Window catastrophe, Choose your apartment wisely

There are times when I look back and ask myself why I didn’t listen to clear warning signs.  I can remember a very exciting time in my life when I was moving with my wife to a brand new city.  We were not really moving far, but we were moving to arguably the most expensive and nice city in our State.

We found a lovely looking apartment complex and it was incredibly inexpensive.  My lovely wife and I were ecstatic about the opportunity to move into a 1200 square foot apartment that was affordable in a city we loved. The price seemed to good to be true so we set up a time to visit.

We toured the main office and the apartment we were interested in.  It all seemed to perfect.  The multiple rooms were already being planned and painted in our heads.  The kitchen was to be filled with our french presses and we were envisioning fresh coffee on the porch each morning with our little dogs.

As we walked out of what seemed to be the most perfect apartment we notice our then soon be future neighbor walking out.  Then we saw she was walking out to a moving truck.  We asked her what she thought about the complex and she stated she loved the area and amenities of the apartments.  Begging the question I nugged one final question to her and asked why she was leaving.  She told me because of the heating.  It was summer and in all honesty I brushed off her response completely.  I didn’t even follow up with a single remark.  My reply was simply, well thank you for your time and have a great day. 

The next month we moved in.  We spent a lovely summer enjoying the location and amenities with the windows open and fans on to save on utilities.  That summer was mild and we almost never ran the air conditioning.  Because of this we never tested out the windows and insulation in our apartment.

The summer was mild, but the winter turned out to be catastrophically cold. Our heating and air was all ran on electricity and the first month of winter we ran out heater constantly.  We stayed toasty warm through freezing temps and thick snows. Then the worst that winter had to offer came.  The electric bill.  Our electric bill was half the cost of the rent for the month!

The cost had instantly made me suspicious of an error by the electric company.  I had called them multiple times and they were even wondering if someone had siphoned power from our apartment.  Meters were checked and inspections were made and month two rolled by and our electric usage was still astronomical.

It turns out the windows at our apartment were old and had almost no insulation properties.  We began to notice drafts next to the windows and started researching the apartment complex.  It turns out the place was 50 years old and the windows had not been replaced.  The cost of heating the apartment was astronomical and the simple warning of a neighbor I blew off the summer before had cost us.  We now know why the apartment complex was so inexpensive to start with.  The cost of utilities was built in and was simply beyond our budget. 

We left as soon as our lease was up and made sure to check the age of all the real estate we ever moved too.  Checking windows for age and drafts is now one of our priorities in choosing homes and apartments.  Don’t fall for cheap pricing, check the quality and age of future real estate and listen to the reasons people are moving out!

21 Easy Decorating Ideas To Make Over A Room In a Day

A little work in your home with different colors, wall papers and accents can make great changes. Written below are the few ideas which you can incorporate in your home to give it more beautiful look.

Incorporate a new accent color

A formerly navy blue and white bedroom is given a new life when gold touches are added into the mix.

Tablecloth changes

The secret to a successful and gorgeous tablecloth for your room lies in the right choice of linens and in proper maintenance. Both color and size are important.

Bedding color

The accent colors of your bedding are where you will find your paint color inspiration. Use eye catching colors.

Turning floor into blue

Blue is an excellent and eye catching color if you do it on floor of the bathroom. How charming it would look when you have a blue on the floor and there is a white bath tub on it.

Colorful curtains

Use colorful curtains as per your furniture or the color of walls you have in your room. Be careful while selecting curtains because they are the first look when somebody enters your home.

Use wallpapers

There are places in the house where you can’t fix anything. But sometimes putting on wallpapers on those walls will give them a beautiful look.

Colorful deep areas

There are places in the house which are at the back or inside the wall and not visible till the time you don’t give them a colorful look.

Giving some colors to the windows

Instead of using wallpapers on the windows, they can be given different colors to look more bright and better.

Mix and match nature

Mix in new patterns to your bedding and furniture to give them a different and stylish look. Selection of texture is important in this regard.

Placing some antiques

You can hang or place some antiques in the rooms as well. This type of decoration will give an energetic look to the room.

Stylish hallways

Hallways can be dressed up with beautiful rugs or carpet. Even wood flooring in the hallways will look beautiful and eye catching.

Seating

Furniture used for seating should not be touching the walls. It should be some inches ahead of the wall and if rugs are placed in a room than place the furniture accordingly.

Placing of chairs

Sometimes there are separate chairs placed in the room or some stylish chairs other than the sofa set are placed in drawing rooms or in seating area.

Cover the furniture

If the chairs you place in the rooms or seating area are old than use good looking covers for them. By covering your old furniture with covers you can recover it.

Paint white

To give your home a bright look, paint some of the walls white. It will give a soothing effect to your eyes.

