Want to show your apartment in the most flattering light possible? Use these smart tips for choosing the right type of lighting for every room in your home.

• Illuminate your foyer and hallway with bright, cheery lighting. Add a floor lamp directly next to the front door that will light your way when you come home at night, and consider placing a bright lamp on a side table in the hallway so that you can easily see where you’re going.
• Add soft, soothing light in the bedroom, as this is supposed to be a place of relaxation. Try using a small lamp with a lower-watt light bulb.
• In the living room, you can add a tall, arched lamp next to the couch for a stylish look and to add additional lighting when you’re lounging around at night. If the light bulbs in the overhead light are too bright, switch them out with something less glaring.
• Add a hanging pendant light right above the kitchen table. There are many options that don’t require hardwiring, so you can easily hang them and switch them out when you move.

How to Choose the Right Lighting for Each Room [WikiHow]
How To Choose The Lighting Fixtures For Your Home – A Room-By-Room Guide [HomeDit]
How to Choose the Right Size Lighting Fixture [LightsOnline.com]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr LOLren

So you didn’t go to school for interior design? No big deal; you can still transform your home into a designer-worthy space using just a few simple tips. These handy tricks will show you how to inject a stylish, inspiring look into any room in your home.

1. Use symmetry. If you’re unsure of how to arrange the furniture in a room or hang frames on a wall, simply keep the idea of symmetry in mind. Symmetrical rooms are more pleasing to the eye, so try adding two sofas facing one another to help balance your living room.
2. Consider the scale. Be sure to choose furniture in a size that fits your specific room. Choose large, overstuffed items for more open rooms and compact, apartment-sized furniture in smaller spaces.
3. Choose a focal point. If the majority of your furniture is fairly plain, invest in one statement piece as an accent. Try a colorful chair, a large, framed painting, or an ornate rug.
4. Use color to your advantage. Choose the color scheme of a room based on what type of emotion you want the room to convey. For example, use soft, soothing tones to encourage relaxation in a bedroom.
5. Mix new and vintage pieces. While a room full of thrift store furnishings may look mismatched, using all brand new furniture looks impersonal. Combine the two styles for a designer look.

Top Interior Design Tips for Beginners [Bliss at Home]
Interior Design 101 [Visual.ly]
What are Some Interior Design Tips for Beginners? [Wise Geek]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr winestyr

There are likely days when it maintaining your—or your family's—day-to-day schedule can prove to be a daunting task. Why not consider creating a central home command center? You can rely on this single location to keeping things running smoothly in your abode. Here's how to do it:

1. Choose the perfect space. Whether you pick an unused wall in the kitchen or a small nook in the living room, just about any centrally located space in your home will do.
2. Post a bulletin board. This is essential for displaying notes, recording missed phone calls, or posting bills with near-approaching due dates.
3. Add a calendar. Keep everyone’s sports schedules and work trips on file with a large calendar in your command center. Encourage your family members to write their upcoming appointments on the calendar so that there’s no missed communication as the date approaches.
4. Take advantage of shelves. Whether you have a full bookcase or a simple hanging shelf, shelves are important for storing file folders, medical records, and bins for spare keys and other essentials.
5. Cut the clutter. To avoid clutter in your command center, weed out the junk mail, magazines, smelly gym bags, and other unimportant items.

Do you have tips for staying organized? Please share them!

How to Organize the Family Command Center [Real Simple]
Family Command Center [Pinterest]
Done in a Day: Family Command Center [Southern Living]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/photosteve101

Purchasing furniture is one of the priciest investments that you make in your home, so you likely want to keep it looking as good as new. Follow these smart tips for preventing stains, rips, and other signs of wear and tear on your new furniture.

1. Invest in high-quality pieces. First and foremost, investing in good quality furniture is one of the very best ways to ensure that it keeps its original look for years to come.
2. Protect your fabrics and upholstery. When you first purchase a new rug or upholstered sofa, pay a bit extra to have a professional administer a protective coating to repel stains.
3. Flip sofa cushions. By flipping your sofa cushions monthly, you can distribute the weight from frequent use to multiple parts of the cushion.
4. Minimize eating in the living room. If you’re already trying to break this bad habit, just imagine a food stain on your brand new sofa for a bit of extra motivation.
5. Tackle stains immediately. Whether it’s on a rug or the sofa, the most important way to prevent permanent staining is by addressing it immediately so that it can’t sink into the fabric. Read the care instructions on your furniture or rugs when you purchase them so that you know exactly how to remove that red wine stain before it inflicts major damage.

How to Keep Your Furniture Looking Like New [WikiHow]
4 Steps to Keep Your Furniture Looking New [Apartment Therapy]
Keep Your Sofa Looking Like New in 3 Easy Steps! [Shofer’s]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/Maegan Tintari