Redecorating without Purchasing

Are you tired of the same look in your apartment? You do not need to redo every room in your house to get a fresh feel. A few adjustments with what you have can be the redecorating wish you are looking for. Apartment Therapy has more information about all of your redecorating questions.

Usually, when your space feels dull and boring, the first impulse is to buy something new. Stop! Before you plunk down for another throw pillow, try these tricks I often use when I'm styling someone's home and don't have the luxury of time to go out and buy the perfect little something.

Move the furniture: Moving the furniture can often solve problems in a room. Swap the position of the bed to a different wall (or try floating it to take advantage of a nice view), move the living room arrangement off the walls and into the center of the room. On a recent job, moving the rug just a bit so that the front legs of the couch rested on it made the room feel much more anchored and cozy.

Break up pairs: We've all been taught that the nightstands in a bedroom should match, that matching lamps should go on either side of the couch, that two matching chairs face a sofa. Yeah, yeah. Dull and boring. What if you broke up those pairs? Use one of those living room chairs in the bedroom, try one of those lamps in the kitchen, drag one of those nightstands to use as an entryway piece. Just because you bought two things together doesn't mean they have to, or even should, stay together.

Steal from another room: That throw pillow in the bedroom might be just what the living room needs to perk it up, that rug you've had in the dining room might work better by the front door, your living room console might work as a desk in your office. You can always put things back where you found them. While it might be challenging to move a couch from one room to another, accessories are easy things to swap in and out.

Regroup the accessories: Just because that vase has always had a place on the coffee table, doesn't mean it has to always be there. Move things around. Try grouping it with t two other vases you like (groups of three are particularly pleasing to the eye). Sometimes, something as simple as putting a nice pile of books on a coffee table with a plant on top of them, bringing in a bright throw, or remaking a bed, can perk up an entire room. Stumped for accessories? Think outside the box: a beautiful pair of shoes, like those bright pink heels you never wear but love, can be just as pleasing on a coffee table as on your feet; those mixing bowls from grandma might get more use on your credenza than they ever did in your kitchen; mismatched glasses can be used as vases and scattered around the house; a collection of neckties are interesting swung around a shelf bracket; a jar of earrings lets you enjoy them off your ears as well as on.

Edit: Most rooms have too much stuff in them. Try stripping them down to their basics (in the living room that would mean things like the sofa and the media center) and then layer things back in piece by piece. You may find that you prefer the room without a rug or that the lamp works better on the other side of the sofa. Taking pictures can help you get an objective viewpoint.

Swap rooms: Would your dining room work better as your living room? Maybe your office would make a better bedroom than your bedroom does. Living in a small space that only consists of one large room that has to multitask is no excuse. These spaces can still get stuck in a rut.

30 College Money Saving Tips

Do you want to live on wine tastes with a beer budget?  That is the the theme for most college students.  However, there are plenty of ways that you can save money and live well in college.  You can learn more by reading below or going to fastweb.

1. Buy or rent used textbooks and sell last semester’s books back. 

2. Don’t make impulse purchases. 

3. Never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry.

4. Limit the number of times you eat out monthly.

5. Cut out vices – smoking is terrible for you and expensive.

6. Always pay bills on time to avoid late fees.

7. If you have a credit card, pay it off as quickly as possible. (It’s good to establish credit, but a bad credit score follows you everywhere.) 

8. Walk, use public transportation or ride a bike instead of having a car.

9. Live with others so you can split rent and utilities.

10. Cut out expensive cable packages you don’t need.

11. Consider more basic phone packages and plans or plans that include unlimited texting with free incoming calls

12. Don’t buy the most expensive college meal plans. Figure out what you actually consume and get the correlating package.

13. Shop where they offer student discounts. There are so many places that offer discounts to students with a school ID. 

14. Look into a campus gym versus a gym in town. Many colleges offer memberships for free or at a reduced rate for students.

15. When planning meals, make dinner with friends and split the cost of groceries. Often times, you’ll be cooking too much for one person anyway!

16. Sell what you no longer use or need. There are plenty of stores and web sites, like Poshmark andCraigslist, where you can sell your used clothing, furniture or tech items.

17. Don’t buy unnecessary school supplies. Why buy cumbersome notebooks when you can type on your laptop? It’s better for the earth anyway!

