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Interest in gardening is becoming more popular these days, and it is not only shaping up at over-50 crowd but also to younger gardeners. The National Gardening Association’s 2019 National Gardening Survey says that the millennial generation (ages 18 to 34) continues to grow at a higher rate than older age groups – now equalling Baby Boomers and beyond. The millennials have been responsible for the record on spending on gardening despite lower household incomes than other age groups, and most of them live in an apartment. For those who love gardening, try to look at these 2020’s gardening trends for apartments.

Plant parenting

It is a new gardening term that refers to plant care – especially millennials that are becoming more interested in houseplants. There are at least two new books with titles “plant parenting,” and the term is popping up in social media. You can see gardening influencers on Instagram. There’s a specific account in social media that wrote a houseplant book and have gathered 127,000 followers. The houseplant trend is engaging in millennials, especially those living in apartments.

The theory is because millennials are often living in apartments, so they see houseplants as a convenient, space-saving way to grow plants as well as a way to connect to nature. Houseplant sales at some garden centers have been trending upward for years and increased another 14 percent last year. It is not expected that this upward trend will end anytime soon. The gardening boom is already seen as one of the No. 1 trends in 2020. With this gardening trend, people, including millennials, are becoming increasingly interested in ways to decorate their apartment with houseplants.

Succulent plants

The succulent, categorized as a hot plant, is easy to grow, and they continue to gain popularity. These fleshy-leafed plants include cactus, hens and chicks, sedum, echeveria, and aloe. These plants are running in tandem with the houseplant phenomenon and have already become a global trend where both tender and hardy succulents are being used in gardens. Cactus and succulent sales shot up 25 percent last year and show no sign of slacking.

Fueling the interest in growing succulent is the wide variety of colors, shapes, and forms of succulents as well as their ease of growth (low water needs, compact space, few troubles with bugs, insects, and animals). Many of the gardeners now, including millennials, are trying to get away from often spraying their plants.

Kinder, gentler gardening

The millennial generation, and the industry as a whole, has the desire to be more ecologically responsible that will translate into less chemical use. It also means that gardeners are increasingly looking for severe, naturally bug-and disease-resistant plants so they can grow healthy even with less spraying. Most of the gardeners today are keenly interested in eco-friendly ways to grow house plants as well as bigger-picture sustainable practices, which led to the new Regenerative Organic Certification launched last June.

That certification adds factors such as soil health, fair trade, and animal welfare to the non-chemical requirements of being certified organic. It is found out that half of U.S. consumers say they would buy a brand if they knew production of it was done with concern for the environment.

Pollinators and native plants

It is another gardening trend that’s been active in the last few years, and one that trend-watchers say is showing no signs of diminishing. With eco-friendly concerns, gardeners are planting with an eye on attracting pollinators and helping native wildlife on adding ornamental considerations to indoor plants. The milkweeds are a native plant family that’s especially trendy.

Garden nooks

People are now becoming more interested in creating secluded spots for relaxing and enjoying a great time in their yard’s gardens. Nurturing a garden can be rewarding as you spend leisure time in the space you’ve created. A garden nook within the space is the perfect place to pause, relax, and unwind.

Nooks are typically built in the shade and have comfortable seating as well as things such as water sources or wind chimes. The concept of garden nooks is not new, but the idea is to experience some great idea as we all continue our quest for that ever-elusive work-life balance.

Herbalism

Another great idea for gardeners to think about is to turn attention to a more in-depth look at herbalism. It’s always a good idea for gardeners if they grow herbs for tea (lavender, chamomile, basil, and yes, even chemical-free roses to harvest the petals as well as DIY herbal syrups and elixirs.

Whether you have been gardening all your life or you want to start gardening from scratch, you should look at these 2020’s gardening trends for apartments.

Start the Year Right: How to Fill Your Home with Positivity

Many of us consider our home a place to retreat from the world and enjoy a relaxing stay. Also recognized as a sanctuary, our house is where we should feel grounded and centered for us to create, inspire, and grow. Whatever the reason, you can always fill your home with positivity. Here are some ways how to do it:

1. Clear Clutter

Clearing clutter can create space in your home and can bring a flow of positive, inspiring, and creative energy. As clutter promotes stagnant energy and attracts negative entities, it can also make you feel less motivated and even depressed. Start by getting rid of all the things you no longer need or use. These things include cupboards, closets, or basements that are crammed with things that have already been forgotten. As a rule of the thumb, if you haven’t used the thing in a year or it doesn’t bring you joy anymore, it’s now time to let it go.

