Outside Decorating

I found this fascinating blog from MyRentalPad.com .

I love to decorate too. What are your plans for a spring facelift?

Spring is coming, which usually means the itch for the great outdoors is creeping up in me.  Another thing I just love to do when Spring arrives is changing the decor…especially outside! However, before you spice up outside of your apartment, you may want to think about a few things.

All in all, my decorations turned out wonderful! Sadly, I kept it subtle. I wouldn’t mind knowing about what my fellow apartment dwellers who don’t have an outside entrance like mine do in regards to decorating?? Post some pics if you have some!

First thing’s first, you should call your leasing office and ask if it is ok for you to put decorations in your windows or hang stuff on your doors. Some complexes are a little touchy about the complex image so they might restrict it. Luckily all of the places I have lived have let me go a little bat-crazy with the decorations.

Unless you’re a huge dork like me and hunt for decorations like there is no tomorrow (I have storage bins for just about every holiday), you’re mostly going to have decorations for the big and festive tree decorating holiday! Just so you all know, I also decorate my store for all of the holidays, that being the biggest reason I ended up with so many decorations.

Where I live, I have an outside entrance to my apartment that is placed right next to the door for the apartment below me. One thing you must make sure you do is talk to your neighbor before hanging decorations. I did because the place where I wanted to put lights would leave them hanging over my neighbor’s door as well and I didn’t want to disrespect her if she didn’t approve. Luckily, my neighbor is incredible and nice and makes us cookies and loves us! So we got to put up some awesome decorations.

I wanted to put the wall lights (they would cover a whole outside wall) on the side of our building where our door was, but the ladies in the leasing office said that would be a bit much (which is why you should ask about decorating beforehand).

Decorating on a Budget

Decorating your apartment does not have to break the bank.  A survey suggests that renters will decorate within the first three months of their move.  Most renters say that their biggest decorating challenge is staying within a budget.

 Each of us has our own taste for decorating.  Whether you are male or female, you should decorate your apartment based on what you will be most comfortable in and not according to the latest trend.

 But if you are intimidated by the idea of decorating, first try a small yet important room, like the bathroom. A great shower curtain can make a world of difference. Then you can move on to a bigger area like the living room – start small with a nice lamp. Re-covering old dining room chairs or a worn-out ottoman are easy ways to subtly change the style of a room.

Remember to start off small and work your way up when it comes to decorating. Be creative! Good Luck!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/

Resident Holiday Party

December 16, 2009
5:00 pm	to	7:00 pm

Happy Thanksgiving From Cosgrove Hill

As we are all giving thanks on this day, please keep this quote in mind:

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Happy Thanksgiving from the staff of Cosgrove Hill

Check our blog tomorrow for the best Black Friday Deals!

Small Change, Huge Makeover

If you are looking to spruce up your apartment at Cosgrove Hill, but not quite sure what to do or you do not want to spend too much money.

There are ways to change your apartment around without breaking the budget. A Lampshade makeover can make a world of difference. A lampshade is a small part of the room, but changing it can be very dramatic.

I found some ways you can do this http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/lampshade-makeover-529248/

Do you have any tips?

Sculpture in the Garden

Art and gardening combine at the annual Sculpture in the Garden exhibition at the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Twenty-four local artists contributed their three-dimensional art and sculptures to the garden and you can check out their work for yourself now through November 15. Find out more about Sculpture in the Garden here. (http://ncbg.unc.edu/pages/29/#sculpture)

Have you been to Sculpture in the Garden? Which sculpture was your favorite?

Try a Quick Getaway to Gatlinburg

Would you like to get away but don’t think you have the time? How does horseback riding, canoeing, shopping or perhaps a dip in a hot tub sound to you?

You can do all of this in one weekend trip by driving to Gatlinburg, Tenn., which is closer than you may think.

Amid the splendor of the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg embodies the simple goodness of small town life. Gatlinburg is where people gather together and stand in awe of nature’s glory.

The adjacent Great Smoky Mountains National Park, boasts more than nine million visitors annually, and has transformed Gatlinburg into a mountain resort destination, packed with accommodations of every sort, dozens of local-to-national restaurants, and attractions galore.

Surrounded on three sides by the natural beauty of the park, Gatlinburg prides itself in its mountain heritage, and the arts, crafts and retail shops of the area reflect that heritage to a large extent.

Enjoy the walking community along the Downtown Parkway, which runs from one end of town to the other with hundreds of things to see and do in between. The river walk along River Road echoes the wistful sounds of the Little Pigeon River, with gazebos and benches along the walkway. And the streets are dotted with shops and restaurants for about three miles.

Once the sun sets, there are plenty of fine dining and entertainment options. From family-fare to filet mignon and everything in between, the area’s restaurants have something special to please you. Log on to www.gatlinburg.com for more info.

If you have been to Gatlinburg and would like to share your favorite restaurant, attraction or photos, please let us know.

Always a Winner – Chocolate Cake

Who needs a birthday excuse for chocolate cake?

A new recipe for this old favorite is always a good reason for breaking out the kitchen utensils.

Tastespotting.com is loaded with chocolate cake recipes; a quick search showed more than 300 recipes just for chocolate cake.

One recipe that sounds wonderful comes from Visions of Sugar Plum, the blog site of Emily from Food Network’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown. The name of the cake says it all: Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake with Raspberry Preserves & Chocolate Ganache.

What do you think about a chocolate-raspberry combo? DinnerWithJulie.com featured a Sunken Chocolate Cake with Berry Fool recently that can be made with raspberries, or blackberries if you want to switch it up, or just left as plain ol’ divine whipped cream. The cake is flourless, which makes it ideal for celiac sufferers.

If you want something a little different, what about a Lime-spiked White Chocolate Cake? The citrus balances the sweetness of the white chocolate, and it looks nice and light for a summer dessert.

This spiced Gooey Pecan Cake looked different, and delicious.

What’s the recipe for your Best Chocolate Cake ever?