18. Don’t buy books you will only need for a short period of time – check them out from the library instead.

19. Take advantage of what your campus has to offer in terms of activities, rather than spending money on going out. Many campuses have an array of museums, offer movie nights and other social events for cheaper or, sometimes, for free.

20. Skip expensive Spring Break trips – look into alternatives, like volunteering, instead.

21. Wait to get a pet until after college – a pet can become very expensive. Not only do you have another mouth to feed, but veterinary bills are costly. If you love animals, there are plenty of shelters that need volunteers.

22. Go to class. You’re paying for it and skipping is like throwing money out the window!

23. Drink water. It’s free and better for you, anyway.

24. Make your own coffee. While coffee shops are convenient, they charge hefty prices that really add up over time.

25. Open a savings account that earns interest. Credit unions have fewer fees and are great for students.

26. Use a free tool, like FinAid’s Student Budget Calculator or the one offered by Mint.com, to keep track of your finances. It’s harder to be frivolous when you see where your money is going.

27. Never take out a loan for anything that’s unrelated to your education. 

28. Don’t buy music. Use free services like Spotify or Pandora.

29. Look into class requirements and the options for testing out of classes. Why pay for a class you could easily test out of?

30. Consider becoming a resident advisor. Many get free room and board.

Time to Yard Sale

You are out of school for the summer time to have some fun. This means that it is time for an old past time. Yard sales will be popping up throughout your town, and we have found some great purchases that can save you money in the future. Grab your friends and head to the yard sale to save your household money this summer. Apartment Therapy has some great ideas for your summer vacation.

1. Rugs. Rugs are notoriously difficult to sell secondhand, which is why you will see plenty of them around at yard sale time. Head out for a few Saturdays, you are bound to find a new rug for the kids' room for under $30. I found one recently, a 5x7 foot 100% wool rug for $5! It had been passed over by others because one small corner was a little frayed - a problem easily solved by tucking it under a crib.

2. Furniture: Do you need to furnish your apartment? Yard Sales are the perfect opportunity to find a cheap piece of furniture for your new home.

3. Old Music: Have you always wanted an old record player or old music from your childhood you forgot about? This is the perfect place to find that old music for a decent price.

4. Entertainment: Yard Sales can be a great source of entertainment and a fun afternoon with friends. You never know what treasures you are going to find!

Moving Home For the Summer

Are you moving home for the summer after a great year at the University of Memphis?  The transition every summer from living on your own to living with your parents can be tough. However, we have some great tips on how to have a great summer without too many arguments. Keep reading and you can learn more at college life.

1. Set reasonable expectations. True, you may have been able to come and go as you please, leave your room a disaster, and have a new guest over every night while you were in the residence halls, but this arrangement may not work for your folks. Set some reasonable expectations -- for everyone involved -- before you even step through the door.

2. Set some ground rules. Alright, you may have to have a curfew so your poor mother doesn't think something terrible has happened to you if you're not home by 4:00 in the morning -- but your mom also needs to understand that she can't just barge in to your room without any notice. Set some ground rules as soon as possible to make sure everyone is clear on how things will work.

3. Expect a combination of a roommate relationship and a parent/kid relationship. Yes, you've had roommates for the past several years, and you may view your parents similar to them. Your parents, however, will always view you as their child. Do your best to keep this in mind as you figure out how things will work once you move back in. Sure, it seems ridiculous for a roommate to want to know where you're going every night. But your parents probably have a legitimate right to ask.

4. Set a time frame for how long you're planning on living there. Do you just need someplace to crash between when you graduate from college and when you start graduate school in the fall? Or do you need somewhere to live until you can save enough money on your own to get your own place? Talk about how long you plan on staying -- 3 months, 6 months, 1 year -- and then check back in with your parents once that time frame is up.

5. Discuss money, no matter how awkward. No one really likes to talk about money. But addressing the topic with your parents -- how much you'll pay in rent, for food, to get back on their health insurance plan, or if the car you've been borrowing needs more gas -- will help prevent a ton of problems later.

6. Have your own support networks ready to go. After living on your own or in the residence halls during college, living with your parents can become very isolating. Do your best to have systems in place that provide you with an outlet and support network that is separate from your parents'.

