If I had a Barbie dream house, it would be the coolest Barbie dream house on the block. Given my financial status, I might have to settle for a Barbie dream apartment for the time being, but I’m just saying, it would still be the coolest. From the bookshelves to the kitchen table, my dream apartment would be rockin’.

Check out the gallery to see what I would include in my dream apartment.

This past Saturday  I finally moved into my new apartment with my old best friend. We started out apartment hunt June 1^st…looked at over 20 apartments, and finally found one we liked. It’s a work in progress.

Before June I knew nothing about looking for apartments, we had no idea what to expect the first time we saw one. It was pretty frightening. It didn’t help that we both grew up in the suburbs and had no idea what it was like to live, let alone rent an affordable apartment, in a city.

Needless to say I’ve learned a thing for two about hunting for apartments that I wish I had known about a month ago, like research neighborhoods before you drive to them and waste gas money.

So in order to help all of our readers I thought I would put together a few things I’ve learned along the way to help you all in search of your first (second, or third) place:

Oil vs Electric vs Gas Heat: Luckily this was one of the things my ex-boyfriend told me early on, “Make sure you get gas heat, it’s wicked cheap” however, I ended up finding an apartment with oil. But regardless, and for the most part (well depending on where you live), the price of heat goes like this: electric is the most expensive, oil is the second most expensive, and gas is the cheapest. Just something to keep in mind when looking at non-utility inclusive apartments.

Neighborhood: Just because it’s a wicked cute apartment, does not make up for the fact that someone was shot outside of it a week ago. Be smart about where you chose to live, and remember you’ll have to sleep there at night. It’s kind of funny, because almost all of these guidelines I’m giving you I did the opposite. We ended up moving to Brockton, which doesn’t have the best rep, that’s not to say we’re in the worst part of it (thankfully avoided that) but we’re also not in the best part either..more like on the fringe of both in no mans land.

Listen to your gut: If you have a bad feeling about the apartment..doesn’t matter what it is, listen to it. Your first instinct about a place is usually right,  even if the price is perfect, location is great..if you just have a bad feeling about it, run…well walk to your car and then drive away. We knew the moment we stepped into our apartment that we were home, it even had a connecting door between the two bedrooms (a big seller for people who have shared a room for three years)

Be open: You will not, repeat, will not find your dream apartment. Carrie’s apartment from Sex and The City was a set, I know because I looked into it. You will find something cute as long as you refuse to settle for something that smells like cat pee and may or may not have a blood stain (or three) in the closet. But you need to keep your options open. Just because something it’s disgusting and needs to be updated on the outside, doesn’t mean it isn’t adorable and waiting to be loved on the inside.

Bills Bills Bills: I know this is going to make me sound like a complete air head, but I had NO idea how many bills there were when renting an apartment. I highly suggest finding an apartment with utilities included, it will make your life so much easier. Right now we have to deal with a bill from the electric company, Comcast, oil company (which we have to find and set up ourselves), gas company (our stove is gas :\)..it’s endless. And that’s not including our other bills like Netflix, cell phone and car insurance..yay to growing up.

Off street parking: is so freakin’ important. If you can find an apartment building in a city that has off street parking..count your blessings. It’s so important to find off street parking, not only does it guarantee your car not being hit by on coming traffic, but it also guarantees you will not have to move it for street cleaning..which if you forget about sucks.

Find a good landlord: When you are looking for an apartment, it’s important to also look for a good landlord. Your landlord should be someone you can get along with, trust to come over and fix something in your apartment, and  depend on when things go wrong. You can usually get a pretty good sense of how one will be from your first meeting, and if not just ask what they are willing to do.

Hopefully these tips help you on your search! Let’s turn things over to you guys: What other tips do you have? What was the worst part about apartment hunting? What was your favorite part? 

My last major DIY project was all about home décor… and the decorating bug hasn’t left me yet!

I’ve finally moved into my new apartment in NYC which is now filled with issues of Elle Décor and House Beautiful. The furniture is moved in (…and up 5 flights of stairs) and my apartment is finally coming together. However, I could not help but feel depressed when I looked at my bare, lonely, and artless walls. I was envious as I flipped through the pages of decorating magazines to see how small living rooms and dorm rooms were so fabulously decorated with different pieces of art.

But my budget doesn’t exactly allow for me to splurge on fancy art or even framed posters. So instead, I found my own cheap and chic way to spice up my walls and décor. So if you’re looking to spruce up your room or update your walls on a budget, here is an easy and fun way to make your living space unique!

