may spoil before you get around to eating the whole amount.

Love your freezer

The option to freeze certain foods means you can buy a whole pack of sausages or hot dogs, for instance, and use only some of the item at a time without worrying about spoiling. Simply break packages into single servings before freezing.

Items that work well for freezing include:

• Bread, buns and bagels
• Shredded cheese
• Hamburger or salmon patties
• Individually-wrapped steaks
• Fish or chicken fillets
• Breakfast meats
• Vegetarian “faux meat” options

One of the greatest benefits of all is to be able to make larger-than-you-need batches of food to freeze in separate servings. There is no waste, and you’ve got ready meals available when you have no time or desire to cook.

Use common ingredients to your advantage

Cooking for one is easier and more economical when you can use ingredients you have on hand. Buying exotic or expensive foods for a single meal typically isn’t cost-effective, so look for recipes that contain basic ingredients you regularly keep in stock, like:

• Canned or frozen meats or fish
• Pasta
• Grains
• Potatoes
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Fresh or frozen vegetables
• Sauces

Similarly, you can repurpose the foods you prepare one night for other meals. A roast chicken or pot roast can create soup, fajitas and chicken salad. What you can’t finish in a few days can be stored in the freezer for even more mileage.

Oh, Solo Menu!

Now, let’s get to the menu(s). The challenge for the solo chef is to find dishes that will be worth taking the time to prepare. Ideally, quick, easy and delicious are the key experiences you’re looking for. Salads and sandwiches are typical go-to’s that can inspire infinite combinations. When shopping for your favorite proteins, select options that will make just the right amount, depending on your liking for leftovers.

Check out sites like these for easy, solo-cooking recipes you’ll crave:

Delish.com, 14 Simple Dinners for One

FoodNetwork.com, Single Person Cooking

BBCGoodFood.com, Meals-for-one Recipes

MarieClaire.com, Cooking for One

SingleFare.comCooking for one doesn’t have to be a chore or an exercise in waste. Instead, embrace the freedom to eat what you want, when you want and only as much as you need.

Need A Pet Sitter? Need A Dog Walker? Here’s How To Find The Right One!

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We’ve said this before, but it’s still true: we love our pets. How can we not? Pets are often the greatest companions we could ever ask for. Unfortunately, they can’t go everywhere with us - and that can make things tricky if we have to go out of town.

Whether you need a pet sitter or a dog walker, the idea of finding someone to care for your best friend can be a little intimidating. So why not make the process of selecting your pet’s temporary caregiver as easy as possible? Use these tips from renters.apartments.com to ensure that the person you pick to watch your pet is the right fit:

Get recommendations: Consult your pet-owning friends and family members who live nearby about who they use. Chances are they have a pet sitter or dog walker they love, or can at least steer you away from any they had a bad experience with. If you get a referral, be sure to return the favor: Many services offer current clients discounts for bringing them new business.

Go online: In a big city, the number of choices for pet services can be daunting. How do you know where to start? Though you may think of it more for restaurants, one great resource is Yelp. The user review site may not have every company that comes up on Google, but those with loyal and happy – or infuriated – customers will be there. Yelp’s filters ensure that the reviews you see can be trusted, and some companies may offer discounts if you tell them you found them on the site.

Compare prices: Pet care costs can add up quickly, especially if you work out of the home and need someone to walk your dog five days a week. Since many dog-walking and pet-sitting companies are small businesses run out of people’s homes, prices can vary widely. Once you’ve found a couple that meet your criteria in terms of quality, location and personality, call them for prices (if they’re not listed on their websites). If your favorite one is a few dollars more than the runner-up, it’s worth alerting them of their competitors’ prices as they may be willing to compromise.
Don’t worry! Once you’ve found, met and hired your pet service of choice, try to put your mind at ease. It can be hard leaving your pet with a stranger the first time, but if you’ve done your research, you can trust that they are in good hands. These people deal with animals all the time — from the sweet to the mischievous — and they will know how to handle yours. Your pet will have a great time while you’re away, and will be even happier to see you when you get home!