Organize Your Apartment Search

"agenda" by JessicaMasulli is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The process of finding a new apartment reminds us a lot of how it felt as a high school junior looking at colleges. There are deadlines to keep straight, tours to schedule, applications to fill out and more. As an adult searching for an apartment, we have a lot more commitments than we did as a high school student. So how do we keep everything neat and organized? Follow these ideas from Apartment Guide, so that your perfect apartment doesn’t slip through the cracks!

Take Lots of Notes

Did the one bedroom on First Avenue have laundry in the unit, or was that the studio downtown? If you see numerous rentals during your apartment search, the details about one apartment start to become muddled with the amenities of the next.

Take copious notes while you tour apartments so you can keep the rental properties straight in your mind. Label the top of each set of notes with the address of the apartment and the name of the complex, when applicable. You might feel like you’re back in school, but taking notes now can spare yourself a lot of confusion later.

Create a Detailed Online Calendar

Rather than relying on a system of Post-It notes that could be destroyed by a strong breeze or overzealous housekeeper, put your faith in an online tracking system. Let your Google Calendar (or similar) be your best friend during an apartment search.

Make a calendar event for each open house, private rental viewing and rental application deadline. Also create a calendar alert for when each unit is becoming available. Update the calendar with the notes you take at a rental viewing so you can track the highlights or downsides of each apartment in one place. If you’re online calendar has an app, download it to that you can update it at any time to ensure that everything is up to date.

Have a Filing System

Even though most of your apartment search appointments can be stored in an online calendar, you may still walk away with some paperwork after a viewing. Rental applications, credit check forms and apartment complex brochures all need to be kept in one place.

Create a filing system using a filing cabinet or folders placed in a designated drawer. Put all paperwork for each property into a separate file. Always remember to organize your paperwork as soon as you get home from viewing an apartment that is going on your short list.

Take Pictures

Creating a mental picture of a rental is great, but even with detailed notes you may forget how big the closet really was in a particular apartment. Ask the property manager if you can take a few snapshots with your camera.

Even just a few shots of the living space and bedroom will help jog your memory when you try to remember important details about the layout. Label all pictures appropriately as soon as possible so you remember which apartment listing they belong to.

Start Eliminating Apartments Early

Keeping a long list of possible apartment rentals will only complicate matters, so it’s best to start eliminating apartments early on in your search process. Rather than maintaining a list of every unit you see, set aside or throw away the rental applications or photos of units that you already know you’re not interested in.

Work toward creating and maintaining a short list of possible new homes. As you add a new apartment to this list, make yourself eliminate one to prevent the list from getting out of hand. Remembering the details of just a few units allows you to remain organized and not become overwhelmed with information.

Searching for a new home involves a lot of planning and plenty of paperwork. To ensure that you don’t miss out on a great property due to a lost application or a missed deadline, learning how to stay organized is absolutely vital. The best units in your city will have you competing with other renters, and staying organized is your secret weapon for getting the best apartment on the block.

10 Thanksgiving Best Practices

"Thanksgiving dinner" by japharl is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Thanksgiving is a day for food, family and fun - not stress. Whether you’re hosting Thanksgiving for the first time or the tenth time, sometimes you need a few reminders to put the day into perspective, instead of running around the kitchen frantically. Keep these pointers from Apartment Therapy in mind as  you plan your Thanksgiving dinner.

1. Modest is Perfect

Thanksgiving is the most modest of holidays (and one of the few shared by all) and doesn't want to be decorator fancy. It wants to be about gratefulness for plentiful food at harvest time and survival after a long year in the New World. With this in mind, focus on the food and keep your decor seasonal, simple and harvest based. This is not about glitter and bling, people!

2. Leaves, Branches & Berries

Every table I've ever decorated has been done with what I've found outside on the day. The raw and authentic shapes and colors in leaves, branches and berries (and flowers, sometimes, when down south) are stunning and simple reminders of this special time of year.

3. Eat Early - When The Sun's Still Up

I am a big fan of skipping lunch on Thanksgiving day and having an early supper. It shifts the momentum of the day, makes it a much more relaxed meal and allows the food to settle long before bedtime. As a rule of thumb, I recommend sitting down before sunset (4:30pm is sunset this year), so invite folks for 3pm and sit down before 4pm, and you're golden. For those that like to take a walk after the meal, start 30-60 min earlier!

4. Sit Close & Have a Long Table

For most dinner parties I worry about having too many people around a table or being too tight in my home. Not so Thanksgiving. Invite the people you love, take in strays and don't worry that everyone is sitting shoulder to shoulder. If you can get everyone at a long table and get them close to one another it will be intimate, cozy and great.