2. Lighting and Air

Areas that are dim and with stuffy air can also attract negative entities and can also impact your mood. Dark areas in your home can slow down the vibration of energy, causing you to become sluggish or feel unmotivated. During the day, open up the curtains and the windows and put some light in darker areas of the home with lamps that emit natural-looking light. Use Himalayan Salt lamps as they are active in clearing away negative energy, stress, and air pollutants. If the air quality in the place you live is an issue, consider investing in an air purifier or indoor plants.

#3. White Sage

White Sage has been used to drive away negative energies for many years. They can keep your home safe and protected from unwelcome visitors. White Sage also has healing properties and can help to calm nervous tension and can clear the air after arguments. It is also great for creating a gap between you and noisy or disruptive neighbors. To use white sage, burn it to allow the smoke to fill the corners of your home. Walk around your place to fill your home with positive and loving energy.

4. Singing Bowls or Bells

Many of us know that sound is a powerful tranquilizer and can also help to harmonize the vibration of your place. Singing bowls and bells can help stimulate different types of energy. There is a belief that these things can balance the right and left sides of the brain, can reduce stress, and can improve meditation practices and relaxation. Singing bowls or bells are a great way to cleanse your space or second-hand furniture, reduce anxiety about your living condition, and promote peace and clarity.

5. Crystals

Crystals also offer a great way to fill your home with positivity as they can absorb, clear, and re-calibrate negative energy. The crystals that are listed below are best to use in filling your home with positivity.

Clear Quartz: can help strengthen positive energy in your home as it can absorb and clear negative energy. It can also help reduce fear, stress, and anxiety. Place the quartz around computers, in the bedroom, kitchen, in the living room, or anywhere you need positive energy.

Rose Quartz: can help create harmony, trust, and good relationships within the home. It is perfect for couples looking to make a healthy relationship. Rose Quartz is excellent to keep in your bedroom. Make sure to use two crystals if you wish a romantic relationship.

Amethyst: can help promote spiritual development and finding your higher purpose. It can help also absorb negative entities, stagnant or stuck energy, and is a powerful protector. It is also great when you want to stimulate your creativity and intuition. Place amethyst in your meditation room, home office, or in the main living space.

Jade: can help promote family harmony, friendship, and mindfulness. It can also energize and can help you feel safe and supported. It is also said to improve functional health and fortune. Place the jade in your office, in the front door, or the main living area.

Tigers Eye: can help protect your home and space from unwelcome visitors and negative entities. It can also help create a stronger, more balanced energy in the house to motivate and help you set goals. Place this in the home office or anywhere you need a boost of energy.

When you want to fill your home with positivity, make sure to follow these tips as they can help make your home free of negative energy.

Creative Ideas to Bring the Spirit of Christmas in Your Apartment

All of us, even those with a different faith, love the holidays. Don’t let your space or budget hold you back from celebrating the holiday season to the max.

These creative ideas will show you how to deck your home with DIY Christmas decorations.

Look for some spare ornaments, and DIY the rest

When you are ready to decorate your apartment and want to start your ornament collection from scratch, it can be a strain on your budget. So before you start mass-ordering ornaments, ask your family and friends if they have any extra items that’s just taking up space in their homes. There’s a high chance that they have things that’s no longer needed, like an extra set of lights just gathering dust in the garage. If they aren’t being used it anymore, they’ll probably be happy to give them to you. Once you’ve collected these things, you can easily make ornaments on your own.

Hunt for cheap holiday decorations

Your home holiday makeover will soon be complete. It helps to decorate your walls, coffee tables, and windows, which you can do without bleeding your pockets. To hunt for cheap holiday decorations, look for some thrift stores. After that, stalk the aisles of a shopping mall for affordable displays. Make sure to search online for any seasonal flash sales. It’s also a good idea to stroll through holiday pop-up stores in your neighborhood. You can find affordable items there like those ubiquitous paper star lanterns.

DIY holiday decorations for your home

When you want to save on your holiday decorations, try to do it on your own. Begin with crafting classic: the Mason jar snow globe. You can find supplies such as glitters, glue, and tiny sleighs at your local craft store. Making holiday decors is simple enough for a child to make. So if you have kids, you can invite them for fun in engaging holiday activity. Also, you can create a cute votive display with upcycled cans, wrapping paper, and a wooden hanger

If you still have in mind like making a wreath but have already drained your budget, make one out of gift bows. Get a Styrofoam wreath ring and Attach a loop of floral wire around it, you can find these at any craft store, save-on-crafts.com, and even Dollar Tree. After getting all the supplies, you can now hot glue your bows to the ring.