What You’ll Need

Frames: Frames are expensive, especially larger frames for big walls of empty space! But the best place to look for frames on a budget is often art supply stores (like Dick Blick or even Walmart). Opt for poster frames that use plexiglass instead of glass, as they are cheaper and won’t break (aka: they can survive the college lifestyle and multiple moves). Depending on the frame size you choose, these can range from $10 to about $20. For my DIY, I got 3 16×20 size plexi-glass poster frames.

Tip: Keep in mind how you envision the frames’ position on the wall. Mix and match with different frames and frame sizes, or keep it simple with a symmetrical design of two large frames on a wall.

Wrapping paper or paper sheets: Yes, you will be framing wrapper paper. Sounds silly, but you can create a sophisticated look with something as simple as wrapping paper. Who knew?! Pick a pattern or color that suits the rest of your décor. Or pick multiple patterns/colors for different frames. Wrapping paper in larger patterns work better as they tend to look more like painted canvas or pop art. Choose anything that fits your style! Or you can go to any art store or paper store and they sell single sheets of specialty paper in cool designs for cheap.Try The Container Store, Paper Source, or even your local drug stores like CVS.

Scissors: Snip, snip!

What You’ll Do:

1. Realize first that this may be the easiest and fabulous DIY you’ve ever attempted.

2. Now that you’ve realized step 1, carefully cut your wrapping paper to the size of your frame or frames. As wrapping paper is meant to rip easily, be careful!

Tip: Use the frame paper insert (usually it’s a picture of a happy couple or animal…) to cut your wrapping paper to the exact size.

3. Now stick your wrapping paper in the frame. Pretty simple, eh?

4. Hang your frame(s) on the wall, admire your handiwork, and when friends ask where you bought your chic art tell them who the artist really is. (YOU… duh!)

I want to update my room style from posters of David Beckham and Edward Cullen (I love you, RPatz – if you’re out there….call me. Seriously….) to shabby chic art, furniture, and frames. I want my room to scream “I’m a fabulous adult” and not “I frequent college poster sales,” and I don’t want to spend a lot of money to do it.

Instead of bringing along a DIY corkboard (perfect for any college dorm), I decided it was time to display my favorite college mementos, pictures, and reminders in a more sophisticated way. So I scoured the internet and the few flea markets that exist in my neighborhood to get design ideas until finally I came across an old miniature dress form.

Dress forms have been a symbol of chic fashionistas since sewing was invented. To me they scream modern yet vintage décor, and can be used for more things than just designing clothes. Instead of traditional frames or tape to mount my favorite pictures and mementos on a wall, I transformed the dress form into its own display board, frame, and jewelry case.

So here is an easy, creative, and inexpensive way to step up your style and display tidbits of your life.

What You’ll Need:
1. Dress form (mini or large): You can find these online (Craigslist, ebay, All Dress Forms) or take the time to search flea markets and consignment stores in your area. A covered dress form will work best because you can easily pin stuff on, but if you find a foam or plastic form, you can always cover it with fabric first.

2. Ribbon, buttons, and decorative flair: These will personalize your dress form even more and add extra room to place pictures and mementos, like ticket stubs.

3. Sewing pins/fabric glue: To keep it all together. Used to pin your photos up. Find these at any art store or drug store.

4. Mementos: Your favorite pictures, cards, reminder notes, and necklaces!

What You’ll Do:

1. If your dress form is old/dirty/boring and needs covering, there are tons of ways to fix it up!

Some ideas: Use papier-mâché and strips of newspaper or old book pages to cover the dress form for a vintage/city look. Cut up old college t-shirts and pin them on in an interesting pattern. Or use your favorite fabric to cover the dress form to match your bed linens or the color palette of your room. Secure with fabric glue for a custom fit to your dress form or keep it just the way it is if you like the basic look of the form.

2. Cut pieces of ribbon (or use colored shoelaces!) and wrap your dress form in different places. To secure the ribbon tightly, glue to your dress form (back side) with fabric glue. For an even easier route, just pin the ends of the ribbon or shoelaces to the backside of your form (the side you will not see when displayed).

3. Decorate with your favorite things! Tuck in photos and ticket stubs behind pieces of the ribbon or shoelaces. Hang earrings and necklaces with pins. Get creative and put your newest chic display décor anywhere in your home.

4. Look at you. You’re now a grown up with chic and easy sense of style.

Got some college questions? Unsure of a decision? Don’t know what the eff to do with your life? Just wanna chat it up with some really awesome chics? We’ve got the girls for you. Hit them up in the comments or shoot them an email with the subject “College Q&A”! They’ve got all the answers you need, no matter who you are.

