How to Disguise Unsightly Cables, Cords and Wires

Nobody likes the sight of tangled, messy cords and wires, but these long cords are essential for operating electronics. If you want to tuck away unsightly cords to preserve your decor at Avana Grove, these smart steps will show you how.

  1. Mark each cord. First, begin by wrapping a piece of matte tape around the cord and leaving a bit of extra at the end. Label each cord with a marker to keep things organized.
  2. Clip the cords together. Next, clip the cords together in a smooth strip using a binder clip. For longer cords, you may want to add additional clips.
  3. Tuck cords away. Now that the cords are all clipped together, you’ll want to hide them as best as you can behind their corresponding piece of furniture. Try winding the cords into a loop if you have a larger piece of furniture. For desks and other items with slender legs, you may want to line the cords up behind one leg.
  4. Secure the cords in place. Once you decide where to place the cords, secure them using sturdy tape or Velcro strips. This will ensure that the cords stay hidden through daily use.

How To Hide Home Wires [Apartment Therapy]
36 Genius Ways To Hide The Eyesores In Your Home [Buzzfeed]
Hiding Cables [Pinterest]

How to Decorate Your Apartment Using Wallpaper

Have you ever considered using wallpaper to decorate your home at Avana Grove? Wallpaper scraps and temporary wallpaper can be used for DIY projects in pretty much every room in your apartment. Follow these unique tips to add some style and color to your space!

  • Add some brightness to your lamp shade by sizing a piece of wallpaper around the lamp and using hot glue or tape to place it on the shade.
  • Spruce up your dresser, bedside table, bookcase, or any other old piece of furniture by using modern wallpaper to accent its drawers or shelves.
  • Using removable, damage-free wallpaper, cover the wall behind your bed. Voila! Instant focal point that demands attention.
  • Create a focal piece of artwork for your apartment by framing a large piece of wallpaper to hang on your wall.
  • Make coasters to place on your tables out of small scraps of leftover wallpaper.
  • Use wallpaper to line the bottom of any serving tray and polish it for a creative way to showcase your food.
  • Line the drawers in your bathroom with wallpaper to add a splash of color that is quick and easy to clean.
  • Get creative in your kitchen by dressing up your refrigerator with a retro style temporary wallpaper.

7 Wallpaper Craft Projects (That Don’t Involve Walls) [Reader’s Digest]
10 Uses for Wallpaper Scraps [This Old House]
9 Unexpected Ways to Decorate With Wallpaper [Good Housekeeping]

Decorating with Color? Learn the Meaning Behind Your Favorite Hues

When decorating, follow your instinct and incorporate colors that make you feel energized and inspired. Here’s how to figure out the meaning of the colors that you’re drawn to and how to incorporate them into your home.

  • Blue represents the color of the waves in the ocean and should be used to be calming, healing, and relaxing. It also exemplifies the feeling of security and dependability.
  • Green represents newness and life. It is a balancing color that stands for growth, abundance, and nature.
  • In decorating, red is a very powerful color. It is exciting and powerful and represents luxury, passion and romance.
  • Purple is a very spiritual color that represents abundance and dignity.
  • Yellow is a color that gives you a happy and uplifting feeling. It is a great sociable color so it’s recommended for your kitchen, dining room, or living room areas.
  • Grey represents “the rock” and stands for solidity and support. It is probably the most popular neutral in decorating because it can seem nondescript.
  • White can have a way of making you feel clean, pure, and innocent. It represents hope and openness and is very inviting.
  • Decorating with the dramatic color black can bring a sense of elegance and sophistication to your space.

Color 101: Learn the Underlying Meaning of Your Favorite Shades [HGTV]
What the Color of Your Living Room Says About You [House Beautiful]
FENG SHUI COLORS: Find out the meaning of colors and how to use them successfully in your home [Feng Shui & Beyond]

How to Squeeze Every Inch Out of Your Closet Space

If you have a messy closet, your whole room can feel off, and putting outfits together can be difficult when you can’t find what you’re looking for. Organizing your wardrobe can be a little overwhelming, so follow these tips to achieve an orderly, well-maintained closet.

