Let’s talk about your apartment
It’s an extension of you and should look as sharp as you do
So by now you’ve already taken your first steps in your fashion journey, you wear pants that fit, maybe you’ve taken some simple steps to looking better.
You make some new friends out at the party, they all figure out you live closest so they ask to keep it going at your place and you say yeah! You get home and you find this:
Ok, maybe it’s not that bad, but you get the idea. Here is how you can stop people from quickly finding an excuse to go home early, to having them say in a comfortable space.
Keep everything clean
Shocker, people like clean spaces.
Come on, this one is basic. Keep it clean.
Keeping it clean means everything from picking stuff up off the floors, to wiping down grease, dust and dirt. Let’s go through a break down of places to clean just in case you need some help:
The Bathroom
At some point your guests might need to use your bathroom. It’s very important that the toilet bowl is clean. Make sure there are no urine stains anywhere on the bowl: No on the plastic seat, not around the rim of the bowl.
Wash out the sink so there aren’t any stains in it. Wipe down the handles if they have water and tooth paste stains. Get rid of any hair and grime that has accumulated on it.
Clean out the shower area too. Get rid of any water stains and grime that has accumulated.
Pro tip: If you have a medicine cabinet get all of that stuff off the sink counter and into the cabinet. It will look more organized that seeing your million bottles of god knows what. If you don’t have a medicine cabinet consider storing them under the sink, or getting some bathroom storage installed to hide away all of those items. It’s best to leave out some hand soap and towel for guests to dry their hands on.
If you have a towel with holes it in, hide it away when you have guests and put out the nice ones. If you have no nice ones get some. Put out some clean mats around the sink and bowl.
Bonus tip: A nice plant on top of the bowl or sink counter adds a nice touch. Make sure the plant you get can survive the humidity of showers though
The Kitchen
It’s very likely guests may need to go into your kitchen to get glass, some water or to throw something out. Don’t slack off in cleaning up this area. No one wants to smell your dirty dishes.
So start off with washing the dishes. Get them cleaned, air them out to dry and put them way in the cupboard. Clean down the counter tops and stove. Remove burners and clean under then too.
Be sure to scrub the sink itself too. It’s likely built up some gunk on it if dishes were sitting around. Put dirty towels in the wash too.
If it smells funny or is past the expiration date, get it out of your fridge and put it in the trash. Clean up any spills or messages that are on the fridge shelves.
Pro tip: If you have a stove top where the burners sit above the stove you can put foil paper underneath it. This will make the next clean up easy as you can just remove the foil when it’s dirty or when guests come over. People will think you spend hours scrubbing it all the time.
The Bedroom and Living room
Pick up articles of clothing or anything else that doesn’t belong on the floor. Remove clutter and discord. Make up your bed, you never know if you’ll be sharing it with someone else.
Make sure all the cushions for your couch are tucked in. Anything that is trash should be placed in the trash. Remove dust from all surfaces.
Pro tip: Leave a bit of “planned mess” like some magazines tossed around on the coffee table or a board game. It’ll make people feel like your place isn’t too sterilized and that they can get comfortable and relax.
Everywhere
Sweep / vaccum / mop every part of the floor. Get rid of dust from any surface where it exists and remove clutter. What is clutter? Scattered mail, that mug you left on the coffee table, your shoes just tossed off at your door, your jeans on the floor, basically anything that is no in it’s proper place.
Open up the windows and let some fresh air in. Take out the trash.
Pro tip: Use smaller trash bags and take out your trash every day. It’ll help prevent smells from building up. Also keep some lemons and cinnamon nearby at all times. If you ever get a bad smell in your apartment, cut up two lemons into slices, add in some water and cinnamon and bring to a boil on high. Once at a boil turn it down to medium and in roughly 15 minutes you apartment will smell like cinnamon and lemons instead of whatever bad smell was there.
Change the lights
You want to have the right type and amount of light
Think fast! Last time you bought bulbs was at the closest convenience store right? Maybe at the gas station or that one place down the block that’s open 24/7? You probably have stock blue / white light.
Consider getting warmer colored bulbs. These Edison bulbs work nicely in my space.
Be careful with switching all of your bulbs to a very warm color. Too much and it can feel like a dungeon. Start off in the middle and take it from there.
Make it smell good
No one wants to smell your fish lunch from last week
As mentioned earlier, try smaller trash bags so that you’re forced to take it out more often.
A mixture of white vinegar and water sprayed over fabrics like your couch and mats will help to freshen them up. No need to run out and buy Febreze. When vinegar dries, it dries without a smell. Febreze and other sprays leave behind their chemically manufactured scent which some of your guests may not like.
Keeping a neutral smell will allow you to make pointed decisions about what you want your place to smell like. Instead of it smelling like chemicals + your chosen scent, you can just enjoy your chosen scent.
Go lighter with scents in general though, you don’t want to over power guests noses.
Add some personality
Show people who you are
Now that you’ve gotten everything clean, it smells nice and the lights set the mood nicely, it’s time to show some of your personality.
Put up posters, artwork, or family pictures on the wall. Don’t leave the walls bare and empty. Frame posters and art to really make them stand out. When a doubt a solid black frame is usually a good choice.
Be careful with going overboard with decorations though. A single Batman poster / figurine is cool and is good tinder for conversation.
If every corner of your apartment has some Batman memorabilia, it can be a little overwhelming. Now that is not to say it’s not possible to have a themed look around one thing, but it is hard to pull of right. You don’t want to come across as obsessive.
Keep these basics in mind and your apartment will look as sharp as you.