Question:
I was approved to have a single in the dorms next year. Yay! I was really excited about having my own space (and it’s so, so, so hard to get a single on my campus) with my friends down the hall. But then a few of my friends decided to get an apartment together off campus. They asked me if I wanted to live with them and I’m just not sure. On the one hand, I’d have to share a room and wouldn’t really have any privacy. But on the other, if they are all living together I’ll be alone in the dorms.

What would you do?

GPA Girl:
Tough choice, but a nice one for sure, since there are big perks to each living situation. I’m reading between the lines here, but it sounded to me when I first saw your question that you value privacy as a number-one priority. Is that right? If so, I think you should go with the single. It can be a refuge for you, and if you feel like being super-social and hanging out with your friends all the time, what’s stopping you? You and I both know plenty of people who only “live” in their rooms in the loosest definition of the word because they’re always out. On the other hand, if you choose to live with your girls, you’ll probably have to retreat to some cold and depressing corner of the library if you ever want to find any privacy at all. (Not that there’s anything wrong with the library, of course, but . . . well.) So it’s up to you, chica, but I’d nab that single while I could. Good luck!

Party Girl:
Trust me on this one – stick with the single! I have lived with roommates and I have lived alone… and living alone is far superior. You can keep your own schedule without feeling guilty about disturbing others. You can leave last night’s underwear lying around for as long as you can stand it without someone plotting to kill you.

Your friends will always be there, but thankfully, when you live alone, they don’t have to ALWAYS be there. You won’t be alone – far from it! The dorms are a great place to meet new people. You never have to spend a night sober when you live in the dorms (not that it’s super hard to find an excuse to drink when you live off campus…). Plus, your friends will be begging you for the sweet campus party hookups. No contest, sweetie.

Busy Bee:
It seems like you really enjoy living by yourself, which is different since most people I know prefer having roommates! Personally, I would take the single dorm and then make trips to visit my friends in their apartment or have them visit me. A dorm should be for taking a break from the world. Knowing that you can go out and have fun but come home to peace and quiet, is a pretty good feeling. And I am sure you will make new friends on your dorm floor! They don’t have to replace the ones you’ve got, but who doesn’t want new friends? At least it’s fun people to watch Gossip Girl with.

Also, seeing your two different reactions to having a single dorm (“Yay!) versus your reaction to rooming with your friends (“Just not sure…”) pretty much seals the deal. I’m sure you already know the right living situation for you. I know you feel like you’ll be missing out on time with your friends, but if they are your real friends, it doesn’t matter where you life.

Oh, and take it from my experience – it’s so much nicer to have down time in college, no roommate strings attached. Just a little food for thought.

I don’t know about every other college out there, but here at UT it’s time for people to start planning their living arrangements for the fall. Some people greet this time with the panic of trying to find a decent place to live that isn’t a ga-billion dollars, while others are excited for their first apartment with their best friends (no matter how much it costs). However, for those who’ve been in a relationship for quite a while, this time might be a time to take a big step forward and ask “what if I just lived with my boyfriend?”

As most of you know, this is the route I took. I went from dorm rooms my freshman and sophomore years to living with Matt now in my junior year. It’s been quite a trip and I definitely have some things to share about living with your significant other. Before you take the plunge, it’s good to know what you’re getting yourself into. Allow me to help.

First of all, let me say that I absolutely love living with Matt. I love waking up next to him, even if he has stinky morning breath. (I’ll admit, my morning breath is actually in all likelihood worse than his). That being said, let’s walk through the ups and the downs of cohabitation:

Up: Living with your boyfriend is a great way to save money. One bedroom places are already the cheapest on the market and you can make it even cheaper by sharing that one room.
Down: Living with your boyfriend is a great way to eliminate any and all secrets. While Matt and I are very open with each other, there are things that I don’t want him seeing me do (ahem lip waxing ahem).
Tip: One bedroom apartments are the perfect amount of space for a couple. Studio apartments are not.

Up: Your boyfriend will always be there. Of the two years I spent in the dorms, the worst part was always the one mile walk to Matt’s dorm on the other side of campus. I always thought, “You know, if we just lived together we wouldn’t have to work our butts off just to see each other!”
Down: YOUR BOYFRIEND WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. Even at, oh say, 10 o ‘clock at night when you just got home from campus because your study session ran late and you haven’t had anything to eat all day and you come home to find that your boyfriend has drank all the alcohol and eaten the last two slices of bread.

