Your home should be a place for inspiration and relaxation, not just a place to store your belongings. Improve your rental's overall mood with these design tips that are sure to bring the "happy" back into your happy home.

• Improve the lighting. It's no secret that natural sunlight improves your mood, so you want to maximize the amount of it that flows through your home. Switch out heavy draperies or blackout curtains with light, sheer curtains or bamboo blinds, and even replace fluorescent lightbulbs with modern bulbs that mimic the look of sunlight.
• Create a place for everything. Target the areas in your home that collect clutter, such as the area around the front door or the always-overflowing recycling bin. Think of smart solutions for the storage in these areas to create a better flow throughout the home.
• Add some plants and flowers. Studies show that adding some green to your home makes you happy, so fill small pots with leafy green plants, stylish succulents, or blooming flowers.
• Redecorate in soft colors. If you're having trouble relaxing in your bedroom or feeling inspired in your home office, try switching up the color palette. Adding stark white bedding or soft colored throw pillows will create a calming effect in these frequently used areas.

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/Emily May

There’s plenty to learn and even more to enjoy at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. The museum features numerous exhibits and mementos of the presidential career of Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), including his presidential limo and a replica of the Oval Office. The library and research rooms also offer personal appointments with an archivist to source materials of interest during LBJ’s presidency. A single visit to the 10 level facility just isn’t enough.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Though regular admission is only $8 for adults, the museum admits children under 12 for free and offers several Free Admission Days, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day, August 27 (LBJ’s Birthday), President’s Day, and the Fourth of July.

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
2313 Red River Street
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 721-0200
www.lbjlibrary.org

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr quinn.anya

If you recently (or not-so-recently) moved cities, you may want to incorporate decorative items that showcase your hometown pride into your apartment. Whether you're from the next town over or miles away, these online stores offer state- and city-centric items that will show your guests where you come from.

Jelligun
This shop creates pairs of state prints that not only feature your home state, but also your current state. A heart logo marks the city where you're from and the city where you currently live, so you'll always feel like both places are represented in your home.

Covered Bridges
If your style is more rustic, hang a piece of reclaimed wood wall art in the shape of your home state. Each one is customized with your chosen state and the size that you prefer, so you can fill any empty wall with a little piece of home.

TravelSigns
Whether your favorite hometown landmark is your city's baseball field or your alma mater, this Etsy shop creates replica highway signs with the exact number of miles between here and there. You'll also find signs for the highway that leads back to your hometown.

CC-BY-2.0/ProFlowers