apartment — Home and Garden Diva

How To Dog-Proof Your Apartment

Are you starting to get puppy fever? If so, you’re not alone. Spring time is one of the most popular times of the year to adopt a pet! While it’s a very exciting time in a person’s life when you can finally take the step to caring for a dog, you have to make sure that you’re 100% prepared for this type of responsibility. After you’ve made the decision, here are 5 steps to follow in order to prepare your apartment for your new furry friend.

Get secure lids for trash cans

One of the biggest mistakes dog owners make after getting their first dog is not ensuring that they have quality garbage cans with secure lids. Dogs love to get into the trash, and if you have a swing garbage can or one without a lid at all, you’re pretty much setting yourself up for disaster. Look for the garbage cans with pop up lids or if your new dog is known for being mischievous, consider buying a lid that you can lock when you’re not home. This way you never have to worry whether or not your dog is going to dig through the garbage!

Buy gates

Gates and crates are essential when you adopt your first pet, but you don’t necessarily need to invest in both. When you first bring your new puppy home, it’s important to consider how often you’re going to be around and whether the environment is more apt for a crate or gates. If you have a full time job and you’re not home most of the day, a crate is probably your best bet. On the other hand, if you have the time to stay home with your dog and train them consistently, then you could probably just handle training with gates.

Tape down cords

One of the most notorious traits of puppies is chewing. Whether it’s on a baseboard, on your favorite pair of shoes or your electrical chords, they will find them on the ground and they will try to chew them. The good news is, you can easily prevent this by taping down chords throughout your house to ensure a puppy can’t get to them.

Move plants

Be aware that while plants help bring life to your living space, they aren’t necessarily good to have around puppies. Not only could the plants be dangerous for your pet to eat, but they could be easily knocked over and can create a mess that you will have to clean up later on. To play it safe, just move plants to higher areas that your pet would not be able to access!

Invest in towels – lots of them

When you think you have enough towels, buy more. If you’re not already aware of this, dogs tend to get pretty dirty, whether it’s from playing outside in the rain, jumping into ponds, or simply just walking through mud. Having ample towels around to clean off your dogs paws will definitely come in handy. Also a good thing to remember is that during potty training, you’re going to be cleaning up a lot of messes. Rather than spending all that extra money on paper towels, re-use towels and wash them between each accident. You won’t only be saving money but you’ll be saving the planet, too!

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Felicia Walkins is a freelance writer and dog lover. After moving into her first apartment with her pet, she has been dedicated to finding dog-friendly communities for others to live in. She looks forward to the Jackson Twenty One community and hopes her and her pup can live there in happiness!

Knockout Interior Designs That Your Apartment Will Love You For

by Trish

If you have just moved into an apartment and feel that you need to stamp your own identity on it, this article can help you to decide on how to proceed. Apartments are often less spacious than conventional houses and can be limited when it comes to personalizing the space to your tastes. But this need not be the case and here we discuss some clever touches that can create a tasteful bespoke design feel for your apartment.

The Idea Of Interior Design

Modern design ideas tend to follow the trend of a minimalist spacious area instead of lots of clutter and excess furniture. This may not tie in with your own ideas but it is an easy route to follow and you can always add at a later stage. Using neutral colors and plain walls adds up to a stylish and elegant theme for your apartment or house.

Shades And Colors

It is better to shy away from too many colors and perhaps pick a couple of tones for your entire interior. The colors should not take over the feeling of your apartment’s mood but rather try to emphasize the overall ambiance of the home. Pick a powerful color for your accent wall and use a neutral shade for the other walls. Think about the color of the floors and any large furniture before deciding on your ideal combination.

Furniture

You really need to continue the theme you have kicked off with your color choices for the walls. The furniture should be presented in a less bold tone and again a neutral shade would work well with the accent wall’s theme. Think about low and long shapes when considering your seating arrangements. Metal and glass are always welcome in a modern designed interior and seem to never go out of date. With your bedroom you can afford to throw caution to the wind and opt for a huge leather style divan plus a bodacious headboard.

