Are You Keeping Your Gadgets Safe?

(Image courtesy of Shane Pope)

We love our electronics and gadgets; from our computers to our keyboards to our phones and everything in between, our electronics help us run our lives in almost every way possible. That’s why we’d do anything to take care of them and make them last.

So you may want to keep something in mind if you want your electronics to last a little longer: dust is the enemy. While heat or liquids are usually cited as the #1 enemy for your gadgets, dust will do more damage much more slowly.

Just a few of the household items we should clear of dust - but forget to - are:

● Desktop Computers
● TVs
● Keyboards
● A Mouse with Rolling Balls on Top or Bottom

And once you clean those out, don’t forget to add an air purifier to filter the air in your apartment and reduce the overall amount of dust in it!

Get more cleaning tips and ideas for where to buy a solid air purifier at the original Apartmenttherapy.com article.

How To Keep The Cleanest Kitchen In Town

(Image courtesy of Nicole Vaughn)

There’s nothing better than a home-cooked meal. When you make dinner for yourself, you know exactly how to prepare your own dishes just the way you like. Though there are many plus sides to cooking for yourself, it can be an intimidating undertaking after a long day of work - who wants to commit to the work of cooking and then cleaning up the mess afterward?

Cleaning up after meal times doesn’t have to be the hassle you’re imagining. If you follow these quick tips courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com, you’ll be enjoying a home cooked meal -and relaxing afterward- in no time. Keep reading to learn more.

1. Make a plan before you start cooking.

Review your intended cooking project and refine — maybe you can reduce a complicated plan to one dish requiring a lot of work and two dishes that can be made ahead or are very simple. - abcornwell

Look for ways to combine ingredients without using more bowls or pans. For instance, in some recipes some vegetables have to be added before others because they need to cook longer. Instead of chopping everything and separating them into two bowls, I add the first batch of vegetables and let them cook while I chop the next batch. They go into the same bowl that had the first batch of vegetables and I don't need to pull out another one. - Pi.

For anything you have to hand-wash, pick tools that are easy to clean. My chef's knife is very easy to clean, but a garlic press is a PIA, so use the knife to prep garlic. My frying pan is easy to clean, but a Foreman grill, not so much. -Triptik

2. Start with a clean kitchen.

Tidy before you start. That means no clean dishes on the drying rack or dishwasher (gives the items you are going to "clean as you go" somewhere to be). No dirty dishes/cups in the sink. No snack foods hanging out on the counter. This can be an especially useful habit if you live with others who don't always return things to a put away state. - trish042

If you have a dishwasher, always put the clean dishes away before you start cooking! Rinsing and popping in the dishwasher-safe items takes even less time than washing them. - cuminafterall

I find it dispiriting to have to clean and then cook, so my motto is "leave the kitchen ready to cook". That means everything dried and put away, surfaces wiped, etc. Doesn't have to happen right at the end of cooking, but does need to happen well before the next round. - ellabee13

3. Prep your ingredients and tools before you start.

Mise en place. Measure out ingredients, peel and chop veggies (maybe not onions if you're not using them right away), crack eggs, etc. If they're going into the main dish at once, then put them in one big bowl. This seems like it would add dishes to clean but many of these bowls will need little more than a quick rinse off. -cloggiegirl

Mise en place does not necessarily refer to the arranging of ingredients into tiny bowls. It means being in a state of preparedness in the kitchen….In general, it's about cooking smart and in an organized manner. Preparing your ingredients and tools in advance can seriously mitigate your stress levels later on in the process.

- tara-christine

The best thing I did for improving my kitchen efficiency was investing in a large cutting board. I prep most ingredients on the same cutting board; every ingredient in its own section of the board. I leave the chopped veggies on the board until needed. - JessyJess

4. Clean as you go.

Anytime I'm waiting for a pot of water to boil (my electric cooktop takes FOREVER) or the oven to preheat, I'm prepping ingredients. Similarly, anytime I have something simmering on the stove or roasting in the oven, I'm cleaning the cutting boards, knives, graters, bowls etc. I used for food prep. -cuminafterall

Once I'm done chopping an ingredient I put the unused portion away. Same goes for a sauce, condiment, or other ingredient; measure/use and put away. -emcap

Take a large bowl or dish tub, fill it with hot, soapy water, and leave it in your sink (or on your counter, next to the sink, if you can afford the space). As you dirty smaller items, toss them into the water to soak. If you're putting things in the dishwasher later, you won't have to rinse each item first, and if you're hand-washing, you should have little to no scrubbing. - tonberryqueen

5. Use a garbage bowl to collect scraps.

For a garbage or compost bowl, I don't even use a bowl. I use whatever plastic bag I put the vegetables in from the grocery store and all the scraps go in there. Tie up the opening and drop it into the trash. - Pi.

