Free Rent!

It's moving time for most renters, especially if you live in a college town like Boston. What better way to kick off a new year in a new place than by getting FREE RENT for a year!


You heard me, free rent. Apartment Guide and Penkse Truck Rentals are running a Twitter contest. One lucky winner will receive $15,000 (in some areas that's free rent for TWO years!) and $1000 towards the rental of a Penske truck for moving day.

To win this awesome prize, there are two steps.

1. Go to Twitter.com and follow @aptguide. Twitter's free to join and super addictive so if you're not on already, you should be! (Don't forget to follow @apartment528 while you're at it. It's not part of the contest but it will make me happy!)


2. Tweet. Copy and paste the message below into your tweet (that's a "status update" for you newbies).
   
   Enter for chance to win $15,000 (free rent for year): follow @aptguide and tweet this msg. http://tr.im/freerent #freerent

And you're done. Easy huh?! If you don't win the big prize, don't worry. Four runners-up will win an 8gig iPod Touch. Not a bad consolation prize!

The contest ends 11:59 p.m. ET on August 31, 2009. The winner and runners-up will be notified via direct message from @aptguide on Twitter.

Please note, this is NOT an Apartment 528 contest. This contest is run by Apartment Guide and Penske Truck Rentals. Please see their site for more info.

Good luck and happy tweeting!

Flickr Inspiration

A few of my favorite Flickr Finds.

(via Stewf)

(via Poetic Home)

(via StudioSmith)

(via LunaGirl1)

Apartment Wanted: The Staircase!

Sorry for all the delayed postings. I've been working on the Apt528 Store and doing wedding stuff. No excuse, I know!

Today, I'm just featuring one apartment in Apartment Wanted. Partly because I don't have time to search all the different cities today, and partly because once I saw this spiral staircase I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Porter Square Loft (Boston)
$1550

We have a spiral staircase in our apartment that leads right into the master bedroom. But ours is definitely not as spectacular as this one. I hate the decor (those chairs are hideous) but I'm willling to ignore it for now!

Other than the staircase, the apartment features the standard complex amenities such as stainless steel appliances, bamboo floors, washer and dryer, and seperate bath and shower. I'm guessing $1550 gets you into the studio units. It's probably a lot more for 1 and 2 bedrooms.

Blue

Sunday, Jerome and I went to the Sowa Open Market. This year, they've added a separate Farmers Market and turned the old parking garage (which I want to have my wedding reception in...it's beautiful!) into an Antique Market. As you can guess, I spent most of my time looking at antiques. We found some great pieces - vintage stop lights and walk signs, football pads from the 50's which Jerome LOVED, and several sets of dishes that I almost walked away with. It took serious self-control!

One of my favorite vendors at this year's market was Blue Maison and Jardin. Jeannie, the designer, creates gorgeous pillows and sachets using vintage textiles. A woman after my own heart! I stayed at her booth for like 15 minutes...there were so many great pillow designs. The last pillow is my favorite. Buy it before me and I WILL hunt you down!

19th Century French Textile, $75

Chocolate Brown and Pink, $28


Vintage Linen Lavender-filled Sachet, $22

Vintage Textile Headband, $15

Fun Vintage Pillow, $29

Check out the Blue Etsy store for more.

Apartment Pics

Finally bought a new battery charger so I could take pictures of the apartment. A lot of things have changed since the last time I showed you pics. What do you think?

The big change started in the dining room. We got a gorgeous 1960's room divider from Jerome's grandmother. Our original plan was to use it to seperate the living and dining room like the old bookcases used to, but it was too big so we put it where the dining hutch was. We built it backwards (oops!) so all the pieces aren't where they should be but it was so hard that we don't want to take it apart.

We moved the hutch to where the bookcaes were.


I was nervous I wouldn't like the openess between the two rooms but it's actually great.

The TV wall.


I'm in the middle of making new "art" pieces for the livining room. So far I've only painted them cream. Hopefully I'll get them finished next weekend!

Vintage Shops

My blogging schedule's been thrown off lately. I planned on using a few posts to show you pics of all the changes we've made to the apartment. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to buy batteries for the camera and the charger for the rechargeable batteries is broken. Batteries...just one more reason I hate my camera! I swear I'm going to get a new camera soon. If you have any recommendations, let me know. Something under $250 would be great!

