As long-time readers of the blog will know, my wonderful girlfriend and I have been clearing out items for quite a while, aka de-cluttering. It was about time to evolve my updates to include a wider range updates about our apartment or as us British call it, a ‘flat’. Plus the apartment blog posts, will include plenty of related ‘how to’ posts and tips.
We currently don’t have lot of money, but it is important to improve the quality of life where possible, regardless of how small the budget is. For now I’m going to cover anything from reclaiming space, to repairs, general DIY and anything else that is related to living in our flat.
The Bedroom
We’ve been working hard to create more space in our bedroom. We’ve given away lots of clothes, disposed of two chunky bedside units and put up new curtains in the recent past. This month it was time to say goodbye to our old bed, and buy a new base and mattress.
Noticeable recent changes:
- Chunky bed base replaced with raised bed frame.
- 80% of items that were in bedside units were disposed of.
- Bedside units were disposed of (remaining items inside found homes elsewhere).
- Blackout curtains to replace tired old thin curtains.
- A huge amount of clothes given to charity.
Tips:
- Buy a replacement bed from a firm that will remove your old one for a small fee.
- A double isn’t as nice as a king sizes bed for a couple, but a double helps to create more space within a room.
- Blackout curtains hopefully works towards improved sleep.
We’ve still got a lot of work to do in the bedroom, but it feels more spacious than in the past.
The Lounge
In an apartment / flat, a lounge often serves as a dining room and study. So this one room is our main living area. We have been working hard to make this area more spacious, which we have, but we plan to go a lot further.
At the beginning of January we disposed of our sofa-bed and replaced it with a more comfortable settee. We also took the opportunity to dispose of a bookcase, table and computers, amongst other items. In recent months we’ve given away more books, comics and other items to charity.
At the weekend we fitted an insect mesh to the large window, so during the summer flies and wasps can’t get in. Why? We live near a few food premises and last year there were too many insects around, so we are prepared this year.
Long way to go, but we’ve got a huge spacious area in the middle of the room, and over the coming months we plan on making it even more spacious in our main room.
The Kitchen
We have a very small kitchen, so it is important we maximise the space available, especially as we love home cooking. In the last month we have removed an ornamental plate from the wall, plus given lots of cupboard items to charity and put up a kitchen blind.
It also wasn’t just about freeing up space, but we also gave away items that we just didn’t use. For example we had too many vases and dishes we didn’t use, so we decided not to keep them.
Late last year we replaced the sink mixer, as the old one needed replacing, but a couple of weeks ago we had to replace part of the new mixer, because it broke!
Tip:
- Use a kitchen blind to add more privacy.
- Less items on the wall of a small kitchen, can help make the room feel larger.
The Bathroom
We’ve not done much work to the bathroom recently, but late last year we replaced all the taps in the bathroom, and last week we started placing lagging on the hot water pipe under the bath.
The Hallway
In the hallway our main focus has been the hallway cupboard. We are currently in the process of freeing up a large shelve to use for bedding and towels.We used a few different techniques to create space:
- Merged a few small boxes into a couple of larger boxes to use less space.
- Gave some items away to charity.
- Stored some items elsewhere.
We also unfortunately had to blue-tack the bottom of an old mirror to the wall in the hallway, as the music (the bass of the music) from the neighbours was vibrating the mirror and making a noise.
Conclusion
So even with a little amount of money or at times no outgoings, you can make a home feel more comfortable. As mentioned we’ve got a long way to go, but working on it little and often, means that gradually the changes do add up, and improve the overall feel of our home.
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