5. Move Between Courses

With a long meal like this you really have the luxury of taking your time and creating natural breaks between courses. This stimulates conversation and digestion. Start with drinks on the sofa, then sit at the table and then retire to the kitchen or living room again for or before dessert. Go for a walk before dessert even and let the kids run around. Don't rush it!

6. Passing: Many Sides, Little Dishes

Thanksgiving is a meal of side dishes and there's a huge advantage to this. If you serve family style, have people bring their favorite dishes and then get some crazy passing going around your table you will have MORE fun. The complication and multiplicity of this type of collaborative meal is what Thanksgiving is all about, and the passing of dishes engenders new levels of communication and social bonding.

7. Enjoy Dark Colors

Personally, I'm a big fan of diving into the deep colors of Autumn when decorating the table or the room and think that only Thanksgiving - of all holidays - gives full license for this. Dark colors are warm and cozy, so add to your leaves, branches and berries with dark napkins, tablecloths, flowers, candles, plates or dishes.

8. Read Something Aloud

Beyond giving a toast and because this is not a religious holiday, a birthday or an specific historical person involved, I love to center the meal around reading one thing aloud. Of course you can say grace, but reading something aloud that puts the meal in context and brings up the images associated with the real historical time in which it grew out of is a nice way of bringing everyone together. There are many poems about Thanksgiving, and if you want a really nicely written history, this one from The Writer's Almanac is one of my favorites:

"Today is Thanksgiving Day. In the fall of 1621, the Plymouth colonists had barely survived the previous winter and had lost about half their population. The Wampanoag people and their chief, Massasoit, were friendly toward the Pilgrims and helped teach them how to live on different land with new food sources. A man known as Squanto, a Patuxet living with the Wampanoag tribe, knew English because he had been a slave in England. He taught the settlers how to plant corn, beans, and squash and how to catch eel and shellfish. The Pilgrims built seven houses, a meeting place, and storehouses full of food, so they invited the Wampanoag Indians to feast with them. Harvest festivals were nothing new; both the English and the Wampanoag had similar traditions in their culture.

At the first Thanksgiving, they didn't eat mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, and they probably didn't even eat turkey. The only two foods that are actually named in the primary accounts are wild fowl and venison. The meal was mostly meat and seafood, but probably included squash, cabbage, corn, and onions, and spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper.

Unlike our modern Thanksgiving, this event wasn't just one day. Many of the Wampanoag had to walk two days to get to the Plymouth settlement. There were about 50 English people and 90 Wampanoag, and since there wasn't enough room in the seven houses for the guests, they went ahead and built themselves temporary shelters. In between eating, they played games and sports, danced, and sang.
Thanksgiving has been celebrated as a national holiday on different dates, but on October 3, 1863, in the wake of victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln decided to issue a Thanksgiving Proclamation declaring the fourth Thursday in November national Thanksgiving Day. In 1941, Congress made it official."

9. Make Something

In keeping with the modest tone and family centered feeling of the holiday, making something for the table or the guests is a great idea. Anything is good, and you can simply carve out gourds to place votive candles in them or make place cards. Here is a list of a whole bunch of good DIY's. I also love the little one I found in the picture above: carve out some apples and serve a good strong drink or mulled cider in them!

10. Kid's Table

If you're doing Thanksgiving with kids, give them their own table. I know that I said to seat everyone together, but I think young and old alike always appreciate their own space to have the meal at their own pace. I also think that children appreciate being a little independent at Thanksgiving and helping one another instead of having their parents wait on them. A Kid's table is an opportunity to have some fun and even have your kids help you set it up. When they run off to play, you won't have to collapse your seating at the main table to get closer to one another.

Plan a Budget-Friendly Weekend

"Piggy Bank on Top of a Pile of One Dollar Bills" by Ken Teegardin is licensed
under CC BY-SA 2.0

Maybe the pay at your job isn’t the greatest or you’re saving up for something special, but regardless of your current financial situation, we all have to cut back from time-to-time. Imagine a weekend where not only do you not spend money, but you also feel like you had a full, productive weekend, too. It is possible! Apartment Therapy offers these six tips for planning a zero-spend weekend.

1. Plan what the rules to a money-free weekend are for you

Some people go extreme — no spending money means not evening turning the air conditioning or lights on. Others just pledge to cut down on frivolous spending. Others really try not to swipe their credit card the whole weekend. You know your needs and your family needs — so make up the rules that might be a little challenging for you but still doable.

2. Tell your friends and family

Yes, telling friends and family about your money-free weekend plans can help keep you accountable, but it might also help take temptation off the table — they might not invite you to the newest brunch spot or be more open to joining you on a free activity to help you keep your goal.

