Five Domestic Skills to Master

"Doors Open Toronto: Eastdale Collegiate Rooftop Garden" by Karen Stintz
is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Living in an apartment community definitely has its advantages--no shoveling sidewalks, mowing the lawn, and you have a maintenance person on hand to help you solve problems. However, there are basic skills that everyone should have, regardless of your current housing situation or financial status. Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to call the super and schedule your day around a 5-minute fix? Apartment Therapy describes five time- and money-saving skills to master.

1. Cooking

Cooking is probably the most effective money-saving domestic skill you can possibly have. My cooking skills have improved a lot since my 20s when I was first living on my own, but even then I was able to (and did) cook for myself. Growing up, I spent a fair amount of time observing and helping my mom in the kitchen and I really believe this is the best way to learn. But I also came of age when the Food Network was taking off and I learned many basic techniques and was inspired to try new ingredients and recipes from watching food tv.

Nowadays, the internet offers so much cooking inspiration and instruction—there's no excuse not to learn.

2. Sewing and mending

Sewing your own clothes is usually not a money saver because clothes are relatively inexpensive these days compared to the price of fabric, but the ability to alter and repair your own clothes can save you plenty of money at the tailor's. (I'd love to know what percentage of people don't have to have new pants hemmed.)

Sewing for your home is where you can really save money though. Making your own pillow cases, placemats, napkins, curtains, etc. as well as gifts for others are places where sewing for yourself can amount to a lot of savings.

3. Gardening

Gardening takes time and patience, but pays you back with "free" food and herbs. Grow what you love to eat and "shop" from your garden before meals. I love snipping a bit of herbs to put in a meal knowing I'm not buying a huge bunch of basil, for example, when I only need a few leaves. Saving money is only one benefit of having your own garden—easy access to fresh, homegrown food when it's in season—may have you eating better, too.

4. Plumbing

Unless you are an experienced plumber you should not attempt big plumbing fixes, but everyone should know some very basic things like how to stop a running toilet, unclog a drain or toilet, fix a drain stopper, turn off a water valve, etc. Year ago someone gave me the book Dare to Repair by Julie Sussman & Stephanie Glakas-Tenet and I turn to it whenever I'm facing a very basic plumbing task.

5. Painting and Wallpapering

If you have more money than time, go ahead and hire someone to paint or wallpaper for you. But you will save a lot of money by learning to do it yourself. Painting is not as easy as buying paint and a slapping it up with a brush - do some research (or ask an experienced friend to help you) to learn the best techniques for both. And don't be intimidated to learn how to wallpaper. It takes patience, but is actually quite easy.

If you have more money than time, go ahead and hire someone to paint or wallpaper for you. But you will save a lot of money by learning to do it yourself. Painting is not as easy as buying paint and a slapping it up with a brush - do some research (or ask an experienced friend to help you) to learn the best techniques for both. And don't be intimidated to learn how to wallpaper. It takes patience, but is actually quite easy.

Finally, before you hire - see if you can barter.

You may not acquire all of these domestic skills, but even learning one or two, especially as a young person, will save you a lot over the years. For things you've yet to learn, try bartering with a friend or neighbor. A basket of veggies from your garden for shortening some pants, perhaps.

Create a Zen Bedroom

"Bedroom Curtains" by Emily May is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Your bedroom should be a place where you feel relaxed and ready to rest, and your decor will influence your pre-bedtime mindset. Remember as a kid when your mom told you not to study in bed? That was because you would either fall asleep, or not be able to sleep other nights when you didn’t have to study. The same goes for adulthood--your bedroom should be a work-free zone! Here are some other tips from Apartment Therapy on bringing calm to your bedroom.

1. Be natural. Check the tags on your sheets, blankets, pillow covers. Are they of natural fibers? If not, seek out some good, basic sets of natural fiber bedding. Take it a step further with the mattress and your pillows, though this can get pricey. Also consider the materials of your furnishings and rugs. Are there a lot of synthetics like plastic and polystyrene furnishing your bedroom or natural materials like wood and wool?

