Our Bloggers Wanted ad got a huge response and brought in a whole bunch of good first apartment ideas. Here’s one from Kasey, who is a junior at UCSD and just got her first apartment.
“The one thing I suggest for any new apartment renter is a good tool kit. It doesn’t have to be like the big, bulky one your dad has, but should include a hammer, screw drivers (Philips and blade head), pliers, a few wrenches, some nails, zip ties, and of course the fix-all, DUCT TAPE. You can find all these at your local hardware store like Home Depot. (To save some money, keep your eye out for hardware store discount coupons.) From fixing shelves and tables, to hanging pictures, or even for self protection, a good tool kit is essential. (It also comes in handy when the cute guy next door asks to borrow one – being known as the hot chick with tools isn’t bad, either!) It’s nice to know that I don’t have to call someone to fix my sink, and it also saves me tons of money.
Hopefully there won’t be a single thing wrong with your apartment, but if there is – and there will be eventually – fix it yourself. Just be careful and don’t mess with the electrical sockets. I had a friend blow out the power to his whole apartment building while trying to fix his power outlet. Needless to say his neighbors didn’t talk to him for a while after that. Tool kits are relatively inexpensive, especially if you steal/borrow them from your dad or brother. So stay away from anything that can fry you, but go ahead and do it yourself with your new tool kit!”
Kasey also wrote about her latest fix-it project:
“In my apartment I have a pretty spacious closet to hang clothes, but what I really needed was drawers and shelves. I, like most other students, headed to the Mecca of cheap furniture, IKEA. After an hour of getting lost in the maze of sample rooms, I found myself a nice closet unit that had drawers and shelves, unassembled, all course. I got it, strapped it to my car and headed home. I must say, the hardest part of building this closet unit was getting it up the six flights of stairs into my apartment because it wouldn’t fit into the elevator. Once I actually got it into my room, it only took me about an hour and a half to assemble it all. IKEA usually gives you everything, except the tools you’ll need to assemble their products. In the end, all I really needed was a Philips head screwdriver and a hammer and the instructions which I thought I could do without. Well, I was wrong and ended up building and rebuilding a few of the shelves. I saved some money by buying the unassembled version of my closet unit and actually got quite a workout carrying it up the stairs. When it was all done, I felt a great deal of accomplishment from transforming my closet from a black hole to an organized area for my clothes and books. “
