How To Divide Your Space

(Image courtesy of Wickerfurniture)

Creating exciting decor is all about finding one piece that will draw guests attention. Though definitive art pieces and colorful couches are great for drawing the eye and creating conversations, if you’re looking to change the shape of your space, it may be helpful to try a room divider.

To divvy up your space, you’re not relegated to the plain paper dividers that you can find at almost any store, there are simple solutions and opportunities to upcycle that will create a vibrant and colorful decor. Follow the links below, courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com, to find the perfect space divider for your apartment.

1. An old window used perfectly to divide the space, worth checking out the rest of the photos the rest of the house is lovely. koko studios via flickr

2. 3form's partitions are made from their Varia Ecoresin material, which uses a minimum of 40% recycled resin. A variety of options and colors available.

3. A nice use of the classic IKEA Expedit shelves, these are included because they are fairly easy to find used on craigslist. You can find all of the specs for these shelves on the IKEA website. SweetLunaNet via flickr

4. This project from Lifehacker turns old LPs into a room divider.

5. Natural Bamboo Screen from Gaiam, pesticide-free bamboo finished with nontoxic water-based finish.

6. Another great example of windows as room dividers. Perhaps not the best example for a renter, but so pretty. From Casasugar.

7. A fabulous fifties-inspired home, uses a tall entertainment unit that doubles as a divider. mouchoux via flickr.

Building The Perfect Bathroom

(Image courtesy of leyla.a)

Because the bathroom is the room we all spend the majority of our time in, doesn’t it make sense that we should feel comfortable and at home in there? A more cozy feeling bathroom maybe closer than you think. You don’t need to worry about replacing all the fixtures, tiles and wallpaper to create a different environment in your washroom.

Simple changes to the accessories and your storage routines can make all the difference in the world. These ideas from apartmenttherapy.com may be just the pick-me-up your bathroom needs to feel brand new again. Keep reading to learn more.

1. Accessorize.

A new shower curtain, bathmat or towels will add a blast of color to your bathroom and immediately raise your spirits. This could backfire if your bathroom is really past its prime, as it will highlight how scruffy the rest of the room is. But on the plus side, every time you walk in, you will see at least one thing you love.

2. Get rid of grubby grout.

It's not as much fun as choosing a new shower curtain, but this chore really will make your bathroom look cleaner and fresher. Here is one way of tackling grout without resorting to harsh chemicals: make a thick paste out of baking soda and water and spread it along the grout. Leave for ten minutes, then scrub with a toothbrush, using circular movements, and rinse. There are more bathroomcleaning tips here.

3. Add houseplants.

Plants love bathrooms, and they are good for body and soul too. Spider plants, ferns, aspidistra, and philodendron will all thrive in the warmth and humidity and are almost impossible to kill off. Find a longer list of suitable bathroom houseplants here. (And for a little inspiration for adding plants in the bathroom, check out this post.)

4. Add some art.

Hanging art is one of the easiest and most effective ways of transforming a space. No matter how small your bathroom, there is always room for a picture or two. Beware of humidity though, and save your original masterpieces for other rooms. Check out this post for inspiration.

5. Paint it.

Most bathrooms play it safe with all white fixtures and walls. Get creative and add some color and personality by painting the walls, ceiling or trim. I love the soft grey paneling in the picture above, from Kristen and Michelle's Modern Bohemian House Tour.

Sometimes making just one small change can be enough to shift your whole attitude towards a room. I'd love to know what has worked for you.

Have A Day In

(Image courtesy of jayneandd)

We all have those days when leaving the house just doesn't sound at all appealing. But even on days where going out sounds like a chore, no one wants to be bored. Just because you're camped out in the living room doesn't mean that there's nothing to do - there's plenty of fun to be had in your pajamas on the couch.

These ideas, courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com, are the perfect launching pad to start you on your way to a great day in. So grab your supplies, call up your friends and have a great day in!