2. Unplug. Banish electronics from the bedroom. Seriously. That means phones, computers, television. Nothing sucks the lovely out of a bedroom faster than electronic devices. If it plugs in, take it out (except the reading lamps, of course). You'll get better sleep and your room will be a calm respite from digital life.

3. Keep it clean… Furnish and decorate sparely. And clean often. If things are kept simple as far as furnishings and decor, it should be a rather quick job to clean the bedroom. Wash linens at least once weekly and be sure to dust between the head of the bed and the wall.

4. …and serene. Are natural woods and cool colors relaxing to you? Then use them in the decor of your bedroom. Prefer deep, dark black or brown? Incorporate that. Whatever puts you at ease, use it in the decor of your bedroom.

5. Get personal. This is the room for displaying cherished personal possessions. Have an heirloom wedding pic of your ancestors? That could also be well-suited here. If you have personal items you've collected but don't feel comfortable displaying front and center in the living room, make your bedroom the place for these things. The bedroom's a private area of the home and it will make you happy to see things in it that are meaningful to you but perhaps not to everyone.

What do you use to create your bedroom zen? Share your tips with us!

Let It Go and Get Organized

"Organized" by Uwe Hermann is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

It’s no one’s goal to live in a dirty, cluttered apartment. In a smaller space, belongings tend to pile up faster and take up room more quickly. So what is it that keeps us from just keeping things organized in the first place? Apartment Therapy outlines these common obstacles to staying organized.

1. You don't immediately toss unimportant stuff

Put a recycling bin next to your mail box and a shredder next to your door. The moment you get your mail, toss what you don't need, shred personal info-marked things you don't need and then immediately file what you need to file. Don't put things in a basket to look at later. If you want to look at it later — just put it where it's supposed to be anyway, and go look at it later there.

2. You emotionally hold on to stuff you know you don't need

This is always a tough one, since objects can have memories attached to them. But we're not talking about that stuff. We're talking about the hiking boots you've never worn once that you keep hanging on to because you might climb Everest one day. We're talking about the "perfectly good" things you bought for a good reason but have never used once.When it comes to keeping organized, having more stuff than you need to organize is just silly. Less stuff, less things that will need organizing.

3. You've convinced yourself you don't have enough room, and so have given up hope

Hey we get it. Having a tiny home is tough on staying organized, especially when you lack obvious storage. But don't give up and give in. Kick that defeatist attitude to the curb! Pay attention to the first two tips in this post for sure. But then also make sure you're maximizing the storage you do have. Got three inches under your bed? Use them! Have only one hanging rod in your closet? Come on — fit more in there! Don't have any shelves above your doors or up high? You've got to be kidding me. If you don't have room for the things you legitimately need, make room. But don't make extra storage for future stuff, as you'll definitely find something to fill it up with.

4. You haven't given yourself the right tools

The trick here is really giving yourself the right organizing tools that work for you. Spend a week or more really looking at your home and where the clutter collects. Are you someone who tosses clothes around your room when trying on outfits and never re-hangs them up? Either switch to drawers or plan your outfits ahead of time and place an over-the-door hanger in the room just for that purpose. Are you a chronic junk drawer creator? Fill it with dividers so you're forced to stick to a system. You don't have to get fancy and drop a ton of money at the Container Store, but do invest in the tools you'll need if they'll help you.

5. Your filing system is too complicated and so you never stick with it for long

That's really awesome that you spent that weekend alphabetizing and labeling and whatever else-ing until your home was the absolute pinnacle of organization — for like a day. But if something is too complicated — or too hard to get to — you won't stick with it. And sometimes being too specific with labels can work against you — when you come across something that doesn't perfectly fit into a label you end up not putting it away and a pile gets started.And piles multiply faster than tribbles.

6. You're not asking for help when you need it or setting boundaries

There's no shame in asking for organizing help from a friend if you need it. But you also need to learn to ask for help with the people you live with — work with them on showing them the organizational methods you've put into place and tell them it's important they follow them, too.

What are some tips you have on keeping your apartment organized? Share them with us!