Up: You’ve got your best friend by your side all the time, whether you want to watch movies, cook dinner, or…you know.
Down: But your other best friends, the ones you talk about this best friend with, are all the way across campus. And they’re always hanging out together, making memories and new inside jokes.

See? Living with the BF isn’t the super fun perma-sleepover you might think it will be. You really need to love somebody before you decide to put your relationship through that kind of stress. To be quite honest, I think I moved in with Matt a little early. He was the one who asked me to live with him, and while I wouldn’t change anything, I do kind of wish that I had lived on my own a little while before I settled in with Matt.

My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you don’t do something that you’re going to regret. If you want to be independent and live on your own, then by all means do it! Don’t be afraid of hurting your sig other’s feelings – you have to do what is right for you!

Moving in with your boyfriend is huge, so don’t enter into it lightly. Make sure you discuss everything that could come up, like who pays for what, one car or two, chore lists, etc. If you and your boyfriend decide that this is something you really want to do, then I wish you all the best of luck. Just make sure he restocks the Absolut when he finishes the bottle….

Happy Housing Hunting!

1.    Who do you want to live with? Sure, you’re best friend is awesome to hang out with, and she’s promised to stay tidy and bake cookies every Saturday, but is she really going to hold up the deal? And even if she does, is it really the best idea to spend 24/7 with your BFF? When considering roommates, make sure you consider how you will live with someone and not just how you feel about that someone. There is a very big difference and knowing that could make or break your friendship.

2.    Where do you want to be? Location is the most important factor in real estate, so really think about where you want to be. Do you want to be close to class or close to your boyfriend? What is more important to you when you oversleep: a short walk, or being close to quality coffee? These are questions that only you can answer, but you should think your preferred location through before you get swept away by the in-house washer and dryer in an apartment on the wrong side of campus.

3. What do you need? So, yeah, a washer and dryer in your apartment would be the bomb.com, but do you need it? Is it worth sacrificing extra closet space? Would you pay extra for that? What about bathrooms? And living space? Make sure to sit down with your potential roommates and make a very clear list of what it is you want and need. This will keep you on track so you don’t end up spending extra on flashy stuff (like a fancy kitchen) when what you really need is ample parking.

4.   How much are you willing to spend? Sure, you can be a block from class, have your own bathroom, and park a foot from your door, but it’ll cost you. It’s important to assess pricing and know all the costs associated: electricity, parking, water, cable… A house may have cheap rent, but that price can skyrocket when you take everything else into account.

5.    When does your current lease end? In many college towns leases run from August through the following July. Unfortunately, dates aren’t always uniform, so make sure to keep this in mind. You don’t want to be kicked out July 28th with nowhere to go ‘til August 1st, or be stuck paying rent all summer when you won’t even be on campus.

Them’s the basics, now call around and get going!
If you have any other tips or advice for apartment hunters, leave them as comments!

I miss my boys. Sigh.

I’m girly to the core.

I love pink (even though no one in New York wears it; what the hell?), I’m fussy about what shampoo I use and, if I had the option, I would wear dresses every single day. I’ve never had brothers and even my dog is a girly girl, but I have always found myself being happiest around the dudes. My best friends are guys, and I definitely prefer nights watching them scream at the TV while playing Call of Duty to sipping cosmos and having Sex-and-the-City-esque discussions with the ladies.

I lived with guys for a year and I loved every second of it. I’m not sure why, but recently I moved in with a girl. And it’s been… different. Sure, it’s nice to have someone tidy and not stinky who DVRs The Bachelor religiously, but I miss my guys. Why? Well, why don’t I just give you 10 lovely reasons.

10. They tell it like it is
Boys don’t write passive aggressive notes, Facebook messages or emails. They don’t hold grudges or sleep with your boyfriend. They’re direct; if you screw up, they yell and it sucks for about thirty seconds, but moments later you’ll be back to bumming it on the couch laughing over South Park like nothing ever happened.

9. They don’t judge
You know that look that girls give you? The up and down look and then the miniature comment along the lines of “You’re wearing that out?” or “You’re funnyyyy.” Yeah, guys? Don’t care.

8. Don’t like doing dishes? No problem!
Of course no one likes living in filth, but I do miss the days of not breaking out in a sweat picking up every little thing, or using a coaster, or, caring about drapes. The days when the dining room table was a plastic beer pong table covered in empty Keystone cans and Solo cups. Sigh. Such sweet memories.