Popcorn Party

• I highly recommend investing in a generously sized bag of popcorn kernels: it's dirt cheap, and you'll always have popcorn potential.
• Take some of the popcorn you already (now) own, and the faintest, cheapest whisper of oil, put them in a pan, and get poppin'.
• While you're waiting and shaking the pan, watch the videos for "Pop! Goes My Heart" from Music & Lyrics and "Lipgloss (It's Poppin')" by Lil Mama. If you don't have internet access or a device, sing any song you can think of with "pop" in the lyrics.
• Once your popcorn is done, the battle begins. Divide the popcorn among however many bowls you own/people there are, and let everyone go to town adding flavorings. This is a great way to use up underappreciated spices and syrups that may be languishing in your cupboards. Za'atar or furikake, perhaps?
• Declare a winner if you're the competitive type, make awards out of scraps if you're the crafty type, and make more popcorn if you're the hungry type (I'm all three).
• Costs Incurred: Electricity/gas for stove, amortization on pans/bowls, internet/electricity for watching videos, pennies' worth of oil/popcorn/salt.

Living Room Campout

• Gather your blankets, pillows, and, if you're really hardcore, sleeping bags in the living room and arrange your campsite.
• Round up all of your lanterns, flashlights, head lamps, glow sticks, lava lamps, and strobe lights, and turn off your regular house lights. A disco ball can easily stand in for a starry sky.
• Have each camper come prepared with a story to read and/or a story to tell.
• Turn down the heat (though not so cold that the pipes/walls freeze — we have to keep ours set at least at 59ºF) and snuggle up.
• If it's not deathly cold/dangerous where you live, go for a moonlit walk around the backyard/block.
• If you have a fireplace, you're living the dream. Roast marshmallows and veggie dogs on it if you own them, and bake potatoes in the coals. If you don't have a fireplace, make s'mores and dogs on the stove. Or roast bell peppers and tortillas directly on the burner and make tacos. Eat beans straight from the can. If all else fails, scrounge around in your cabinets for smoked salt or liquid smoke and add to your regularly cooked dinner.
• Costs Incurred: Battery life/electricity for various lights, firewood if you have to pay for it. Potential for saving money on heat and lighting.

Indoor Olympics

• Have everyone in your household come up with a list of events, and loosely clarify the rules for each.
• Most jump rope jumps! Lowest broomstick limbo! Fastest time running up the stairs! Getting the farthest around the living room without stepping in lava! Most somersaults! Balance on one foot, jump on one foot, hop on one foot throughout the entire house!
• Again, if you all are crafty, make medals for the winners: gold, silver, bronze, brass, copper, aluminum foil, etc. Everyone gets a medal.
• Make a makeshift podium out of stacked pillows.
• The gold medal winner has to sing the national anthem — bonus points for getting through the entire thing!
• Costs Incurred: Wear and tear on your furniture and flooring, random craft supplies used up to make medals.

So what are you waiting for? Time to get partying!

Drinks For Two

(Image courtesy of thekitchn.com)

It’s Valentine’s Day, and though you may not be going out, that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate! What better way to toast your sweetheart than with a homemade cocktail? Rather than scouring the internet looking for the perfect concoction to show your Valentine you care just whip up this recipe for Rose Champagne Cocktail.

This recipe, courtesy of thekitchn.com, is a quick fix-all you have to do is mix, sip and enjoy!

The classic recipe can be a little sweet, so I started wondering if I could cut the traditional sugar cube in half and found indeed you can. For this cocktail recipe you will cut one cube for every two glasses.

How to Cut a Sugar Cube

Using a sharp knife score the cube all the way around. Then using a sharp knife, serrated knife or scissors you can trim your cube the rest of the way through, making two halves.

This may seem silly to you, but if you don't like your sips sweet, it's key for this cocktail to work for you. On the other hand, if you prefer a bit of sweetness, go ahead and add one whole cube to each glass.

Since it is Valentine's Day, toasting with something pink seemed like the perfect pick, and a dry sparkling rosé or a Champagne rouge to top off our cocktail is just the thing. So polish your coupes or flutes and enjoy this sparkling rosé cocktail for happy hour.

Rosé Champagne Cocktail
Serves 2

• 1 sugar cube
• 8 dashes Angostura or other aromatic bitters
• Chilled rosé Champagne

Cut the sugar cube in half using a serrated knife or a sharp, thin knife. You will lose some sugar granules during cutting but that is ok.

Place one half of the sugar cube on the bottom of each champagne flute. Add 4 dashes of bitters over each sugar cube and then fill the glasses with Champagne.