Keeping Street Noise Outside the Apartment

"Blocks of Flats on Poleg Beachfront" by Jonathan Pincas is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

You’re laying in bed, ready to get a good night’s sleep and then it happens...that annoying couple from across the street is having another fight. We’ve all been there, whether it’s “that couple,” car doors slamming, sirens or traffic, noise from the street has either awakened us or kept us from falling asleep at one time or another. It’s not something you can really control, but there are ways to prevent it from coming into your apartment, as Apartment Therapy explains.

Use your exterior walls

Nothing absorbs noise like a fat wall of books. Consider moving your bookshelves to line your outside walls so the books will help absorb some of the street noise. Fabric is another good insulator, so a solution that moves your closets, clothing racks, or linen storage to the outer walls can help as well.

Get thick curtains

Heavy curtains can also help dampen sound. The thicker and heavier the curtains, the more effective they'll be. You can even buy special noise-absorbing curtains designed to help cancel out annoying sounds. While I would love to drape my entire apartment in velvet someday, for now I'm using IKEA's Werna blackout curtains. They're very thick and heavy, don't cost a fortune, and as a bonus they also block all the light that would otherwise be seeping in. If the noise makes you batty, you might even want to consider hanging two sets of curtains.

White noise

"Midtown New York traffic under the Gimbels Bridge"
 by joiseyshowaa is licensed CC BY 2.0.

I find that a fan or a white noise machine helps a lot.

Reinforce the windows

A lot of noise seeps in through windows. While you're probably not going to be able to convince your landlord to replace your standard rental apartment windows with better ones that keep out more noise, there are some DIY options you can consider. Covering the windows entirely would probably turn your apartment into a dark little box, but cutting some sheets of acoustic foam to fit the windows will give you an option you can put in place at night and then take down whenever you want your windows back.

Earplugs

I like to save the squishy little foam earplugs that airplanes give out on international flights. They're comfortable enough to fall asleep in and keep out almost any noise.

Trust time to fix it

In the end, time will probably take care of most of the problem for you. I grew up in a major city, so sirens and car horns don't even register as noise for me. When my husband first moved to a city, he couldn't sleep for weeks because of all the noise. He was convinced he would never sleep again. But after a short time he got used to it, and now he can sleep through anything. He even slept through the World Cup game last night, and that was so loud I thought the windows were going to fall out. Give it some time and you may find you don't need any noise-canceling solutions at all.

Do you have other noise-free apartment living solutions? Share them with us!

Farmer’s Market Survival Guide

Photo courtesy Rhett Maxwell

If you have never been to a farmer’s market before, prepare yourself for a lot of amazing fresh produce and baked goods to choose from. While it’s a benefit to have possibilities, it can also be a little overwhelming. With some help from Apartment Therapy, you’ll be ready to grab your roommate and re-usable bags and hit the market in no time!

1. Come prepared. Bring bags, small bills, sunscreen, comfortable shoes and a list. I have a bad habit of not writing out what I need to get and leaving with popcorn, pastries, candied nuts and oh-so-conveniently leaving out the veggies. Preparing a plan helps keep you on track.

2. Be flexible. Farmers markets carry only what is locally in season and, depending on harvest, this can change from week to week. Being flexible and willing to make substitutions ensures that you will always have produce at its prime.

3. Walk a lap. Before you start shopping walk the length of the market to asses who has the freshest produce and the best prices, then work your way backwards through the vendors. This insures that you get the most bang for your buck.

4. Ask about deals. Some vendors offer discounts if you buy certain quantities of things or discount overripe fruit and unsold items at the end of the day.

5. Realize it's not a one-stop shop. While you can often find a range of products (eggs, cheese, olives ,etc.), assessing what you'll need to pick up elsewhere to supplement your market finds can help you fit your fresh produce into some delicious recipes, instead of letting it languish in the fridge.

6. Research new ingredients. Websites like our own Kitchn and apps like Epicurious are great for figuring out how to utilize new-to-you ingredients like dandelion greens and squash blossoms. You might just discover a new favorite dish.

What is your favorite farmer’s market? What are some herbs, fruits or veggies you must buy when you’re there?