Posts about Home and Decorating

Apartment-Safe Decorating Tips-image

There are plenty of reasons to love apartment living, but decorating an apartment can be difficult. Often, there are restrictions on how many holes can go in the walls, painting, and installing hardware. This month the Autumn Creek Apartments Blog has four apartment-friendly decorating tips for you to use and enjoy in our East Amherst community. Mirrors Mirrors are an easy way to open up an apartment and visually add space to a room. This is especially effective if you’re living in an apartment. If you want to make your space feel a little bigger (even if, unfortunately, you can’t actually add square footage to your apartment) hang a large mirror looking out on the room. You’ll suddenly feel like you’ve got a lot more room to relax and breathe.   Plants Fresh cut flowers can brighten and liven up any room. They also allow you to change up your apartment’s look from week to week. Go with a hydrangea arrangement this week and a bouquet of garden roses the next. Live plants, if you can keep up with the care, are also a great way to add some color to your apartment. If you’d love to have a few live plants, but don’t have a green thumb, look into buying succulents or cacti. They’re low-maintenance and pretty easy to care for. Photos Make your walls feel personal with pictures of friends or your favorite works of art. Pictures and paintings don’t just serve to add a little personality to your blank walls — they also serve as useful conversation starters when you have new guests or friends over. Throw Pillows The next time you pick out throw pillows stay away from the typical brown, black, or gray and go for something that fits your personality and interests. Throw pillows come in all different colors and patterns, feature famous quotes, and even display the portraits of famous historical figures. Make your living room or bedroom pop with personality by using unique and interesting pillows. What are some of your best apartment-friendly decorating tips? Have a great time updating your WNY apartment this summer! Please feel free to share in the comments.  

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How to Save Energy in the Winter-image

East Amherst, along with the rest of New York, can get chilly in the winter, as you may have already noticed! It’s tempting to turn up the heat and keep it high all season long, but this can waste a lot of energy and money. Today the Autumn Creek Blog has a few suggestions inspired by U.S. News’ 10 ways to save on energy costs article ) for how you can cut down on energy usage and stay comfortable in your apartment this season. Switch to LED lights for holiday decor. We’re pleased to say that we’ve switched over to LED lighting here at Autumn Creek. We hope you like it! In addition to the lighting we provide, if you’re stringing up some lights for ambiance or holiday decorating this year, save energy by switching out your incandescent lighting to LED lights, which use at least 75 percent less energy and last 25 times longer than older lighting. These are also safer to use in a home, but be sure to always unplug these lights and other appliances when you’re asleep or out of the apartment to further conserve on energy. Clean. Having a clean space is a great first step to saving energy because it enables your things to work properly and heat up the apartment the way they’re intended to, without being crowded up by gunk. As Niccole Schreck mentions in her article, “keeping your furnace and vents properly maintained will reduce energy consumption and help you save.” Use a humidifier. This is another great tip we were excited to learn from Schreck. As she mentions, “moist air feels warmer and holds heat better, so a humidifier can help you feel comfortable when your thermostat is set at a lower temperature.” Houseplants can also help add humidity to your home and help you on this quest to feel warmer without turning up the heat so much. Use resources for free or inexpensive heat. Opportunities for free heat may seem few and far between, but there are small ways you can make the most of them in your home. Open up your blinds and let in the sunlight. Take out your warmest, thickest blankets and comforters — and better yet, clean them right before you go to bed so you can cuddle up with warm, fresh-from-the-dryer sheets and blankets. Sweaters, scarves, thick socks, and slippers can also help you feel more comfortable. If you’re a fan of hot chocolate or cocoa, make a cup when you’re feeling chilly for a nice treat that not only satisfies your cravings but also helps you feel warm and toasty. What are your best tips, tricks, hacks, and ideas for cutting down on energy usage? Share with the rest of us by leaving a comment! Thanks for reading. Good luck. We hope these ideas help!  