Recipe Notes

The classic Champagne cocktail calls for a lemon twist garnish. You may choose to add one to this if you like.

Making Friends With The Neighbors

(Image courtesy of Design By Zouny)

When your favorite neighbors move away, it can be hard to make the adjustment to seeing new face. Though it’s normal to feel nervous about trying to establish a comfortable cohabitation with strangers, it’s important to establish a friendly relationship with your new neighbors early on.

Befriending your new neighbors will help to make sure that you’re both more comfortable in your surroundings. This article from apartmentguide.com has a few great tips to make sure that everyone adjusts to this new situation quickly. Keep reading to learn more.

Think the worst

We all harbor an understandable fear of the unknown. If you have settled into a positive pattern of coexisting with neighbors, then a situation that changes that dynamic could indeed feel a bit threatening.

Neighbor anxiety, or any kind of social anxiety, is often best managed by facing your fears with eyes wide open. Or closed, if you want to try a little visualization.

Imagine the worst neighbors you could possibly have. See them parking their car in your space after work. Smell the stinky food they cook. Hear the head-banging music they play every night and the shouting matches they have on their patio at 4 am.

Okay, that sounds really terrible. But ask yourself how likely a negative scenario like that will come to be. And if it did happen, what would you do about it?

Well, you’d call security, notify the community manager, buy earplugs — maybe turn on some of your own favorite music to drown out theirs.

In short, you could handle the situation, but it likely won’t happen at all if you take the next step and begin a relationship with your best good-neighborly skills.

Place your best foot forward

The keys to a good neighbor relationship are recognition and respect.

Let a new neighbor see your face and get acquainted. When you meet a new neighbor, introduce yourself, maybe even offer a little help getting to know the area, if the person comes from a different city. It wouldn’t hurt to bring over a new houseplant or something that will be a daily reminder that you are a sweet neighbor who should be appreciated. Keep in mind: it’s hard not to like the nice person who baked banana bread as a housewarming gift!

Subtly set expectations

Remember that you may not be the only one who is anxious about this new living situation. You might have a nervous neighbor next door who is dealing with culture shock, wondering how they should behave in this new community.

Do them a favor and ease their fears, while letting them know the real deal. A comment like “I think you’ll really like how quiet our community is” lets them know to keep the volume down. And “I’m your neighbor, Susan, with the red Honda over there” stakes your claim on your parking space. You can help the new guy or gal feel comfortable by subtly explaining the rules.

Sure, the unknowns of a new neighbor situation can be a little scary. But if you take control of the situation with some proactive friendliness, then you’ll put both your fears and theirs at ease. Nip potential bad blood in the bud by being, if not an actual buddy, then the kind of neighbor that you’d want to live next door to. (It’s amazing what a little banana bread can do!)

Be Gym Courteous

(Image courtesy of Kllerbreed)

As one of our many great amenities, Aspira is proud to offer our residents a state of the art fitness facility. What could be better than having a gym right in your apartment complex? Though we all love to get out sweat on, especially during the winter when we can't stretch our legs outside, it's important to remember that other residents are using the gym as well.

In order to keep everyone comfortable, it's important to remember a few basic rules of thumb when going through your daily workout routine. With that in mind, here's a few simple things to keep in mind when using our gym in the coming months, courtesy of renters.apartment.com:

1. Mind your noise.

This goes for any personal radios and even personal headphones that may be blasting at an extremely loud volume. Keeping noise levels down also means refraining from loud chatting on your cell phone and loud grunting noises you may find yourself making during your workout. While the gym doesn’t have to be as quiet as a library, it should not sound like rush hour at a circus.

2. Practice cleanliness.

Showing up in muddy shoes or filthy, smelly gym clothes is not the best way to be courteous at the gym. You also want to refrain from wearing excessive perfume, cologne or any products that leave residue on the machines. Wiping down any machine or weight bench after use is a must for being polite. No one wants to work out in other people’s sweat.

3. Don’t show up sick.

Going to the gym with a contagious illness is a surefire way to make instant enemies of your neighbors. Gyms are a prime place to spread around germs and viruses that can infect other gym-goers. Besides, hacking and coughing all over the equipment is just, well, gross.

4. Don’t be a machine hog.

If the little sign on the treadmill says you have a 30 minute time limit, then please heed it. While you may be able to extend the amount of time you may be able to spend on a particular machine if you’re the only one in the gym, pay attention and be polite when others are waiting.