Usually this is an extra tupperware container. As you accumulate compost scraps (or scraps + garbage if you don't compost), put them together and out of your way. Dumping the contents later on is much easier. - petworthy

6. Give the illusion of neatness.

Ten dirty dishes scattered everywhere looks terrible and overwhelming, but the same ten dishes stacked into a single stack is somehow immediately manageable and cope-with-able. - TeaTowelDame

No matter how crazed it is, no matter how stressed you are, rinse each dish/measuring spoon when you're done with it. It's so much easier to face a dirty kitchen if all the dirty dishes are rinsed and stacked in nice, neat piles. -try146

7. Make it fun!

Try to make cleaning fun — watch TV if you can, or listen to a podcast/audiobook/music. If you can create a set-up where cleaning actually gives you a little extra time to do something you enjoy, you will definitely mind it less.

- China Millman

I do the finishing-up while I listen to This American Life. My "dates with Ira" are always productive. - DD Lizzy

8. Ask for help.

This is the key to my system: I make my husband finish the clean up because he didn't do the cooking. Voila. Mess solved. - cmcinnyc

First of all, and I think most importantly — if I'm cooking for other people, I ask them to help with cleanup. Least they can do, especially if they live with you. Insist. Really. - mhays

Sweet Dreams!

(Image courtesy of Sean MacEntee)

Who doesn’t love that comfortable feeling you get at the end of a long day when your head finally hits the pillows? Drifting off to sleep comes naturally to most of us, but if there’s something stopping you from sleeping, it can cause stress and anxiety in no time.

If you’re having trouble sleeping, you don’t have to suffer. In order to get the most out of your time between the sheets, these tips, courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com, will have you sleeping like a log in no time. Keep reading to learn more:

1. Eat a Small Dinner - This is a huge deal and so easy. While a big meal before bed can keep your digestion working for hours, a small meal puts only a light demand on your body and allows it to rest much more fully. Sara and I actually have got it down to a large, fresh vegetable juice in the evening. That's all. You sleep better, AND you stay trim. :-)

2. Avoid Alcohol - While a great way to FALL asleep, all those fun drinks, like wine and beer, etc, will ruin a good nights' sleep by causing dehydration (among other things). They make me wake up in the middle of the night with a powerful, uncomfortable thirst, and I'm often very hot as well. And then there's that occasional hangover, which sucks. Want to sleep really well? Skip the fun drinks in the evening (we skip on weeknights).

3. Unwind Your Mind - Like your body, your mind can be over stimulated and make it hard to get a really good night's rest. When I have a stressful day at work I make an effort to not work or look at email after dinner. Computers and work stuff can really wind me up. Instead, I'll take a hot bath and read a book, both of which totally take my mind off the day.

4. Three Nights in a Row is the Magic Number - Sleep is cumulative, so don't expect a really good night's sleep on your first night. You need at least two nights and preferably three to get into a really good groove and bank some deep rest. We stick to these tips most Mondays through Thursdays and that's when it really gets good.

5. Exercise Helps - Being physically tired really contributes to a good night's sleep and that doesn't happen to most of us who work in offices these days - remember when you were a kid, ran around all day and collapsed at night? Having daily exercise as a part of your routine contributes strongly to your body relaxing at night.

6. Avoid Caffeine - Not having coffee or tea at night seems obvious, right? But as a chocolate lover, I've also learned to wean myself off of chocolate for dessert when I want a good night's sleep. In general, stimulants are NOT your friend when looking for a great night's sleep.

7. Unwind Your Body - I already recommended a hot bath for helping to unwind in the evening as the heat and water is very relaxing for the skin and muscles. If you don't have a bath or that much time, just having a shower and giving your body and hair a good scrub is excellently relaxing. Pair that with moisturizing any dry skin and jumping into fresh, clean sheets and you're golden.

