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Top Pick: Waterpik VFC-133T Rainfall Shower Head | $23 | Amazon
The year after college, I moved into an apartment that had the worst shower head in the world. No amount of adjustments could cure the razor blade feeling of water stabbing my skin, so I replaced it with one of those cool-looking rain shower heads. A friend of mine came over, noticed the shower head, and thought I was living like a sultan.
I’m pretty sure I got it for $20 at Target.
I’m not a renter anymore, but in the years since college, I’ve found countless ways to improve a living space—any living space—with inexpensive, temporary upgrades. That means whether you own your home or live in an apartment with no permanent changes allowed, you can take advantage. (I’m talking practical upgrades, too—not just cute wallpaper stickers and fake plants, although those things are great too.) And thanks to a certain global quarantine, you might as well make your apartment as pleasant to live in as possible.
A Decent Shower Head
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Ah, the purchase that started it all. I wasn’t nearly as DIY-inclined at 22 as I am now, so once I realized you could replace a shower head by merely unscrewing it, I was off to the races. I’m not sure I even needed any tools, though if it’s a tight fit, you might want to use a crescent wrench and a soft cloth (to prevent scratches that reveal your treachery). The world is your oyster in terms of hardware—you can get large shower heads, shower heads with flexible necks, and magnetic detachable shower heads (though then you start to get a bit higher in price). Browse around Amazon and Home Depot and you’re sure to find something inexpensive that fits your style—just remember to put the old shower head in your bathroom cabinet for replacing before you move out.
An Inexpensive Bidet
Look, my colleagues have extolled the virtues of bidets time and time again on this blog, so I won’t rehash it here. Suffice to say if you haven’t upgraded yet, what are you doing with your life?
I waited far too long to get on this train, thinking only expensive $300+ models are worth buying—and while they are incredible, an inexpensive model like this one from Brondell will get you 80% of the utility a tenth of the price. It won’t heat the water or dry your bum with a fan, but I found it was more than pleasant to use. It’s also extremely easy to install—just turn the water off at the toilet, unscrew the hose, and connect the bidet’s hose using the included T-adapter. I promise, it’s even simpler than that sentence made it sound, and your tush will thank you.
Ethernet ... Ethernet Everywhere
This isn’t an upgrade everyone needs, but tech nerds like me know how useful Ethernet is—back in my apartment days, it felt like it took forever to back my computer up to my NAS across the room, and online gaming suffered from annoying latency and dropouts. Instead of spending a ton of money to upgrade your router—which will always be imperfect—run some damn Ethernet through your apartment. You don’t need to open the walls or trip over cables, just grab some long Cat6 cables and some cable raceways to make some clean runs along the baseboards or ceiling. (I used Command strips with the cable raceways to make sure I didn’t pull off any paint with included too-strong adhesive.) I’ve also used powerline adapters in the past, but they can be more finicky in some apartments than others—so the longer Ethernet runs are well worth the extra work. Your internet will be faster and more reliable than ever, and you won’t have to futz with the Wi-Fi to keep your Zoom calls stable.
A Few Cheap Smart Bulbs
You don’t have to outfit the entire apartment with smart lights to reap the benefits—and you don’t have to spend a ton, either. A few Wyze bulbs at $15 each can change your regular lights to dimmable ones, give you remote control, and customize the color temperatures. I absolutely love this feature in the bedroom—I can get whiter light in the morning to mimic sunlight and wake me up, and redder lights at night when I’m reading in bed. And thanks to the app (or voice control through Alexa), I can turn the lights off when I’m done reading without having to get out of bed.
Magnetic Screen Doors, Privacy Clings, and Other Window Coverings
When I first moved to San Diego, my wife and I rented an apartment that was lovely, but for some ungodly reason contained no screen on the back door—which we desperately needed to keep open in the summer for airflow. I wish I’d known then about magnetic screens, which you can install around the doorjamb with velcro—air comes in, bugs stay out. (Just make sure you buy one that’s the right height and width for your door.) On a similar note, we also found these privacy window clings helpful in a few apartments where certain windows didn’t have fogged glass. I never did find a way to avoid my apartment’s terrible vertical blinds, but I’m sure someone in the comments has a solution for the rest of you.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course. You probably already know the beauty of Command picture-hanging strips and stick-on hooks, which I’ve used endlessly over the years. The Inventory’s Chelsea Stone made over her entire kitchen with a stick-on backsplash and marble-style countertop cover, and apparently there are similar products for ugly kitchen floors too. I’ve also heard of people replacing kitchen knobs and handles, which only requires a screwdriver—and requires no permanent changes, so you can put things back when you move out. I’m sure you all have a ton of other great ideas, so let’s hear them in the comments.
from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/2L4qL88
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