DIY Apartment Pick Me Up

(Image courtesy of traveltomadeira.com)

Wherever you live, little projects will crop up that are not big enough to call your landlord (or property manager) to handle. In these situations, there has to be some way to take care of the stain in your carpet or the nail holes that you can’t cover up.

Rather than simply learning to live with these non-emergency issues it could be worth your while to learn to trouble-shoot these problems on your own. This article from renters.apartments.com will equip you with some DIY solutions to some more common apartment problems. Keep reading to learn more:

Stained bathtub: Real Simple recommends a concoction of cream of tartar, baking soda and lemon juice to remove stains from porcelain. Better yet, this method is less toxic and less expensive than abrasive store-bought cleaning products.

Drafty windows: Cranking up the heat is not the best way to compensate for old windows. Buy weather stripping or plastic for your windows and plug up any holes that are letting cold air in. This will not only make your place warmer, but should also help decrease your energy bill.

Slow drain: If you don’t have a drain snake handy, BuzzFeed recommends pouring a cup of baking soda, followed by a cup of vinegar, down the drain. Then run the hot water to create a gunk-fighting foam.

Slamming door: Another Real Simple solution, use foam weather stripping or a rubber band to decrease the noise.

Ugly nail holes: If the former tenants didn’t do a good job of spackling where their pictures used to hang, buy some yourself, let it dry, then go over it with a damp sponge. This Old House says this method is damage and dust free.

Grimy showerhead: The website Household Hackers is full of quick fix ideas. For a showerhead, fill a plastic bag with vinegar and let it soak for 15 minutes.

Dull sink fixtures: Readers Digest offers up all sorts of uses for toothpaste, including shining up faucets, cleaning the bathroom sink, and removing crayon from walls.

Rusty cast iron pans: Cut a potato in half and cover the flat end in salt, then use it to scrub your pan. Get the full details at SheKnows.com.

Squeaky floor: HGTV says sprinkling baby powder or baking soda onto the squeaky joint will lubricate the wood and keep the floorboards from rubbing against each other, which is what causes the noise.