Remember that exhilarating feeling you experienced when you first moved into your awesome apartment? If that feeling is starting to fade, maybe it’s time to fall in love with apartment life all over again! Here are 12 ideas for simple steps you can take to help bring back the love.
1. Make Your Bed!
We know, you’re an adult now and don’t have to make your bed just because your mom is nagging you. But do it anyway. Do it for yourself and you’ll be surprised at how good it makes you feel for the rest of the day. Making your bed is a keystone habit that sets the stage for how productive and happy you’ll be for the rest of the day. And who wants to come home to a messy, unmade bed anyway?
2. Do Something Nice for Someone Every Day
Wake up with that intention and then act on it. It doesn’t have to be anything big or for any specific person. Just do it (without expecting thanks) and you’ll be surprised at how good it makes you feel.
3. Create a Gallery of Happy Memories
Remember that trip you took with your best friend? Or that party you threw that everyone said was the Best. Party. Ever.? There are a lot of positive memories tied up in those kinds of experiences. From the planning through the anticipation, to the experience, and the happy memories afterward, it’s all tied up in a photo or souvenir of the experience. Display those happy memories in a tastefully arranged ‘Memory Gallery’ and they’ll bring you fresh joy every time you see them.
4. If You Get It Out, Put It Away
Clutter builds up when things don’t get put away when you’re done using them. And clutter causes stress! How can you love apartment life if it’s causing you stress everywhere you look? Make it a habit to put things away as soon as you’re done with them and you’ll have a cleaner, more enjoyable, living space and a lot less stress!
5. Make a ‘Treat Myself List’
Choose at least ten of your favorite indulgences. They can range from a double-scoop at your favorite ice cream shop to a day at the zoo or your favorite museum. Whatever you consider a treat should go on your list. Now choose your least favorite day of the week. Maybe it’s Monday or hump day. Whichever day it is, when it rolls around each week, choose something from your list and treat yourself. Just… because!
6. Surround Yourself With Nature
Studies show that spending just 20 minutes a day surrounded by nature can significantly reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Thoughtful landscaping outside your apartment that invites you to sit and enjoy your surroundings is a wonderful ‘nature pill’ that will help you feel calmer and more at peace with your life.
Filling your apartment with potted plants or cut flowers, nature paintings or photographs, and natural elements like seashells or interesting branches can lower your blood pressure, slow your heart rate, reduce muscle tension, improve your mood, and even boost your immune system.
7. Bake or Cook Something New
Do you love the baklava from that bakery down the block? Why not try making it yourself? The end result may not be quite the same but the experience is worth every bit of the spilled flour and dripping honey! Try recreating the gulyás (or goulash) you loved from that authentic Hungarian restaurant across town. If it’s even half as good you’ll still enjoy it. Just don’t forget to take photos of the process and the results. You’ll want them for your Memory Gallery!
8. Indulge in a Hobby
Are you fascinated by model sailing ships with their intricate rigging? Build one! Not only will you experience the joys (and frustrations!) of the build, but you’ll have a jawdropping conversation piece to display when it’s finished. Do your tastes run more along the lines of knitting, crocheting, or other forms of needlework? You, too, can create something special for your apartment that will impress and amaze visitors. Painting, jewelry making, creating miniature vignettes, … The list of arts and crafts you can enjoy at home are endless. With each one, you will enjoy the end result almost as much as the creative process.
9. Create a Vision Board
A vision board is a collage of those things that inspire you and motivate you to make positive changes in your life. The first step in creating your vision board is to contemplate your inner goals and feelings. Then you’ll want to find words and images that express those goals and feelings in a tangible way. Include photos of you with your friends, magazine pictures of things you would love to add to your space, inspirational quotes, cards or letters from loved ones, and anything else that represents an image of your future.
10. Connect With Someone You Love Every Day
Visit them in person or on the phone. Text messages and emails don’t count, although Skype does when you can’t visit with them in person. Socializing with people we love helps us feel connected even when we’re far apart.
11. Take a Moment for Reflection Before Bed
Even the worst days have at least one positive thing to remember. Think of those positive moments before going to sleep each night and you’ll begin to cultivate a spirit of gratitude. That gratitude for the positives helps keep the negatives in the background where they belong. If you keep a journal, a simple sentence expressing your gratitude each day will add up to a lot to be thankful for as time goes by. Try it for yourself and see how quickly those positives add up.
12. Enjoy Your Living Space
Loving apartment life is an extension of loving yourself. A comfortable, organized, and inviting space affects how you’ll feel about other areas of your life. Making it a happy space is bound to affect your happiness, too! Creating habits and routines that you enjoy doesn’t hurt, either. Hopefully, some of these ideas will have you dancing for joy when you come home to your apartment.
If you haven’t found an apartment in the DC area that you love, contact us to schedule a visit to one of our unique buildings. We think you’ll find your joy in one of our thoroughly modern, yet charmingly vintage, DC Apartments!