Lights

Think about a low key fixture but with plenty of power and control options. You can really set the mood with a versatile dimmer switch style option. The lighting should be spaced evenly through your home with options for combination illumination choices. A few lamps can add to the room, especially if their colors are complimented by the walls and furniture.

Decoration

A few simple photo frames featuring your family are always a good conversation piece, but do not get too carried away with this theme. Less is definitely more when it comes to adorning your walls with fixtures. Why not invest in some large plants for your hallway and perhaps one in the bathroom area? They will give your home a natural and exotic edge that can be hard to achieve with an apartment’s lack of garden area.

Wood And Metal

Think about some classy home appliances for your kitchen and splash out on a steel fridge and matching oven and hob sets. They are easy to clean and always lend a classy quality to any home.

Today’s guest post is submitted by Patrick Armstrong. He is a successful real estate agent who loves writing. He is really excited about the new apartments in Prahran.

A womans work is never done – more cleaning in the basement for me!

by The Diva

It looks like I’m going to be spending yet another weekend cleaning up and organizing the house. Oh and when I say house I mainly mean basement because that is where the MESS is.

Honestly … I don’t know how or why the basement became the mess that it is, but it needs major work. I know when we first moved into the house 10.5 years ago we stored several boxes downstairs – boxes that contained items that we meant to pull out once all of the renovations were finished. Trouble is, those renovations were never completely finished and those boxes are still down there along with multiple other things. It also doesn’t help that this is an old 1927 house with only four small closets – all on the uppermost floor. Storage space is at a premium.

On top of all this … my soon to be ex – oh yes, I said that – ex – is going away this weekend and he won’t be helping me clean up the basement. He hasn’t really done much in the way of cleaning or sorting out stuff down there anyway so far so I guess I didn’t expect much help, but there’s a lot of heavy stuff to lift so I guess if you guys don’t hear from me call for a search party because I might be buried under a mountain of stuff in the basement. Yes it’s that bad down there. Semi hoarders delight.

There’s even a half decent sectional couch with a pull out bed buried under all those boxes, coats, Christmas decorations and renovation supplies. I hope that by the end of the weekend I might be able to see it!

Speaking of sectionals … I might be moving in a few months because of the situation I alluded to above – although I really don’t want to move. This is MY house. If I do have to move that old sectional is staying in the basement and it can be the new owners problem because it’s huge. However, I’ve been looking at this site – sectional sofa los angeles and they have a nice selection. Perhaps if I do end up in an apartment or condo I’ll get a small sectional – with a pull out bed if possible, as those are always handy for guests!

Ok .. I’m going to relax because tomorrow I have a lot of work to do. If anyone wants to come and lend me a hand you are more than welcome. I could use the help and the company.

Helping relatives move

by The Diva

My husband just left to go and help his cousin and his wife move into an apartment.

I’m not quite sure what happened, but they had a house outside the city and I guess they got into some money troubles and had to sell. Their house was on the market for at least six months and just sold about two weeks ago and now, his cousin is moving back into the city. I’m not exactly sure why their moving so quickly .. maybe their house had a fast closing date?

Anyway .. usually I would help with a move, but I’m just not feeling all that well today. So I’m staying home with our dog and my husband is running around helping with the heavy lifting. Hmmm maybe I got the better deal?

I think my husband’s cousin is going to be changing job soon too. He’s been working for a company that transfers data to microfishe … but I think that’s fazing into digital. He mentioned something about getting into Forex trading the last time I talked to him. I think he bought some Forex trading software and he’s been teaching himself how to use it in his spare time. Maybe he’ll figure out how to make some good money on the side – even if he doesn’t end up changing jobs.

Anyway … it’s a late day move … my husband just left the house at 3 pm! I have no idea when he’ll be home. I also think his aunt is feeding the gang. She mentioned something about making Chili when I was talking to her on the phone. Hmmm … maybe Chris can talk her into letting him bring some of her homemade chili home for me? She apparently makes delicious chili. Of course, it probably won’t sit all that well on my stomach … but then, nothing I eat this week has.

Get secure lids for trash cans

Buy gates

Tape down cords

Move plants

Invest in towels – lots of them

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