Make Christmas tree potpourri

If you have bought a large tree, collect a few fragrant branches for a festive potpourri. All you need to do is collect two small branches, break them up, and then combine them in a brown paper bag with cinnamon sticks, cloves, dried orange peel, and cotton balls containing essential oils. Combine them all and then marinate it in an airtight container for one week. After that, you can bust out the potpourri; this can make your apartment smelling like Christmas.

Line your windows with paper snowflakes

It’s not just kids that appreciate paper snowflakes; everybody loves to see snowflakes on the windows. Even if you are not a skilled crafter, you can easily make some seriously difficult ones. Regardless of your paper-folding proficiency, lining your windows with paper snowflakes is a cheap and fun way to brighten up your windows. You can search tutorial from Martha Stewart on how to make fancy paper snowflakes.

Display your holiday cards

Many of us are still getting tons of holiday cards from friends and family across the country. Displaying your loved ones’ holiday greetings with smiling faces is a surefire way to boost holiday cheer, so don’t relegate those cards to a pile on your counter. Make use of the vertical space of your apartment by hanging the cards up on the walls. Turn the holiday cards into a jolly display with a tree branch and some ribbon.

Wrap your cabinet doors like presents

Wrap a red polka dot ribbon onto your cabinet doors and hot glue glittery red bows on top. It’s simple, beautiful, and you can reuse the supplies year after year for Christmas. If you have some extra ribbon and bows hidden somewhere, use them to apply a cheery touch to your kitchen cabinets. As these holiday decorating ideas prove, wrapping your cabinets in a simple red ribbon can make your kitchen downright holly-jolly.

If you want to make your apartment look great during the holiday season, try to apply these creative ideas so you can feel the true spirit of Christmas in your apartment.

7 DIY Projects that Will Make Your Home Cozy This Winter

When you see signs of cold weather and less sunlight, it’s time to get ready for the freezing temperatures. As the arrival of the cold season can make your life uncomfortable most of the time due to the previous set-up of your home, you need to know these 7 DIY projects that will make your home cozy this winter.

 Rearrange

Rearranging the furniture inside your home is one of the easiest and least expensive in making your home look cozy this winter. Try something different – move some of your furniture on the opposite wall, if your table is rectangular, switch its position. Seek the help of a friend, and try switching things up. If you’re particular with the process, use a tape measure and sketch out your plan beforehand. If you are going to move huge items, also consider the change of the position of artwork, wall hangings, and lighting.

Although rearranging things in your home may take longer, it is a simple undertaking process. If you’re set on the arrangement and your furniture looks good in one set up, try to change the position also of other things in the living room. Try to move the accessories from the living room to the dining room or move the lamp from the corner of your living room to your bedroom.

Adjust Your Room Temperature

When you fall asleep, your body temperature drops. Knowing this, you can use this to your advantage by creating a room temperature that can help facilitate the process. Your room temperature should be between 60 degrees and 67 degrees Fahrenheit to have optimum sleep. During winter, try to install a digital thermometer in your bedroom. The thermometer will not only help you assure that you’re in the recommended range, but it will also make you enjoy the exact and best sleep temperature.

Layer Your Bedding

To enjoy a truly comfortable sleep, you need to have the right set of sheets. The bedsheets next to your body should breathe, especially when you love to snuggle under a thick winter blanket or quilt. Cotton is a highly recommended bed sheet material because it breathes well and wicks away moisture. A thread count on a sheet is another consideration, a 400 thread count or less is good as it traps body heat and could cause you to sleep too hot. To get a cozy winter bed, try to put some warmer layers such as your duvet, this will help you give sound sleep.

Curb Your Exposure to Artificial Light

Your body produces a hormone called melatonin that helps regulate your sleeping patterns. The levels of melatonin can be affected by exposure to light, both artificial and natural. When we experience short days, we tend to ratchet up the use of artificial light, which has been shown to suppress melatonin production – especially the blue spectrum light emitted by pc monitors, TVs, and other electronic devices. During the winter season, when the days are shorter, try to avoid exposure to screens at least an hour before bed and shut off bedroom light before you go to sleep.

Paint Your Walls a New Shade

New colors can help you enlighten your day and can also impact the quality of your sleep. Bright colors like reds and yellows have an energizing effect, while cooler blues and greens create a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. Take advantage of the physiological effects of new colors by incorporating calming tones on your walls. If repainting the walls can significantly diminish your savings, you can opt for accents, such as bedding and rugs, that incorporate the relaxing shades of nature. If you are renting a property, always remember to get prior approval before changing wall colors.

