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How to Disguise Unsightly Cables, Cords and Wires

September 15, 2016 by

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]

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How to Decorate Your Apartment Using Wallpaper

August 18, 2016 by

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]

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Decorating with Color? Learn the Meaning Behind Your Favorite Hues

July 21, 2016 by

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]

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How to Squeeze Every Inch Out of Your Closet Space

May 19, 2016 by

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]

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Kick Back This Weekend With These HGTV Shows

February 19, 2015 by

Love watching home shows? Check out these two home renovation programs.

Fixer Upper
Fixer Upper is a fairly new HGTV show that follows married couple Chip and Joanna Gaines as they pair wary homebuyers with run-down, older houses in the Waco-Dallas area. The couple sees the potential in these older homes and helps the buyers to renovate them back to their former glory, from the intricate crown molding to the gleaming hardwood floors. All of the Gaines’s renovations feature a rustic charm that’s very unique to Texas, and once you see Joanna’s storage shed filled with potential design elements that she purchased from junk shops around town, you might become a fan of the show.

House Hunters Renovation
The most DIY-heavy of the House Hunters shows, House Hunters Renovation focuses on homebuyers who don’t mind getting their hands dirty when purchasing a new home. The hour-long show follows the usual formula of a buyer choosing between three potential homes, but the last half of the program is dedicated entirely to the renovation process after they've purchased the property.

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Have Some Spare Time? Check Out These Popular Shows on HGTV

October 16, 2014 by

If the phrases “hardwood floors” and “granite countertops” get your heart racing, you’re sure to love HGTV’s endless list of incredibly entertaining home design programs. Here are two of the network’s most beloved shows that make for hours of weekend binge watching.

House Hunters International
Have you always wondered what it would be like it live in a villa in Barcelona or a centuries-old apartment in Paris? House Hunters International follows equally adventurous house hunters as they give into their wanderlust and move thousands of miles away from home. The show explores all corners of the world and gives you a taste of the local culture, as well as the local real estate market.

Love It or List It, Too
This remake of the popular Love It or List It features the same competitive edge with a duo of newer, younger hosts. Love It or List It, Too follows a family who is tired of their current home as they decide whether to renovate what they already have or move somewhere entirely new. Realtor Todd competes with designer Jillian as he attempts to find the couple a new house, and Jillian attempts to re-work their current one.

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Three Interior Design Rules Everyone Should Know

July 24, 2014 by

While you may not be an interior designer yourself, there’s no reason why your home shouldn’t look like you are. Even if you live in a rental, there are a few simple things you can do that will completely transform the look of your home. Here are three interior design rules that everyone should know.

  1. Move slowly. It’s very tempting to buy furniture all at once when you move into a new space, but that’s actually one of the most common interior design mistakes. Be thoughtful about the things that you incorporate into your home to ensure that you like them a few months (or years) down the line. Even if this means living with a bare living room for a while, it’s almost always worth it.
  2. Avoid buying sets or furniture all in one place. If you purchase furniture in a set or buy an entire room’s decor from one store, it’s always very easy to tell. To avoid creating a monochromatic room that looks like a child’s bedroom, mix and match materials, colors, and textures from a few different sources.
  3. Don’t fight against the quirks. Many spaces, especially rentals, have built-in architectural details that you simply can’t change. Rather than trying to hide them or “fix” them, purchase furniture that works with your home’s little quirks. For example, add a window seat against a bay window to maximize the views rather than covering it with a large sofa.

6 Basic Interior Design Rules [Suite]
The 3 Principles of Interior Design [HGTV]
The 7 Rules of Interior Design [Zillow Blog]
5 Rookie Mistakes You’ll Never Make Again [Apartment Therapy]

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