7. Thing creatively about how the relationship is give and take -- both ways. Yes, your parents are letting you stay at their place, and yes, you may pay rent to do so. But are there other ways you can help, especially if money is tight for everyone? Can you help around the house -- with yard work, fix-it projects, or technical support for the computers they can never get to work right -- in ways that will make your living relationship much more symbiotic?

8. Remember that the person who moves back in with your parents is not the same person who left. Your parents may have a very specific -- and outdated -- idea of "who" is moving back in with them. Take a deep breath and do your best to remind them that, while you left the house as an 18-year-old college freshman, you are now returning as a 22-year-old, college-educated adult.

9. Remember that time at your folks' is still an opportunity to build your own life -- not put it on pause. Just because you are at your parents', waiting until you can move out on your own, doesn't mean your life is on pause. Volunteer, date, explore new things, and do your best to continue learning and growing instead of just waiting for your first opportunity to move on to somewhere else.

10. Enjoy yourself! This may seem completely unthinkable if moving back in with your folks was the last thing you wanted to do. However, living at home can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally learn your mom's secret fried chicken recipe and your dad's amazing way with woodworking tools. Live it up and take in as much as you can.

American Flag Cake for Memorial Day

Are you going to a party on Memorial Day?  There is a great simple recipe that will produce a great dessert.  This will only take a few minutes to make, and everyone will be impressed with your contribution to the party. You can learn more at all recipes.

Rated: Submitted By: Allrecipes Staff Photo By: ChuckSeattle Prep Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 3 Hours Servings: 16

"Unfurl the red, white, and blue with this beautiful, easy, and patriotic flag cake perfect for the 4th of July, Memorial Day, or any favorite occasion. Assemble and frost the pretty cake and wait for the oohs and ahhs!"

INGREDIENTS:

3 (10.25 ounce) packages white cake mix 9 egg whites 1 cup vegetable oil 3 3/4 cups whole milk 2 tablespoons clear vanilla extract 2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 tablespoon blue food coloring 1 cup white chocolate chips 10 cups fluffy white frosting 1 tablespoon white chocolate chips, or as needed 2 tablespoons white sugar, or as needed 1 4-inch round paper or cardboard stencil

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and line 4 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
2.	Combine white cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Beat for 30 seconds using an electric mixer on low speed. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes. The batter will still be slightly lumpy.
3.	To make the red cakes, measure half the batter into a separate bowl and whisk in red food coloring. Evenly transfer the red batter into 2 of the 8-inch prepared cake pans; smooth tops of batter with a spatula. Transfer half of the remaining uncolored batter into a 3rd prepared cake pan; smooth top as before. This will be the white cake portion.
4.	Add blue food coloring to the remaining uncolored batter in the large mixing bowl; fold 1 cup white chocolate chips into blue batter until combined. Transfer batter to remaining prepared 8-inch cake pan; smooth top of batter with a spatula.
5.	Bake all 4 cakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from oven and place onto cooling racks until cooled completely.
6.	Run a knife around edge of each cooled cake. Invert cakes, remove pans, and peel off parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to trim tops of cakes flat and even. 7.Cut both of the red cake layers and the white cake layer in half horizontally. You will have 4 thin red cake layers and 2 thin white cake layers. 8. Place a 4-inch round stencil on top of 1 thin red cake layer; cut out a 4-inch red cake round. Repeat, placing stencil on 1 thin white cake layer to make 1 4-inch white cake round. Center the 4-inch round stencil on the blue cake; cut out and remove center portion covered by the stencil to make a blue cake ring. 9. To assemble the cake, you will need 2 thin 8-inch red cake layers, 1 thin 8-inch white cake layer, 1 4-inch thin red cake circle, 1 4-inch thin white cake circle, and 1 blue 8-inch cake ring. Reserve the leftover thin red cake layer and other cake pieces for making crumbs for decorating. 10. To assemble cake, place 1 8-inch thin red cake layer on a cake pan and frost the top generously with white frosting. Place the thin 8-inch white cake layer on top of the red one, and frost the top. Place remaining 8-inch thin red cake layer atop the white one. Frost the red layer. 11. Place the blue ring cake on top of the 2nd red cake layer and carefully frost the inside of the blue cake ring. Gently fit the 4-inch white cake layer into the blue cake ring. Frost the top of the 4-inch white center. Place the 4-inch red cake layer on top of the white one. Gently press small cake circles flush with the top of the blue ring. 12. Frost the entire outside of the cake generously with the remaining frosting. 13. Crumble red and blue pieces of leftover cake into 2 separate bowls. Score lines into the top of the cake's frosting with a kitchen knife to make a flag design on top of the cake. It should have a 2-inch square at the upper left for blue field and white stars, and 7 thick horizontal stripes about 1 inch wide. 14. Fill the square field at the upper left with blue crumbs and press 1 tablespoon white chocolate chips upside-down into the blue crumbs to make 'stars.' Fill the bottom stripe and every other stripe with red crumbs to make red stripes. Sprinkle white sugar generously into the white stripes to make them stand out. 15. To serve, cut cake into wedges. The inside of the cake will reveal its layers of red and white stripes and blue field with white chocolate chip stars in every slice.

