Temporary Enhancements

Moving into a temporary apartment can be a hassle, believe me, I’ve done it three times over the past three years. First you need to find the apartment, then handle all of the legal business, which sometimes includes a roommate; and lastly you need to figure out a way to make your apartment look semi-homey while staying inside your budget. This last step, in my opinion, is the hardest of all. Especially if you’re a college student and barely have enough money to feed yourself, let alone afford to decorate where you live.

My first tip in looking for an apartment is of course to find a good location. Most areas around college campuses can be full of crime, and no one likes an apartment complex that is broken into all of the time. However, if not many other options are available, you can stay safe by always making sure to lock your doors and windows. Another important aspect to look for, especially for those with a busy schedule, is an apartment with carpet instead of wooden floors. Wood floors are a nuisance to clean mostly because the process of sweeping and mopping. Instead get an apartment with carpet where time is saved in cleaning by a quick vacuum job. More focus can be spent on other parts of your apartment, such as the kitchen and bathroom, which take longer to clean.

The legal issues are dealt with as you move into your apartment. Most of this process is pretty typical and not very messy or hard. Of course you should always make sure, if you have a roommate, to lay down some ground rules about living together. I always find it can be tougher to live with someone if there is no boundaries or rules, or even designated cleaning days. It’s best to set up all of this before moving in with someone, because otherwise unnecessary problems can occur and cause tension among roommates.

Once you’re all moved in its time to start decorating your new apartment. I always find the best way to begin decorating is by ordering a few posters from a website. There are plenty of websites that have a wide variety of posters related with music, film, and many other forms of entertainment. Not only do these posters take up a lot of wall space, they’re not very expensive and are great conversation starters. In order to hang these posters, they can either be inexpensively framed or you can invest in some kind of poster glue. The poster glue may cost less, but in my experience doesn’t stick to walls very well. Other than posters, many decorations can be purchased at garage sales; you’d be surprised what you can find. Sometimes you can even get lucky enough to find free picture frames, vintage chairs, or even lava lamps sitting on peoples front lawns.

Starting over in a new place can be intimidating to say the least, but it can also be entertaining. Just be aware that there’s endless possibilities in enhancing your temporary apartment in affordable ways, you just need to have an open mind!