Light a Seasonal Scented Candle

Scents can influence our emotions. The olfactory system in our body, the area responsible for the sense of smell, has direct pathways to the emotional centers in our brain. The takeaway for a sound sleep during the cold nights is to identify your favorite scents and integrate them into your bedtime routine in the form of candles, essential oils, or other scented products.

Get artsy with decoupage

Try to get back to the trend of decoupage in the 60s and 70s. They can be surprisingly fresh and exciting ways to give new life to all sorts of items. Try to recover some clear bottles like candle jars with tissue paper and decoupage medium. The effect is surprisingly glass-like and beautiful, and it can bring out an accent color.

While many of us want to make our life comfortable during the cold season, it’s essential to know these 7 DIY projects that will make our home cozy this winter.

Is it Important to Get Have Renter’s Insurance?

If landlords purchase insurance to protect their property, the tenants should do the same. Tenants should get a renter’s insurance policy to protect their possessions and gets liability coverage in the event of an accident or other disasters. Here are some of the reasons why renter’s insurance is essential for every tenant.

Renter’s insurance is affordable

According to a report on 2013 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the average cost of renter’s insurance policy is $187 a year. The cost will depend on factors, including how much coverage you need, the type of coverage you choose, the amount of your deductible, and where you live.

The insurance covers losses to personal property.

A renter’s insurance policy protects against losses to your personal property, including clothes, jewelry, furniture, computers, and electronics. Even if you don’t own much, it can quickly add up to a lot more than you realize – and a lot more than you’d want to pay to replace everything. According to esurance.com, the average renter owns about $20,000 worth of personal property.

Renter’s policies protect against a long list of perils. A standard HO-4 policy designed for renters, for example, covers losses to personal property from risks that include damage caused by aircraft or vehicles; damage caused by explosion; falling objects; fire or lightning; riot or civil commotion; theft; vandalism or malicious mischief; volcanic eruption; weight of ice, snow or sleet, windstorm or hail; damage from water or steam from sources including household appliances, plumbing, heating, air conditioning or fire-protective sprinkler systems.

Standard policies do not cover losses resulting from earthquakes and floods. These perils require a separate system. Also, a different rider might be needed to cover wind damage in areas prone to hurricanes. And renter’s insurance policies don’t cover losses caused by your own negligence or intentional acts. For example, if you fall asleep with a lit cigarette and cause a fire, the policy most likely will not cover the damage.

Your landlord might require renter’s insurance policy

Landlord’s insurance covers the structure itself and the grounds, but not your belongings. The landlord often requires tenants to purchase their own renter’s insurance policies to cover their personal belongings. It is the landlord’s idea, or the landlord’s insurance company recommends it – the idea being that if the tenants have covered themselves, it will take away some responsibility from the landlord. If you need assistance in finding or obtaining coverage, you can ask for help from your landlord.

Insurance provides liability coverage

Standard renter’s insurance policies include liability coverage. It protects if someone is injured while in your home or if you accidentally injure someone. It pays any court judgments as well as legal expenses, up to the policy limit.

Most renter’s insurance policies provide at least $100,000 of liability coverage, and between $1,000 and $5,000 for medical-payments coverage. You can request for higher coverage limits. If you need more than $300,000 of liability coverage, ask your insurance company about an umbrella policy, it can give you an additional $1 million worth of coverage for about $150 to $300 a year.

The insurance policy covers your belongings when you travel

Renter’s insurance policy covers your personal belongings, wherever you are, in your home, car, or while you travel. Your possessions are covered from loss due to theft and other covered losses wherever you are. Check your insurance policy or ask your insurance agent for details on what constitutes “other covered losses.”

Insurance may cover additional living expenses

If your home becomes unlivable due to one of the covered perils, your renter’s insurance policy may cover “additional living expenses,” including the cost of living somewhere else temporarily, food, and more. Check with your policy to find out how long it will cover additional living expenses, and if it caps the amount the company will pay.

Personal Injury coverage

When you visit your apartment to introduce yourself, your nosy neighbor slips in your area on some raspberry yogurt and knocks herself unconscious. She hits her head on a post and needs a few stitches. Your renter’s insurance will cover your liability for her injuries. It typically provides liability coverage from $100,000 to $500,000, which is ample. If you desire more or less, you can purchase up to $2 million or as little as $50,000 in liability coverage.

Getting a renter’s insurance is essential for every tenant as it provides coverage for your personal belongings wherever you are. Besides, renter’s insurance provides liability coverage if you accidentally cause injury to someone.