How To Wabi-Sabi Your Apartment

The way you design your apartment can make an impact on your overall well-being. So, sometimes it’s necessary to change up your style and incorporate new things into your life and living space. 

To start, keeping your home clean, organized and clutter-free is essential to making positive changes in your life. Not only that, but it makes your apartment feel homey and stress-free. Next, try a style or practice that helps you keep your home clear and organized. You may have heard of practices such as feng shui and hygge, but have you heard of wabi-sabi?

Wabi-sabi is a term that merges two Japanese words and concepts that represent both an aesthetic and philosophy. On one hand, we have ‘wabi’ which alludes to nature, simplicity, rustic, and humility. On the other hand, we have ‘sabi’ which refers to longevity and the beauty that comes with age. When you put the two words together, you have a concept that is centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.

When it comes to decorating, wabi-sabi is the opposite of sleek and contemporary. It’s all about the beauty in imperfection. Check out these helpful tips to incorporate wabi-sabi in your apartment so you can achieve the beauty and appreciation this kind of space provides.

Use Organic Textures

The textures that you incorporate into your wabi-sabi design should be organic and inspired by nature. Organic textures include to incorporate into your design include:

• Wood

• Wool

• Clay

• Flax

• Wicker 

Make your own clay planter pots or carelessly drape your flax linens over your couch to create that wabi-sabi style for your apartment.

Incorporate Nature-Inspired Colors

Since ‘wabi’ alludes to nature, use colors that resemble nature like earthy tones and neutrals. Some colors to implement include black, brown, gray, green or cream since they are soothing and create a calming and natural ambiance. Essentially, you want to use any pared-down color that gives you a relaxing and content feeling.

Use One-of-a-Kind Decor

Since ‘sabi’ refers to the beauty that comes with age, incorporate furniture and decor that has a bit of character to it. This could be something weathered from a flea market or even a family heirloom that’s been passed down for generations. Whatever it may be, you’ll know it’s wabi-sabi if it has a story to tell.

Avoid Perfect Lines

In the case of a wabi-sabi apartment, the ‘careless’ look works really well. By that, we don’t mean it’s okay to have a dirty and cluttered apartment. We mean that avoiding sleek and perfect lines is encouraged. This can range from a slept in bed that wasn’t perfectly made or a pair of worn out boots by the door. This provides a healthy balance between function and form – giving your apartment that sense of living.

A wabi-sabi home emanates serenity while incorporating sentimentality at the same time. To help guide you create the perfect wabi-sabi apartment, check out ApartmentGuide’s infographic below.

4 Signs in the Wintertime That Something Is Wrong with Your Roof

During the cold winter months, your home’s roof is going to be especially important, and that is why it must remain well-maintained and damage-free. Luckily, there are a few key signs that you can keep an eye out for that might indicate that your roof needs to be repaired or replaced.

Granules in Your Rain Gutters

After a heavy winter storm, you should take a look at your rain gutters to see if there are any granules. After the water drips off your roof, it could take some granules with it, and that is a clear sign that there might be some issues that need to be addressed. Asphalt shingles will often begin to lose their granules when they are getting older or have become damaged.

A Spike in Your Energy Bills

There are many different issues that could cause a spike in your heating bills, and that includes damage to your roof. If your roof has openings or some of the insulation isn’t adequate, then you might notice a huge spike in your gas or electric bills depending on how you heat your home. After you have checked your heating system, you should take a closer look at your roof to make sure that there isn’t any damage. You might also want to hire a professional roofing contractor to inspect your roof.

Uneven Temperatures Throughout Your Home

Uneven temperatures in various rooms throughout your home is another problem that you could run into if your roof is damaged. That type of damage could result in major temperature fluctuations if you have a larger home or a home with two stories. Luckily, a residential roofing company should be able to quickly track down and repair any damage to your roof so that your entire home remains at a consistent temperature.

Water Stains on the Inside of Your Home

When it comes to water damage inside your home, you can never be too careful. As soon as you notice any stains on the walls or ceiling, the source of the damage must be found immediately. When left unaddressed, openings and leaks will cause an incredible amount of damage and increase your risk of a mold outbreak.

Even if your roof is relatively new, you still need to ensure that it remains undamaged at all times. A small amount of roof damage can wreak havoc on your home, and no one wants to deal with major home projects and renovations during the coldest months of the year.

How to Mitigate Damage From Sunlight Inside Your Home

Sunshine can brighten and warm your home, but it can also damage carpets, drapes and furniture. To keep your belongings from getting sun-faded, you may need to be careful with the timing of when you open your window coverings. Buying UV resistant fabrics and coverings can also help. Finally, adding tint the exterior of your windows can keep heat out and avoid sun damage indoors.