  • Donate or get rid of any clothing items that you haven’t worn in more than two years.
  • Keep out-of-season clothes in large plastic bins and place them under your bed or on high shelves to make space for items that you’ll be reaching for during that time of year.
  • Use a shoe hanger to place over your closet door to free up some floor or shelf space.
  • Hang your most worn items at eye level where you can see them.
  • Keep your folded clothes and accessories neat and tidy by using shelf dividers.
  • Hang hooks inside your closet for extra storage space. These are great for jackets and will clear up a lot of space for your clothes.
  • Color-code your clothes so you’ll know exactly where everything is when you need it.

20 Ways to Organize Your Bedroom Closet [Apartment Therapy]
The Experts Spill Their Tips For A Clean, Well-Organized Closet [Who What Wear]
How to Organize A Lot of Clothing in Very Little Closet Space [Lifehacker]

Neat and Nifty DIY Projects for Your Kitchen

While you may not be able to pull off a full kitchen renovation in your rental, you can make the space function better for your needs by crafting up a few simple projects. Here are just three useful DIY projects that will improve your kitchen space and help make it your own.

Dip-Dye Wooden Spoons [housebeautiful.com]
Looking to add more color to your kitchen without going overboard? This simple tutorial will add rainbow hues to your wooden kitchen utensils, and best of all, it takes less than an hour to complete. Store them upside down in a large ceramic jar to show off their fun new makeover.

Additional Cabinet Storage [lifehacker.com]
If the items in your kitchen cabinets are always stacked precariously on top of one another, you could likely benefit from additional storage. Add a tension rod for additional storage, or add a classic Lazy Susan so that you can reach things like spices and small jars with ease.

Cutting Board Tablet Stand [countryliving.com]
If you frequently use your iPad or other tablet to look up recipes or listen to music in the kitchen, keep it protected by creating your own stand out of an old cutting board. Simply attach a wooden Scrabble tile stand to the bottom to hold up the tablet, then prop up the entire cutting board using an old door stop on the back.

Transform Your Ordinary Bookcase Into a Showcase With These Simple Tips

If you frequently find yourself admiring stylish bookcase vignettes on interior design websites, you’re not alone. While these beautiful shelves look effortless online, it can be much more difficult to create one in person. Here are a few simple steps for creating a designer-worthy bookcase — without giving yourself a headache!

  1. Alternate books. Instead of lining your books up library-style, alternate their direction by also adding stacks of horizontal-facing books. You can even place a small paperweight or candle on top of those stacks to add more visual interest.
  2. Organize books by color. If your bookshelf is filled to the brim with reading materials, make it look more organized by arranging the titles by color to create a rainbow effect.
  3. Unify mismatched knick-knacks. If your collection of knick-knacks looks a bit shabby, unify the set by painting them all one color. Try a stark white, a bold primary hue, or a fun pop of neon.
  4. Decorate the insides of the shelves. Give your bookshelf itself a makeover by adding a bright coat of paint or a layer of wallpaper to the backs of each shelf.
  5. Add artwork. Instead of just using books and knick-knacks, turn your shelves into an art gallery. Prop up a frame or even hang a picture from the front of the shelves where their corners meet.

Bookshelf Styling Tips: The Basics and Beyond [HGTV]
Styling a Bookshelf: 10 Homes That Get It Right [Design Sponge]
10 Tricks for Styling Your Bookshelves [Style Me Pretty: Living]

How to Add Organic Touch to Your Home’s Decor

Going organic doesn’t end at the grocery store. In fact, there are a number of different ways that you can incorporate organic elements throughout your entire home. Here are just a few great ways to add a natural touch to the decor in your living space.

  • Create a nature-inspired vignette. If you admire something beautiful on your morning walk, such as a unique branch or a particularly interesting stone, add it to a stack of books on a tabletop to create a flawless vignette.
  • Create stone hot pads. Glue smooth, flat stones to the surface of simple kitchen hot pads to keep your countertops protected from hot pots and pans.
  • Choose natural rugs. Soft, organic materials like jute and hemp look beautiful when woven into a rug, and they’re much friendlier on the environment than synthetic versions.
  • Create organic centerpieces. The next time you host a dinner party, fill a ceramic vase with foraged tree branches or add pine cones to a clear bowl for a unique centerpiece inspired by the outdoors.
  • Change up your drapes. One of the simplest ways to bring the outdoors in is by allowing as much natural light as possible into your home. Switch out heavy drapes with soft, sheer panels to maximize the light.