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Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Apartment-image

  Spring is here in East Amherst, NY, and so is the perfect time to clean your Autumn Creek apartment! Taking time to do a deep clean this month will help you be ready for the busy summer, which will be here before we know it. Try these tips to make the cleaning process easier for you this month.   Start your spring cleaning by taking an inventory of what needs to be done. We like this “walk through” technique which helps pinpoint specific tasks: Simply walk through different rooms of your home with a box or laundry basket in hand for misplaced items you find (which you can then put away where they belong). As you walk through, you’ll get a read on each room and what shape they’re in. Take note of items that need your attention like burned out light bulbs, dirty windows, dusty baseboards, and more.   Use a checklist to help you stay on task while you’re doing your spring cleaning. We like this one from Oprah, which breaks things down to a room-by-room approach: Spring Cleaning that Won’t Take Over Your Life: 8 Hours, Start to Finish .   In addition to knowing where to start and how to proceed, it’s important to have the tools and cleaners you need close at hand. We like this list Molly Maid has put together of basic cleaning supplies that will help you keep your apartment in tip-top condition.   Another helpful tip is to set a timer whenever you clean. Take a break when the timer goes off and then set another timer when you’re ready to start cleaning again. This will make the task of having to clean your entire apartment feel much more manageable because you won’t lose track of time when you’re resting and you won’t overwork yourself. Cleaning a little bit at a time is a lot less draining than having to clean everything at once. Just make sure that you’re using the method that works best for you.   How do you get through spring cleaning with ease? Share any cleaning tips and hacks you have with the rest of the apartment community by leaving a comment below. Thanks for reading! We hope these ideas help.  

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Love My Apartment!-image

Hello Autumn Creek! This month we’re hosting a “Love My Apartment Contest” for residents of our apartment community here in East Amherst, NY. It’s easy to participate — simply send a photo of your favorite space in your home to us and we will upload the photos to our Facebook page where everyone can then vote on the submissions. The winner will receive a $50 gift card! We’re excited to see all the creative spaces here at Autumn Creek Apartments!   How to Enter     Take a photo of your favorite space in your home & send it to   [email protected] . Include a note about why you love it.   To vote, head to our Facebook page , click on the photos tab, open our Contest Photo Album, and comment “love” on your (one) favorite picture.   Spread the word! Anyone who has liked our Facebook page can vote, so invite your friends, family, and coworkers to vote for your photo.   It’s as simple as that! The contest runs from March 1st - March 29th. The winner will be announced on March 30th and will receive a $50 gift card.   If you don’t already have a favorite space in your apartment, this may be an excellent time to create one. We have some ideas to share to spark your imagination. If you don’t have a good sense of what style you like, use this Decorating Style quiz from Better Homes & Gardens to help you figure it out.   Ideas for Decorating Your Autumn Creek Apartment   Add Flowers & Plants Flower arrangements are an easy way to add a spring accent to your decor. Put together a traditional arrangement of springtime flowers. Martha Stewart has some lovely ideas for unique combinations of flowers and containers to help you get your imagination going or simply follow the directions to create the arrangements that are shown. Another fun twist on unusual containers for spring flower arrangements comes from Better Homes and Gardens — re-purpose an outdoor birdbath to create “living artwork” featuring a “display of moss, spring-flowering bulbs, and pussy willow branches.” Get the directions here .   Rearrange the Furniture Rearranging the furniture can definitely make things feel refreshed and like new. Before you strain your back though moving the armoire multiple times, trying to get it in the perfect place, try one of these apps and create a room layout before actually moving everything.   Floor Plan Creator (Android, Free) “Create detailed and precise floor plans. See them in 3D. Add furniture to design interior of your home. Have your floor plan with you while shopping to check if there is enough room for a new furniture.”   Magic Plan (iOS, Free) “MagicPlan quickly creates professional floor plans & work estimates. It measures rooms and draws floor plans just by taking pictures. Simply add objects, annotations, photos and attributes to generate reports or complete estimates.”   Check out this page for more room arranging apps for both iOS and Android.   Take a look at these ideas for adding color to your apartment without painting from a post in the WNY Luxury Apts Blog. We look forward to seeing what you’ve done with your East Amherst, NY apartment!  

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