Decorating Your Dorm or Apartment

Make sure you are aware of the rules regarding your living space.

• Some dorms and/or landlords don’t allow any nails to be hammered into walls.
• Others say no tape. 
• If you are just hanging posters you can always use putty sold in hardware stores. 

When decorating stick to just a few colors so the room doesn’t take on a clownish appearance.  All solids or all prints don't work either -- mix it up for a little contrast and choose colors that complement eachother.  Tie the colors in the room together with a rug or curtains or even pillows.  For more decorating tips I refer you to this web site specifically for first time renters and dorm inhabitants: rentaldecorating.com

Windows

Most apartments and dorms have shades or blinds over the windows.  They usually fit inside the window frame.   

• Curtains or sheers can go on top to provide more privacy, warm up the room and give you more control over how much light comes into the room.  They usually fit outside or over the frame.
• You will want to measure your window. If there is already a curtain rod measure from there down. If not you will want to go up about six inches from the top of the window frame.
• The curtain width should extend 3-to-6 inches on either side of the frame and then you will have to decide on length. You can go all the way to the floor or just down below the ledge.
• Write these measurements down and take them to the store with you. 

You also need to consider hardware for hanging the curtains.  Ideally you want to choose the curtain first and then the hardware.  But, if the hardware is already there that will dictate what kind of curtains you can buy. 

• If there is a rod going across the top you need to buy the kind of curtains that have an opening all the way across or rings that can be hooked onto the rod.
• If you have little plastic eyes coming down across a track you will need to buy pleated curtains and hooks that fit into the eyes.   

Repairs

You should only make minor repairs to a rental unit. Every landlord is different but most would prefer to supervise repairs to their property and they may have people they call on regularly for such things. The repairs may also be covered by their insurance policy so you need to ask questions before you start.

This section is just to guide you in doing some of the simpler things. Leave the hard stuff to the pros.

Plumbing

You can’t call in a plumber for a clogged toilet so you will have to learn to do it yourself.

• First you need a proper toilet plunger – the kind with the inner lining that folds down and fits right inside your toilet hole.
• If your toilet isn’t clearing when you flush it don’t keep flushing or the water will come out over the bowl.
• Wait for some of the water to go down and then extend the inner lining of the plunger into the center of the toilet.
• Make sure the hole is completely covered and start pumping the plunger up and down while keeping the plunger centered.
• You want to create more suction here with each pump.
• After you create enough pressure, carefully lift the plunger out and the clog will get sucked down the drain and you will be able to flush again.

If your shower or sink isn’t clearing there is probably too much hair and gunk in there. 

In this case use a smaller plunger without the insert or pour a little drain cleaner down the drain (follow instructions on the bottle) to clear it.  Contrary to popular belief it will not hurt the pipes.

Electrical

Fuhgetaboutit! You can really hurt yourself if you try to fix electrical problems without knowing how, so don’t even think about it.

There are only two things you should learn do in your home.

1. Changing light bulbs. If you use fluorescent bulbs you will save energy and be able to plug in more appliances at once.
2. If you turn something on and all the power goes off you just overloaded the system. It requires flipping a circuit breaker. Locate the box with all the circuits in it. The circuit that has been “tripped” is neither on nor off but will be somewhere in the middle. Flip it to the off position and then back on and everything should work again.
3. If you live in a very old home you may still use fuses which look like little glass tubes. You will have to locate the fuse box and find the tube that is blackened. Hopefully your landlord has given you replacement fuses. Pull the blackened fuse out and replace it with a new fuse in exactly the same position. If you don’t have a replacement take the burnt fuse to the hardware store and buy a few new ones.

For anything more complicated than that call the landlord or a professional electrician.