Statement wall

You can do wonders on your walls. Just visit the market and buy something interesting. E.g. you can buy a set of beautiful plates and hang them on your wall.

Display antiques

Visit the market and buy something antique like jars, glass and metal things and cover the sides or corner of the room with these things.

Bookshelf decoration

If you are having some beautiful artwork than don’t hesitate to hang that on your bookshelf. It will give more beautiful look.

Wall painting

You can use two color for wall painting. Distribute the wall into two half and use two different colors. 

Coloring open shelves

There are certain open shelves in the kitchen which can be given an energetic look by different colors.

Modernization

Other than placing traditional things in a room, some modern things can also be placed in the room like a modern glass coffee table.

Interior Designers Decorating Tips

Do you want to make your home look festive? Do you want best of the best tips and quick fixes to make your home ready for the guests, particularly during the holiday season? If yes is your answer to the both questions, the following article will provide you tips that are followed by the famous interior designers to make the homes stylish in the winter.

Innovative Ideas

As every season brings new surprises and developments for you, the same principle can be applied when it comes to upgrading the interior of your house. In simple words, the renovation of the house should start from new steps rather than repeating the same steps. For example, if you changed the furniture of the house in the last season, maybe it is time for you to change the wall paint or start from the step you had planned to do the last. The point is to get your mind thinking and get your creative process out of the same rut.

Signature Style

It has been noticed that most of the interior designers and the homeowners have the distinct style which reflects the personalities of the renovators in an interesting manner since it helps you to stick with one feature that would set you apart from the other houses or decors. Another advantage of having a signature style is that you don’t have to worry about standing apart in terms of the renovations or changes made in the homes. However, if you are someone who does not have a sense of style or if you don’t know how to figure out what is your distinct style, you could find out one of the repetitive tradition of yours that helps to create the overall look every time you renovate the house, chances are it would be your signature style as well.

Wreaths

Though all types of wreaths are preferred by the interior designers, however, wooden and green is one of the common choices that are made by the top names in the field. Likewise, some of the homeowners like to make DIY wreaths to add that extra effort into the homes. The wreaths are easily hung on the doors, mirrors and somewhat most of the display areas of the house. So in terms of choosing the right design, one could buy or make wreaths that would contribute to the existing theme of the house, or two, three different designs can be mixed together to  come up with a vibrant look.

Faux Brick Panels

In order to contribute to the cozy theme of the holiday season, faux brick panels are another perfect pick for the winter season, as the faux panels help to create an impression of a real wall, but the cost is far less than the real brick wall. Moreover, the maintenance of the faux wall is low as compared to other features of the home renovation. This means that the panels of the brick will help to add an additional texture and layers of the changes planned for the guests.

The Christmas tree

Generally, people assume that the Christmas tree takes up a lot of space; as a result, some of the homeowners give up easily on the idea of getting a tree for the house to complete the holiday look. However, if one overviews the preference and recommendations of the top home designers, it becomes clear that the tree can be adjusted in small houses or spaces in an aesthetic way. This means that it is important to remember that Christmas trees come in various sizes and types to fit into the space of your house. Hence, the holiday enthusiast can get a tree to complement the overall theme.

Storage Space Decoration

This may sound a little odd to you; however, it is one of the neglected spaces that has the potential to spruce up the decorations. In other words, storage space can also be utilized to not only decorate the home, but it would give you the opportunity to make it a useful part of the house rather than ignoring it. Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that less is more, as the designers have the tendency to go overboard when it comes to renovating the storage space. To put simply, the shelves can be painted to add to the colorful theme or new elements can be replaced with the old pieces to make your space seem new.

Garland Décor

In addition to the wreaths and Christmas tree, garlands are another element that can make your renovation in the house look complete or incomplete. For example, garlands are used to decorate the fireplace, stairs and entry doors of the house, as the garlands require less space and they can be easily wrapped or hung around the prominent features of the house. Furthermore, some of the interior designers prefer to mix two different types of garland to create one or to decorate the mirrors.

Innovative Ornaments

In order to make the Christmas tree unique, it is important that you work on finding the various types of ornaments. For example, in addition to the glass balls, and golden sparkle, one can add the elements that would reflect the personality of the designer or the whole family can be engaged to add their unique contributions to the tree. The main purpose is to make the decoration a shared process for the family and friends.

Furniture

Though there are no specific types of furniture for the holiday season, however, if you have the knack, you will find a way of using the ordinary furniture pieces that may make it look customized for the holiday season. Similarly, it would also make your guests feel special. For example, if you have an average size of living room, couches and exclusive pieces of chairs can be added to create more seating space for the big gatherings. On the other hand, if you have a spacious living room, but you don’t know how to fill it with the right type of furniture, it could ruin your holiday décor for the house. Therefore, it is necessary to utilize the furniture in the best possible way.