It is the most wonderful time of the year! With roommates a fighting and everyone crying – get the hell out of here! Its apartment renewal time of the year! (Yes, sing it – it makes more sense then!)
It’s getting closer to summer, which means so many people who are on the après college leasing term are getting ready to renew or ship out. I have gone on a few apartment hunts with close friends and can’t tell you how thankful I am that I live on my own. The roommate horror stories are leaving many of my friends plotting the worst – sex in their bed, cleaning the bathroom with their toothbrush, Nair in shampoo… the list goes on! I can honestly say I was lucky enough to get out before things between a good friend/roommate and I got bad – one bad fight and we knew it was best to pursue our own living situations. I can tell you best plan ever – amazedly we’re still friends, most days.
So if you’re moving out on your own – something that was on my leap list and I highly encourage – living by yourself in your twenties isn’t something that is always kind to our designer wallets. Though we can probably cut back on spending in some other area’s of life… who we kidding – we would rather sell our liver than give up a good wardrobe.
When looking for a place there are always things to consider - #1 the apartment is never going to be what you expect. Even living in Texas where wide-open spaces should breed penthouses that would even kick a Trump’s ass, I still had to sacrifice a few things – space being one of them. So after some desperate searches for how to maximize floor space while making your own personal oasis I retreated to apartmenttherapy.com, a site most women are all too familiar with.
Recognize these space saving tips?
1. Believe In The Power of Storage
There is never enough space. There will never be enough space until your marry your Mr. Big and have him build you a closet that rivals Carrie’s 5th Avenue and based on the timeline that’s looking to be around age 40. So in the meantime where oodles of shoes are covering our closet floors – here’s a quick fix. Ikea makes great storage units and another plus they come in different heights! Store your shoes outside your already busting closet – and buy those deodorizer balls – they are shoes people – not all pairs smell like roses.
2. Sections – Bigger Isn’t Always Better
The best thing about a studio is that you can play with te space and maximize the area to serve you best. But if there is one thing that people do wrong – they slap a giant rug in the middle of a space. That can make a space feel smaller. Take two area rugs and place them in different parts of the space – one under your eating or living area, another under your bed. No one likes waking up to a cold floor.
3. The Swivel TV –
Plasma TV’s were the greatest inventions for studio apartments since the chinese screen and although it may seem fratty – I can’t think of any better option to save you from buying an ugly TV stand. Put the TV on a wall that’s going to serve not only your bedroom space but your living space as well. That way the wall that was going to be the center of your entertainment world can be spared for alternate storage units – or hey! a painting!
4. Ditch the Unecessary –
I live in a pretty spacious place, so even for me a coffee table seemed less than ideal. What do they do besides hold small remotes and a few magazines and a plant you may never water. Opt for the Ottoman option with a tray! A lot of Ottomans have storage inside – use that for all of your “what would be coffee table” materials and place a tray on top to hold your guilty pleasure weeklies
5. The New Wave Screens –
Gone are the days where Mrs. Chu’s designs adorn the apartment with Chinese screens. There are so many inventive ways to section off a space and who knows maybe get a little storage incorporated into the mix. If you have the space opt for a cubed wall – fill the spaces with some fun colored file baskets. If space is not permitting – colored curtains are always a great alternative to add some pizzaz to your space. Opt for a thinner fabric to keep light pouring in but a great color to tie in colors in your space!