7. Best. Cooks. Ever.
I don’t know if it was just me, but every guy roomie I ever had was a phenomenal chef. Girls would rather get takeout, but the guys would want to do these home-cooked fantastic meals. Thrifty and tasty. Mmmmm.

6. Down for ANYTHING
Tuesday night? Let’s go to the bar. Wednesday night? Let’s go wander around New York or Boston and find the best 24-hour spots. Sunday afternoon? Bar. Basically, any time I would come home, someone would be down to go out or have a good time.

5. Hellooo, friends!
I never had any interest in my guy roommates, but ohmygod, major perk? Guys bring around more guys. Gorgeous, lacrosse guys.

4. Big Brother 24/7
As someone who never had a brother who had my back, it was always great to get a guy on my side, ready to pummel any creep at the bar or punk who tried to wrong me.

3. Unlimited Comfy Clothes
Okay, so maybe they don’t have cute cocktail dresses to borrow on Friday nights, but those oversized sweatshirts are just the thing when trekking to class at 8AM.

2. No drama
Never have I ever dealt with a boy roomie weepy over his exes, drowning in ice cream and romantic comedies.

1. Totally comfortable
No matter what, I was never uncomfortable in my apartment and neither were my friends and boyfriend. Guys welcome people with open arms, and, well, girls don’t. If I’m doing my own thing, my BF always had someone to chat with about football and my friends had someone cute to hook up with automatically. Whenever I lived with guys, it was drama-free and it was home. And I miss it.

If you haven’t lived with guys yet, try it out!

You know, when you decide to live with a guy all you can think about is the good things. Like how you can go home to him after a long day at school, how you don’t have to walk a mile to his dorm just to see him, how you’ll never have to do the Walk of Shame again, etc. But then you move in… and things are great for awhile…until the fights break out.

No couple is perfect. Someone in a committed relationship either is lying or has some miracle drug if they say that they never fight with their partner. It’s a normal thing, but sometimes it can get ugly. And by ”sometimes” I mean “when you live with that person and can’t get away.”

Matt and I have had our fair share of fights, and usually it all starts because something small bothers us. And then we let it fester until it becomes one huge thing. Then all hell breaks loose! Even worse is that we’re both really stubborn people so it takes forever for either of us to apologize. That wasn’t such a big deal when we could just go to our respective homes to cool off, but now there’s nowhere to go. And that just makes everything worse.

I’ll admit, sometimes I think that maybe we shouldn’t have moved in together so soon in our lives. There are days when he can get on my nerves. And there are days when I want to pick up the nearest lamp and throw it at him. The fighting is just magnified when you’re sharing a space with your significant other. You react more strongly and say more hurtful things.

But once the dust storm settles, I realize that a lot of what we say when we fight isn’t really true. I don’t really hate him. I don’t really want to break up. And I really don’t want to throw a lamp at his head.

I remember my dad telling me a few months ago that dating is the easy part. (My parents have been married 30 years, so I’m usually very attentive when one of them doles out relationship advice. I mean, they’ve known each other since 8th grade!) My dad told me that a committed relationship is based on love, but it needs more than that to survive. It needs compromise and trust, especially when things get really serious – otherwise all of that love doesn’t amount to much.

So whenever things start to bother me, I just remember what my dad said about compromise. I make sacrifices to make my relationship work, and I know Matt does the same. Whenever he forgets to do the dishes after I ask him to, I don’t mumble to myself and hold in my anger until I scream; I ask him to do another chore instead. And we’re both getting better about telling one another what little things bother us so accidentally leaving the A/C on doesn’t turn into World War 3/one of us sleeping on the street.

We’re definitely still going to fight (trust me on that one), but it’s little things like this that are helping to make our apartment a peaceful place. No relationship is free of fights, but if everyone gives a little bit they can be free of the little-turned-blowout ones.

As much as you’d like to deny it, it’s time to pack those bags and head back to school! Whether you’re shacking up on campus in the dorms, going solo in your own apartment, or looking forward to a packed year in the sorority house, those blank walls can look pretty unfriendly. Even if you’re not the homesick type, jazzing up your empty wall space can do wonders in making you feel more at home in your new school-year pad, and you’re likely to find that even the most cramped or most run-down of places are a whole lot more bearable with a little added personality.

Look back on fond memories of last summer while you have new fun times in the fall with a wall photo sleeve, or mark your limited territory over on your side of the tiny dorm room with an initial marquee light fixture. No matter what cool and trendy wall decor you throw up, it may never be a four-star resort, but hey — it’s home!

Check out the slideshow at Stylehive for some fun and quirky wall hang-ups!