Living in the tight space of an apartment comes with its fair share of woes.
From unreasonable landlords to noisy neighbors and cramped living spaces, apartment living is not always fun.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. With some smart negotiation skills and space-saving hacks, you can live the best years of your life in an apartment!
Here are 8 smart apartment living tips and tricks to help you live your best life, no matter the size of your space.
Live Your Best Life With These 8 Apartment Living Hacks
For most young adults, apartment living is something like a rite-of-passage.
It’s a phase in your life that helps you to appreciate the space of owning your own home and the luxury of professional home cleaning services.
With this in mind, living in an apartment is not only reserved for young adults. Many small families have to deal with tight spaces of apartment living too.
Whatever your situation, apartment living has its challenges. But with these simple hacks, you can truly make your space a home…
1. Establish a Good Relationship with Your Landlord
This is an important part of making the most out of your apartment living. Being on bad terms with a landlord can only make your life all the more difficult.
Make sure to cultivate a relationship based on respect between both you and your landlord. Respect works both ways, so ensure your landlord knows their boundaries and you know yours.
Avoid future issues by having everything you need in written documentation, including your lease, condition of the apartment, and tenant rights.
2. Learn to Negotiate
If you are new to apartment living, this is where negotiation skills come into play. Try your hand at negotiating on your rent price, as long as you aren’t competing with other tenants for the apartment.
If your landlord is not willing to budge on rent, try negotiating on other aspects of apartment living, such as parking spaces or pet fees.
Keep in mind you can save a bunch on rent when moving in the winter months as there is far less competition around when searching for apartments.
3. Make Temporary Upgrades
One of the biggest downsides of living in an apartment is the fact that you are limited with regards to upgrades and changes to your space.
While you won’t be able to redo the entire kitchen or bathroom, you can always discuss temporary upgrades with your landlord.
A simple example would be upgrading light fixtures, repainting the kitchen, or re-tiling the bathroom.
In the long run, these upgrades actually benefit your landlord. They are classed as maintenance upgrades that help to improve the quality of the apartment.
4. Have Your Say with Noisy Neighbors
There’s no denying that living in an apartment can be noisy. After all, you’re only separated by a simple wall partition from one apartment to the next.
Whether your neighbor blasts loud music in the early hours, hosts noisy dinner parties, or has noisy pets, this issue needs to be settled.
You can simply approach them and discuss your grievances with them in a calm, orderly fashion. If this doesn’t work, visit your building management who can take the matter into their own hands by filing a formal complaint.
Otherwise, discuss the problem with your landlord who may be able to alleviate the situation.
5. Make Your Living Space More Energy Efficient
This is not always possible in some apartment spaces, but there are ways and means of cutting back on your energy consumption in order to save money.
Make simple changes such as switching light bulbs to energy-saving alternatives, install a programmable thermostat or install window shades.
Just make sure you check with your landlord beforehand if they are happy for these changes to be made.
6. Create a Space That Feels Like Home
Living in an apartment is all about making it feel like home, without upsetting your landlord.
You may not be able to lay a new carpet, but you can add personal touches such as a removable rug.
Use removable shelves and pack them with personal items such as photo frames, candles, and books, etc. Instead of generic window blinds, ask your landlord if you can hang your own curtains.
Adjust the lighting and instead of using harsh downlighters, buy your own standing lamps for a lovely touch of ambient lighting.
Frame your favorite art prints and photos and create a gallery wall to give your apartment the perfect personal touch.
7. Maximize Your Space Wisely
Another major obstacle of apartment living is the lack of space. This is a daily reality for many apartment dwellers!
But there are ways and means around this with the use of simple household products such as hooks, bed risers, storage racks, and shelving.
Where you lack horizontal space for storage, maximize your vertical space, especially if this space is out-of-sight. Vertical spaces can be found above refrigerators, wardrobes, and kitchen cupboards.
Use tall bookcases or vanities with plenty of drawers to fit into small spaces and maximize your storage options.
Keep Clutter Under Control
This is especially important for apartment living and making the most out of small spaces. To keep your apartment looking neat and tidy try to keep your clutter to a minimum.
Make sure everything has its own storage space and once you’ve used something, try to remember to put it back. Keep open spaces such as countertops and tables free of clutter to make your space look bigger!
8. Bring the Outdoors Inside
A great way to make an apartment appear more airy, breezy, and inviting is with the use of greenery.
Adding a living plant or two will help to make your space appear homier while helping to purify the oxygen you’re breathing!
Hanging plants are the ideal option for small apartments, they can be draped off the top of cupboards or hung with simple hooks.
Low-maintenance greenery includes succulents, cacti, or philodendron plants. Larger more leafy plant options include Monstera and Fiddle Leaf Fig plants.
Stay In-the-Know With Florida Independent
At Florida Independent, we work hard to create a community where you can view high-quality, informative content on an array of topics.
From apartment living and lifestyle to education, fashion, and health and fitness, our website offers up-to-date articles to keep you in the know!