8. Keep Bedtime & Rising Time Regular - Our mind and body organism thrives on comfortable, regular routine, and I find it much easier to fall asleep and wake happily when the times are consistent. Even if your evening time changes, try to keep your rising time consistent. This way your body always will know when to wake and you'll avoid that feeling of having gotten up "on the wrong side of the bed." I now barely need to set an alarm, because my body always wants to wake at 6am.

9. Drink Water - We all lose a lot of water while sleeping at night, so that keeping yourself well hydrated really helps your body to rest comfortably. If you have a night out and drink alcohol, a lot of water before bed really helps, but even on a "dry" night, keep your water intake up (but not too much so that you have to wake and pee!).

10. Light Matters, Noise Not So Much - Light is a much bigger disruptor of sleep than noise. Electric lights outside your window (or in your room) AND the sunrise will trigger waking mechanisms in the body, so keeping your windows well covered and eliminating any other ambient light is necessary to ensure a good rest.

Unpack To Organize

We’ve all heard that you never really know how many unnecessary possessions you’ve been hoarding until you’re getting ready to move from one home to another. Though many of us pride ourselves on being able to ruthlessly cut down on the clutter that we all seem to accumulate after a while, we have to admit that there’s no better time to get rid of the stuff you don’t need than when you’re moving.

In order to determine what items you can really live without we propose a test - put the boxes down and only unpack items as you find them necessary. Now, hear us out - unpacking necessary items first will help you out by making you realize just how many items what items you use on a daily basis and which you don’t. Don’t believe us? You don’t have to take out our word for it. This article from renters.apartments.com highlights some of the finer points to this plan. Keep reading to learn more.

I think we can learn a lot from this. But what I’m choosing to learn here is that clearly, procrastination pays.

To road test my theory, I applied the procrastination approach to unpacking the boxes in my new apartment and you know what? It works.

By unpacking by priority, I’m uncovering three major truths: First, I have a lot more stuff than I need. Second, I moved a few boxes to this place that I never unpacked at the last place either. Third, I’m not nearly as awesome at ruthlessly downsizing my clutter as I thought.

Reaping the rewards of inaction pretty much stops here – after all, after a month of only unpacking by necessity, the place is still kind of a wreck and I should probably track down that cable bill I know I tossed in a box on moving day.

But the good news is, by knowing what I don’t need, I’m in a better position to ditch the clutter (*Bonus! Most of it’s still in ready-to-donate boxes!) and better organize my life. After all, that way-too-high shelf in the back of the closet? It isn't for just anything – it’s for air conditioner manuals and important documents I never seem to need but am required to keep.

Now, post-procrastination, I know where it actually makes sense to keep the cutting boards in my new kitchen and I've come to terms with the fact that I don’t need to keep giving valuable under-the-sink real estate to curling irons and straighteners my hair has been far too short for for roughly the last 3 years.

Personal growth through inaction, people; I recommend it.

Have A Great Time In Your Living Room!

(Image courtesy of USCPSC)

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!

Build The Bathroom Of Your Dreams

(Image courtesy of  shino 誌野)

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.

Patterned Bathrooms Be Gone!

(Image courtesy of gordonsbuck)

Decorating all the rooms of your new apartment can be fun! There’s nothing better than scouring magazines, websites and stores looking for the perfect pieces to pull each room together. Sometimes, though, the most used room in the house, the bathroom, stumps many renters-what can you do with this space other than the same old tired shower curtain and tooth brush holder?

A typical trap that many renters fall into is the idea that everything in your bathrooms’ decor needs to coordinate perfectly with every other piece. Well, we’re here to shed the light on this bathroom-decor myth. These ideal bathroom accessory ideas from apartmenttherapy.com may just give you the inspiration that you need to get a little more risque with your bathroom desgin. Keep reading to learn more.

1. The simple and rustic bathroom of Sophie Demenge and Michael Ryan, creators of Oeuf. As seen on The Socialite Family.
2. From Lonny, the deep blue bathroom of Lucky's Marlien Rentmeester, as designed by Hillary Thomas.
3. The plant-filled bathroom of Michigan home of Lauren Naimola & Chad Pratt, from Apartment Therapy.
4. Also from Lauren and Chad's home, a gallery wall in the bathroom.
5. Miranda Brooks and Bastien Halard's Brooklyn Home from Vogue, with rug, armchair and side table.