Tips On Moving Into An Apartment

Okay, so yesterday I moved into my apartment with my hubs! We haven't actually moved any of our furniture or anything yet, but we signed the lease and while he was at work my mom, sister and I went to go clean things up a bit.

Let me just tell you, my first impression was misleading. The new white fresh paint makes it all look so clean and beautiful and I didn't think there was a thing wrong with the place. But when you start to get a closer look, you realize that you may have missed a few things. Now don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the apartment, it is still really nice but it isn't the brand new sparkling candy land apartment I had envisioned in my head.

So here are some tips to help moving into an apartment:

Before you do anything, take pictures.

Go around the apartment and take pictures of every little damage that you see. And make sure the date and timestamp is on the bottom of the photo when you're taking it. Any dent or ding in the fridge, every tiny spot that may be in the carpet, and anything else. Check behind each of the closet doors, check the blinds, check inside the cabinets and on the underside of all the sinks and surfaces. If you think you can get charged for it at any point, snap a photo of it.

I had a friend who did this, and when they moved out the employer tried to sue her for damages that were already done when they had originally moved in, and when they went to court the pictures saved my friend several thousand dollars.

Also, fill out a piece of paper listing and describing any damages that you find to coincide with the pictures (my apartment requires this) and try to get your landlord to sign it. This will also help protect you from any charges.

Even if they 'professionally cleaned," do it yourself also.

Everything had been wiped down and sanitized according to regulation, but nothing was scrubbed and after doing some scrubbing you could tell. So we grabbed our pine-sol, bleach (not me because I'm pregnant), the vacuum and the carper shampooer.

When you think about living somewhere countless of other people have lived, it really makes it easy to wanna just run in hide in the corner. All the potential germs can make you sick. So you just need to spend a day cleaning it and sanitizing it yourself so you can feel comfortable in your new home.

We bleached pretty much the entire bathroom and kitchen, since that's where a lot of the potential germs lie. We also considered washing the walls with pine-sol, but since they just did a fresh coat of paint we didn't think it was necessary. But if your apartment complex doesn't paint after each tenant, then this is something I could consider. Walls usually get ignored in the daily cleaning process.

Wipe down the handles and light switches and anything that gets touched on a daily basis. Also, make sure you dust and vacuum. That apartment has been sitting for quite some time since the last tenant and professional cleaner, and maybe it was even shown to a few potential renters before you. Dust the tops of the doors and the storage railings in the closets and any other surface.

I beg of you, shampoo the carpets.

This was quite possibly the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen. Our carpets were supposedly 'professionally shampooed' after the last tenants, but I don't see how it was a possibility. The water came up a dark brown. It was so nasty, we shampooed them until the water came up clear in the rinse.

If we hadn't cleaned them, our bare feet would be walking on all that dirt and grime (and not just our dirt and grime, OTHER people's dirt and grime, double ew.). And not only that, our little girl could eventually be crawling all over it. Come on now, that's just wrong. So please, rent a carpet cleaner from Kroger or whereever you can in your region and do the carpets. You'll feel better if you do.

Decide if you're going to paint.

Some people do, some people don't. Some people say if you're only living there a year and you have to paint it white again when you leave then why do it? I say, do it, because it really adds a homey feel to the place. I'm not recommending to paint every wall of every room in the house, but I wanted a little color in my apartment since that's where I'll be spending 98% of my time.

So we painted the largest wall in the living room a really pretty blue. It's probably all we're going to paint, except for maybe one wall in the nursery, and it really helps takes the apartment feel away. It's called an accent wall, and if you only have one wall to repaint white when you leave, it really isn't that bad.

Take a magic eraser to the appliances/tile.

Magic erasers really are... magic. Any grime that you sit there and scrub at for hours will come off in two swipes and it really take the age off of tile and refrigerators and makes it look and feel like new.

So what experiences have you had moving into a new apartment? Do you have any tips for me on what I should do while moving?

Happy cleaning! ♥ Jess