5 Solutions for a Better Night's Sleep

Is your bedroom keeping you awake at night?  There are five reasons that may be the cause of your lack of sleep in your own home.  This blog has a list of those reasons. It also includes a list of possible solutions that could help you in your quest for a better night's sleep.  You can learn more at apartment therapy.

PROBLEM #1: ALLERGIES

Is your stuffy nose keeping you from getting shut eye? Seasonal allergies are one thing, but dust mites are with us all year round. Your bed is Disneyland for those little critters, who thrive on all the dead skin cells your body provides.

Fixes: Vacuum your room with a HEPA filter and clean your bedding as often as you can— including your pillows, which you can throw in the dryer for 15 minutes to kill off any existing bugs. Instead of scented detergent, use a few drops of eucalyptus oil in your laundry. Put hypoallergenic protective covers on your mattress and pillows. And lastly, strip your mattress before you go out of town to give it time to air out. (I won’t rile up pet owners by suggesting you ban furry loved ones from the bedroom, but it’s worth thinking about.) Read more onbedroom allergies here.

PROBLEM #2: LIGHT

Your room is too bright at night. Whether it’s coming from the outside, a nightlight, the television screen, or your blinking alarm clock, any light keeps your body fooled into thinking it’s not sleeping time.

Fixes: Buy really dark curtains, or add liner, to block out street lamps. Also turn off electronic devices and remove anything else that emits brightness. (If you’re worried about getting up in time, try covering your alarm clock instead.) Lastly, swap out higher watt lightbulbs in your bedside lamp for dimmer ones; these will aid the transition as you’re winding down from the day by reading in bed at night.

PROBLEM #3: TEMPERATURE

Some nights you're too hot, and other times, it's too cold. Sleep is induced when you are at rest and your core body temperature lowers. If your heat is on too high (or too cold for that matter), your internal thermostat fluctuates which leads to restless sleep.

Fixes: Everyone is comfortable at different temps, so experiment to find the right one for you. There's no right answer but cooler is generally better - start in the 65 degree range. There are always fans and blankets to help you regulate, but know that bedding material makes a difference too; memory foam pillows and mattresses, for example, are hotter than more traditional ones. If you are still having trouble staying asleep, look into bedding and pads that keep you cooler at night.

PROBLEM #4: NOISE

There’s the 5 am garbage truck variety that’s impossible to ignore. But when it'stoo quiet, the slightest disruption can reach epic proportions and you find yourself focused on that weird hum or dripping faucet. Either way, you need a way to soundproof your sleep.

Fixes: If it’s too loud, wear earplugs as a first resort. Or, try a white noise machine or app —or even a basic fan— to drown out any noises that violate your REM cycle. If it’s really bad, get as far away from the offending noise as possible. Either move your bed to another wall to dampen neighbor noises, or, if you have the option, try swapping your current bedroom with another room entirely. Read more on bedroom noise here.

PROBLEM #5: MATTRESS

Having a healthy, comfortable, supportive mattress is critical to a good night's sleep.

Fixes: Flip your mattress with the seasons, alternating between end-over-end and side-over-side rotation. If it's time for a new one, check out Danny Seo’sgreat tips on mattress shopping. A couple of years ago, Maxwell also experimented with different mattress brands for twelve months and wrote about it in his Year in Bed series.

Happy Mother's Day!

We wanted to take a moment to wish all the mothers a Happy Mother's Day!  Make sure to call your mom, grandma, aunt, or loved one today to tell them Thank You!