Many Millenials live in rented housing. We simply don’t have the money like generations before to comfortably afford to buy property. (It is way more work than you think.) We also tend to live in urban environments where apartments are the best and most affordable option. The average apartment rent for 2018 was over$1,000 a month! Depending how long you plan on staying, get the most out of your unnecessarily expensive abode. You literally deserve it. Here are some tips to make your apartment feel more like a home.
When picking out paint you should consider non toxic wall paint. Non toxic wall paint isn’t only for babies who want to chomp on some drywall. Your home contains numerous toxins and allergens, in addition to air cleaning plants you can buy air cleaning paint! There are these things called VOCs. VOCs stands for Volatile Organic Compounds. These are found in paints and primer for painting as well as glues, air fresheners, and pesticides. The long term affects can be dangerous to your health over time causing things like headaches, dizziness, and memory loss. CBC Marketplace reports, that VOCs over 400ppb could cause problems for chemically sensitive people. If they aren’t good for you they certainly can’t be good for the environment. When they mix with nitrogen oxides they can create smog! So obviously, you want to buy the best low VOC paints. Finding non toxic wall paint isn’t that hard anymore. We need to take care of the planet any way we can so keep this in mind when looking for eco-friendly paint.
Lots of apartment complexes have a rule where you can paint your apartment but you have to paint it back to its original color before move out or pay extra to have the apartment do it themselves. If you are planning to stay somewhere for a year or less, skip the paint and liven up your space with wall decals or local art. If you plan on staying a while, paint it up! Not every wall has to be painted. One or two colored walls can really liven up a place. Then once it’s time to move out, all you need to do is buy a few cans of paint to repaint one wall.
Millenials are the most stressed generation due to low wages and the rising cost of living imposed by previous generations. We deserve to have reduced stress in our homes we pay more than half of our income for. Painting your apartment can affect your mooddepending on what color you choose. Paint your living room blue with non toxic paint! Paint the kitchen yellow! Paint the closet door red! Do it for you! Color can really affect the human brain. Green is a very healing color. Blue is great for relaxation. Yellow suggests joy and warmth. For some paint with utility, try black matte black wall paint that dries into a chalkboard surface to write notes, to-do lists, or funny messages on the wall.
Millenials are adults now. Take control of your space to make it yours. Finally put that Pinterest board to use. After a stressful day the office, you deserve to relax with some green tea in your matcha colored living room