Window Treatments: Inside

There are window treatments you can add both inside and out to prevent excess sunlight from damaging your belongings. For example, from the inside out, you can add faux wooden blinds inside the window frame for nearly complete coverage when that part of your home is in full sun. You can find these blinds in either a manual format or an automated blind that you could open and close on a timer or with a remote.

Window Treatments: Outside

Add a retractable awning outside your window or your patio is an easy way to keep your house from getting too warm and protect your furniture, carpet and interior curtains. Again, timing is critical. Depending on where you live, morning light can be a nice way to warm up your space. To reduce the risk of interior damage if you need the eastern light, consider adding window tinting to those windows in particular. You can keep the window treatments open, collect light, warm up the east side of your house, and still avoid UV damage to your fabrics and fibers.

Fiber Choices

If you find that features of your home have faded over time due to sun exposure, keep an eye out for sun resistant fibers when you upgrade. For example, look for a low-nap carpet to replace any sun-damaged products. The longer the yarn fiber, the greater the expanse of material that can be damaged by the sun. Another option if you’re carpeting a room designed to soak up the sun, such as a four season room, is to use peel and stick carpet tiles that you can swap out if you do notice any sun-fading.

Letting the sun warm your home in the wintertime is actually the oldest form of solar power. However, allowing your windows to let in as much sun as possible can damage fibers, particularly older fabrics and rugs. To protect your home on hot days, the addition of window tinting can help your fight high utility bills.

Guest Post - 5 Top Innovation Trends in Real Estate

The real estate industry is vying to gain more grounds by making specific improvements in its operations. They are utilizing strategies and innovations that will take the industry to higher grounds. Investors are looking into the real estate industry as the innovations give prospects to the real estate business. Operations in the real estate industry are also becoming easier as these innovations are ensuring a top-notch delivery. Real estate experts are integrating these developments into their business processes, providing them with long-term success. Here are few innovations in the real estate industry;

Artificial Intelligence, AI

Artificial intelligence is one of the many innovation trends of the world. The world is moving into the phase of artificial intelligence, and so is the real estate industry. The real estate industry is integrating the use of AI to help in the business processes.

Artificial intelligence, AI, can solve logical and mathematical problems better than humans. The world is moving to a state where computers will take over more jobs performed by humans. The real estate industry is also phasing with the world and integrating artificial intelligence into its operations.

Artificial intelligence can be in physical forms like robots or invisible forms like software. They perform not only manual labor but also possess mental capabilities and have the capacity to learn. Artificial intelligence is a big opportunity for the real estate industry as it provides structural analysis, statistical analysis, and other computer-controlled operations.

3D Printed Buildings

3D printed buildings are one of the biggest and most prominent trends in the real estate industry. 3D printed buildings are built or printed by machines and little or no human help. Machines called 3D printers to use mechanical arms to create and build components of a building project.

The printer uses liquid plastics, cement, metals, and other needed materials for construction. It also uses a software program that gives the printer the dimension and other end product information. The integration of 3D-printed buildings in the real estate industry is one of the most remarkable innovation trends.

Although the 3D-printed buildings are not fully integrated into the real estate industry, they are already in the process—one of the largest 3D printed buildings in the Dubai municipality stands about 9.5 meters tall. The real estate industry anticipates this system’s complete integration to drive the industry to a greater height.

Internet Mode

The world understands the essence of the internet, so does the real estate industry. The internet has helped several industries in their improvement. Real estate agencies have taken to the internet to make their products easily accessed.

Real estate agencies are developing websites and web apps that make their operation easier and more convenient. Real estate also makes use of IoT to integrate the physical and virtual world into real estate processes. The global IoT sector has experienced rapid improvements from 2018 at $150 billion to 2025, exceeding $1.5 trillion.

The IoT will bring significant change to the real estate industry as it provides a world of smart properties. There has also been an increase in the IoT device globally, showing the integration of the internet world into the real estate industry.

Blockchain

The use of blockchain in the real estate industry is gaining more ground, the use of cryptocurrencies for payment is becoming more recognized. In the latter part of 2017, the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, etc., to buy homes became possible. The integration of blockchain technology into the real estate industry became one of the most significant innovation trends.

The use of blockchain technology has eradicated several real estate problems like fraud. The use of blockchain made payments and transactions easier and faster. The blockchain also provides real estate agencies with relevant property information and makes them easier to get.

Property Management Company

Property management companies are also integrating themselves into the same phase the real estate industry is moving. Real estate agents also need to have the technical know-how to handle the change in the industry. Several property management companies like MDSquared Property Group can distinguish themselves from others by their excellent work and ability to keep up with the real estate industry trends. Even homeowners want to hire the best NYC property management company to manage their property. Property management companies are also enjoying and utilizing the phase in the industry to build their career.

There are several innovations in the real estate industry. These innovations range from digitization to technology, artificial intelligence, etc. With these innovation trends, the real estate industry is on its path to a greater height.

Author Bio: Lena Linetti is an architect based in San Francisco.