Decorating with Natural Elements [Better Homes & Gardens]
10 Simple Ways to Bring the Outdoors Inside [Freshome]
Decorating with Natural Elements from Natural Kitchen and Home [Pinterest]

Shop for Stylish Organizational Products at These Popular Retailers

Organizing your home may seem like a daunting task, but when you invest in chic, stylish organizational products at popular home decor stores, it becomes a whole lot more, well, fun! Here are just three great retailers that offer storage bins, shelves, baskets, and home office supplies to help you get your mess under control.

West Elm
If you love the look of mid-century modern home furnishings, this popular retailer is for you. West Elm offers everything from basic baskets for corralling blankets in the living room to hanging wall shelves made for organizing mail and magazines, and you can feel confident that each item will add major modern flair to any room in the home.

CB2
For anyone whose home decor style is modern and minimalist, CB2 offers a great selection of clean-lined containers, wall-mounted storage shelves, and even multipurpose furniture that plays double duty as a storage unit. Whether you're looking for something futuristic or something simple, you'll find both in this wide selection.

Urban Girl Office Supply
If you work from home, get your office organized with fun, colorful office supplies from this eclectic online retailer. You’ll find bright neon paper trays, designer name file folders, and even patterned labels to help you locate everything once it’s neatly tucked away.

How to Corral Clutter and Organize Your Kitchen

Your kitchen is one of the most commonly used areas in your home, and between your morning coffee and the evening’s meal, it can also get messy. To avoid constantly navigating a cluttered kitchen, use these smart tips for keeping yours clean and well organized — even if you only have a few minutes to spare each day.

  1. Add a bin for loose items. If your kitchen countertops commonly collect things that are meant to go in other rooms, add a bin to corral those loose items. You can throw your keys, mail, and magazines in that bin to keep them from cluttering the counters.
  2. Install extra cabinet storage. If you notice that your cabinets just don’t work for the things inside of them, add extra shelves or temporary organizers. This will keep plastic containers from spilling out and enable you to make use of that extra space in tall cabinets.
  3. Hide the trash. Instead of leaving the recycling and trash cans in plain sight, tuck them away in a closet or cabinet to create a clean, tidy look.
  4. Store commonly used items on the counter. Add a large jar for everyday utensils, keep your most-used cookbooks handy, and even consider storing appliances like the coffeepot or toaster right on the counter.
  5. Purge the refrigerator. Once a week, go through your refrigerator and toss out any leftovers, check expiration dates, and give the whole thing a good cleaning.

How to Organize Your Kitchen [Real Simple]
24 Smart Organizing Ideas for Your Kitchen [Real Simple]
15 Minute Clutter Sweeps for Every Room in Your Home [About Home]
How to Organize Kitchen Cabinets [Better Homes & Gardens]

Give Old Furniture a Paint Makeover With These Must-Know Tips

Furniture is expensive, which is why you can’t exactly run out for a replacement when your sofa starts to look worn or your coffee table shows some signs of wear. With a bit of elbow grease, you can make over your outdated furniture and turn it into something fresh and new — without spending a fortune.

  • Choose the right paint. If you decide to paint a piece of furniture to give it new life, be sure to buy paint that's made specifically for the material of your piece. Use a high quality brush (or an easy-to-use spray) that won’t leave behind stray bristles or residue.
  • Sand away old paint. If your furniture is already painted — and most is — be sure to start with a rough sandpaper and sand away the old paint. Finish with a finer grade paper to create a smooth, blank canvas.
  • Add a primer. Many first-time painters don’t realize that some pieces of furniture require a primer before painting to help the paint stick. If you’re worried about how thorough you were with your sanding, a primer might be a good choice.
  • Fill in holes. If your wooden furniture is filled with nicks and holes, make it look like new again with a simple wood filler from your local hardware store. Fill the holes, let it dry and sand away the excess for a smooth finish.

Paint Makeovers: An Expert Tells All [Bob Vila]
How To Paint Furniture [Live Love DIY]
Quick Furniture Makeovers for Fashionable Results [Benjamin Moore]

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