5. Know what you’re doing before you do it.

Whether you read the instructions posted on the wall or ask an employee for help, knowing how to properly use the machines and equipment can save a lot of grief. Not only will knowing what you’re doing with a specific piece of equipment stop you from breaking the equipment, it can stop you from injuring yourself.

6. Put the equipment back in order.

If you use a yoga mat, roll it back up and prop it against the wall where you originally found it. Put any pulleys or accessories you removed from a machine back to their original position. Restack your weights. Leaving things a mess can result in resentments as well as injuries, especially if someone has to move weights that are too heavy for him or her to move.

7. Respect personal space.

Personal space at the gym ensures you’re not huffing and puffing down someone else’s neck during a group class or other workout. It also helps prevent injury. You and other gym-goers need enough space to comfortable as well as to move comfortably through whatever routine you’re doing.

The Grammy's Are Coming!

(Image courtesy of epSos.de)

If you’re like us, you’ll look for any reason to host a party. If that’s the case, then you’re in luck! The Grammy’s are coming up quick and there’s just enough time left to plan a party that all your favorite guests will never forget.

If you’re planning on throwing a themed bash for the big night, there are a few essentials that you can’t forget. This article from apartmentguide.com offers a few great tips for throwing a Grammy themed party that will take your party to the next level.

Dress to impress. When you invite everyone, make sure they’re fully aware of the Grammy night dress code. Make it a “Suit and Tie” affair, or go the less formal route by having guests dress as their favorite music star.

Rock out. Duh. Power up your phone, tablet or laptop and have tunes ready to set the mood. If you don’t have any songs by this year’s nominees, you can quickly download them. Another option is to simply turn on a good, upbeat Pandora station and let the music flow.

Make it sparkle. Red carpet events are all about glitz and glamour. Black and gold are traditional colors at the Grammys, but any decorations that are shiny will do the job. Bonus points to whoever can find a giant, sparkly “Wrecking Ball”. A few “Mirrors” won’t hurt, either. The dollar store is a “Holy Grail” for cheap party favors. So is Party City. And don’t throw those decorations away! Use them for other celebrations throughout the year.

Grammy fun fact: Move over, Ziggly Marley. Snoop Lion (you may know him better as Snoop Dogg) is nominated for “Best Reggae Album” for last year’s “Reincarnated”.

Role play. As soon as guests arrive, hand them a sparkly envelope. Inside will be the name of a huge pop star. The guest will have to act like that celebrity for the rest of the evening. Who knows, maybe you’ll even get one of your crazy friends to “Roar.”

Make predictions. Who do you think will take home all the coveted awards? Browse the official Grammys website to see this year’s nominations. Print it out, hand out blank note cards and have your guests write down their picks. At the end of the night, the winner with the most correct guesses gets a prize – perhaps a music themed gift like an iTunes gift card. Maybe you’ll be the one to “Get Lucky” and win!

Grammy fun fact: Funny man Stephen Colbert’s “America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t” is in the running for “Best Spoken Word Album.”

Encourage song and dance. Place everyone’s name on separate pieces of paper and place them into a hat or box. Do the same with song names and place them in a second box or hat. Have your guests randomly pick a name and song. The chosen person will have to perform that song in front of everyone. A re-enactment of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video will no doubt be entertaining.

Food fit for royals. Tiny food is big in Hollywood, so hor d’oeuvres should be the focus as far as grub goes. Think quiche and mini cheesecakes. Find some delicious recipes on Pinterest that’ll have your guests screaming like Miley, “We Can’t Stop”… eating, that is!

Hire paparazzi. Okay, maybe that’s taking things a bit too far. But you can certainly enlist friends to snap photos all night long. Create a custom hashtag and have everyone upload pictures to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all night long. No party is complete without the obligatory selfie, right?

Grammy fun fact: Bob Saget, best known from the 1990s as the single dad on “Full House”, is nominated this year in the “Best Comedy Album” category for his “That’s What I’m Talkin’ About” release.

Follow our tips and we promise, your guests won’t be declaring “We’re Going Home” until long after the credits roll! Tune in on Sunday Jan. 26th at 8 p.m. EST to see all the fuss!