3. Use the weekend to work on home

If you've taken our advice about making lists and buying supplies as you go...this might be a perfect time to work on an item that needs repair or a DIY project you've been wanting to tackle. But it's also a great time to clean, straighten up or tackle an organizing job that won't take any money spending to accomplish!

4. Cultivate your list of money-free activities

Free arts shows in your community. A visit to the local library. A walk around a park with a good podcast. There are a number of free things to do, and a great place to start is to consider your favorite hobbies — and how you can tackle them without spending a dime. Love cooking? Give yourself a challenge to create a meal out of only what you can find in your fridge and pantry. Love photography? Walking around and shooting interesting things is free. Make a list this weekend to keep on hand so you don't reinvent the wheel every time you want to not spend a dime.

5. Give yourself a reward or remember a financial goal

If spending is a challenge, promise yourself a reward at the end of this money-free experiment (might work best if the reward doesn't cost money, though). Or, write down a financial goal before you start you can refer back to it when you get the itch to buy something.

6. Give it a try before deciding it's not for you

Not spending a dime for an entire weekend might be too weird of a concept — or for some impossible. But if you can, give it a go. It might give you the distance to see any unhealthy buying habits you might have and make financial changes for the better!

Create a Calming Apartment

"Whitney has a grown-up house" by V Smoothe is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Whether you just moved into your current apartment or are in the process of cleaning or rearranging, it’s important to decorate it in a way that makes you feel relaxed and at home. After all, the best part of the day is kicking off your shoes and relaxing, right? How do you create your apartment getaway? Follow these tips, courtesy of House Beautiful:

1. All rooms are important: Even those that are overlooked or unattended. Whether it’s a space you haven’t finished decorating or the family catchall, it often feels easier to close the door on these rooms and deal with them another day. Unfortunately, they weigh on your unconscious and zap your energy—they are essentially a task left undone. Create home harmony by making each space in your home inspired.

2. Conquer Clutter: Clutter produces physical and unconscious chaos. Not only can it leave you scrambling to find the keys as you are racing out the door but it can weigh on you even when you are sitting at your desk 20 miles away. Put a plan in place. Whether it’s ready to burst from behind closet doors or it’s those piles of paper on the dining room table, it is time to tackle the tasks and tame the tension it creates.

3. Color: Color impacts you on an emotional, psychological and physical level. Studies have shown that color can change body temperature and appetite. It can affect your mood or level of energy. Begin to become aware of how different colors impact you before determining what hue to paint your walls.                 

4. Remove Bad Mojo: The experiences you have had in your life hang from the walls or sit on the shelves of your home.  You probably have memories associated with your couch or the picture on the wall.  When the associations are negative these reminders can drain you. Be aware of the items in your home that are associated with undesirable feelings. By removing this “bad mojo” you will be one step closer to creating a serene space.

5. Positive Vibes: Once you gain awareness of the memories that make up your home, notice those items that bring a smile to your face. Begin to add items from fun excursions that will remind you of good times and uplifting people.  These items will give you a boost and nurture and inspire you as you move through your home and life.

6. Sanctuary Slogan: Decide what qualities, characteristics and atmosphere you want to create and name it—this is your “Sanctuary Slogan”. We each have unique needs that our environment can support us in fulfilling; begin to determine how your environment can support you. Place this slogan in a spot that will serve as a daily reminder to help you stay focused on your ideal life and home.

7. Nurture Nature: Innately as humans we are designed to appreciate the natural beauty all around us. This is especially true in nature. By incorporating natural elements into your space you feed the intrinsic yearnings deep within you that foster a sense of inner calm and peace. Bring in a wood turned bowl, fountain or acorns to encourage a space of serenity.

8. Plant Power: Plants are important for many reasons when designing a restorative home. Not only is it an additional way to bring nature into your home, it also helps to clean and re-oxygenate the indoor air. Incorporating plants into your design will help to eliminate the noxious off-gasses from many products giving you a serene sigh of relief.

9. Welcome Windows: We are living in a toxic soup that can create disharmony and disease. Unfortunately the air trapped inside your home is many times more toxic than the air outdoors. Open your windows each day and remember to take a deep breath.

10. Technology Zones: Allocating spaces to play in, rest in and work in will help you unconsciously move from one activity to another with ease and grace. Design a layout within your home with designated areas for various activities. This creates an automatic cue to your subconscious informing you that it is time for a specific activity. This will help to construct a space that supports balance and harmony.

11. Take Action: It is easy to become overwhelmed with the to-do’s of daily living in the modern world.  Adding in items that need to be completed around your home can be wearisome. Take a moment to reflect on what you would like your home and life to look like and begin by taking small steps each day to create a calm and peaceful home. Remember that small steps will get you closer to your goal than inaction.

This article originally appeared on Veranda.com.