Since I can't show you my apartment, I'll show you the next best thing: vintage shops.

First there's Artyczechs. Their awesome 1950's Bakelite Radio is so amazingly awesome that I just HAD to show you! I love the clean lines and futuristic design. It would go great with the rest of my radio collection.

Aside from great accessories (like the 1960's Bone China Vase below), Artyczechs also has an assortment of funky hanging lights. This glass Czechoslovakian chandelier is my favorite and seems to be in great condition.

Once you're done at Artyczechs, head over to Vintage Swank who lives up to their slogan of being "just plain cool!" Vintage Swank has everything from clothing to housewares. I love the Fabulous Fondues cookbook ($12). We have two fondue sets so this would definitely come in handy!

I've been drooling over these glass candleholders for quite awhile. I want them so bad I added them to my wedding registry!! I'm probably the only bride who has a registry full of vintage items. For those looking for something practical, check out this electric skillet from 1968, also from Vintage Swank. It's never been used...the cord is still coiled! For $75, you could definitely get good use out of it for short money. Not to mention, it comes in the original box with the original papers. Amazing!

Paint on the Floor

I found this gorgeous before & after on Design Sponge. What a great way to brighten up a room and give your home a makeover. It's like having a room-sized rug. I'm someone who needs a rug/carpet in all the living spaces to really make a room feel complete. In this instance, I'd go for a solid color that plays off the sunny yellow of the floors.

If you're a renter, I doubt your landlord will let you paint the floors...it's not a temporary thing! You could always copy the idea by making a wooden wall hanging or floor mat. Ikea usually has extra wood flooring in the As-Is section and you can always find old floor remanents at salvage shops. Check out Design Sponge for more.

GoJo!

You're doing a little DIY - making a fake platform bed, painting your bedroom, re-staining a thrift store find - when you decide to take a snack break. You head to the sink and start washing your hands, all the while thinking of that delicious sandwich you're about to devour. But, wait. The wood stain won't come off your hands. Now you're left with sticky fingers! Not fun.

If that's ever happened to you, I've got the perfect product to cure your sticky-hand-blues. GoJo Hand Cleaner works like magic to remove every trace of grime from your hands. It comes in sevearl different variations and is used in the home improvement, healthcare, and automotive industries. I chose the Natural Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner, which is an all-purpose cleaner that removes paint, grease, stain, and oil from you hands. The pumice scrub feels great on your hands and the orange smell is awesome.

I wasn't able to find GoJo on the Home Depot website, though they do sell it in their store for $3.49. If you search GoJo on Amazon.com, you'll find a huge assortment of GoJo cleaners. I recommend the gallon size for anyone who does a lot of DIY. I'm considering getting the wall mounted pump to keep in my workroom. GoJo also makes hand wipes...great to keep around the house or in your emergency car kit for those times when you have to change a tire or check your oil.

Now you can enjoy your snack break without sticky hands!

Apartment Wanted: Work Work Work

Moving this summer? Don't forget to look for an apartment with a workspace. Whether you're a student or your employer offers work-from-home days, you'll love having a home office to hide-away in when it's time to buckle down.

Remodeled Victorian (Ohio City, OH)

3bed, 2.5bath

$1500/month

Figured I'd start with one from my beloved state of Ohio! This victorian's been completely updated with a modern kitchen, baths, and all new fixtures. According to the listing, there are several rooms that will work great as an office. There's even a billiards room! This 15 room house is by far the largest rental I've seen so far under $2000. I would consider moving back if I got to live here (don't hold your breath, mom!)

Norfolk Foreclosure (Norfolk, VA)

4bed

$1200/month

Foreclosures suck. No one wants to lose their home. On the other hand, foreclosures are great opportunities for renters and home buyers in the market for a new place. Like this gorgeous Virgina home. There's a built-in desk with cabinet space in the kitchen that's great if you just need a small work area for you laptop. If you need something bigger, there's a den with built-in shelving and a 4th bedroom, both good options.

Lofted Workspace (Austin, TX)

2bed, 2bath

$895/month

The loft space in this apartment is great for use as an office. There's nice natural light streaming in from the downstairs windows, and great built-in space to store your books and files. If you need a study break, check out the gym, theatre, or pool...all great perks of living in a gated community.