Tips for Making Temporary Housing Feel like Home

For months we had been looking for a long term rental in this area of Florida without luck. There’s such a housing shortage here and because we are close to the beach most rental homes make far more income renting weekly. So when it was mid May and we had to be out of the beach bungalow we were renovating by May 28, we signed a lease on a 2 bedroom apartment. Today I’m partnering with Target to share tips for making temporary housing feel like home.

Our home in Connecticut was quite large. We had intended for my mom to come live with us but she never did so we got used to lots of extra space. Shifting to homes around 1,000 square feet down here in Florida was quite an eye opening change. I’m so glad we took this adventure because it certainly reinforces how little “stuff” I want to have/acquire.

As someone who gets a lot of joy out of home renovations moving into an apartment temporarily put that on hold. It was a bit welcomed after we renovated this bungalow top to bottom in under 1 month. That said, we are keeping our eyes open for rental homes as our build timeline continues to get pushed back.

PRO TIP: If you are starting from scratch (we had sold our home furnished so we were), I highly recommend purchasing a mattress in a box. They ship small and are easy to navigate up tight stairwells if you are in an apartment or cottage and taking it up a few flights of stairs. I used this 6″ twin mattress on our top bunk in the other bedroom. We have a couple twin beds in there an originally had a thicker mattress on the top bunk but my son was concerned he would roll out. This 6″ mattress in a box allowed him to feel the security of the bunk railing.

I pulled together some tips that have helped me stay focused in where I’m making purchases and investing energy as we worked to make the apartment feel more like home.

1. Cozy up the spaces you utilize most as soon as you arrive. For us this is the living room and bedroom. Having a cozy layered bed gives you somewhere to lay down and read with the kids (or alone if you are at the stage in life) and feels more elevated than a mattress on the floor. While a mattress on the floor sounds nice so there’s less to move when the temporary situation is over, settling in to a few spaces in the housing will make the time much more pleasant. I’m sharing our cozy layered bed below! I am a big fan of the Casaluna bedding from Target because of its chic style, superb comfort, and it doesn’t break the bank.
2. Have a plan for where your pieces will go when temporary housing is over. A plan for your furnishings will help you know where to invest. Timeless furniture and pieces of art are things you can easily move from house to house over your lifetime. These pieces will bring back fond memories of each space. For us, the plan is to move most of this furniture into a short term rental we purchased this year that is in need of some cosmetic updates. This helps me keep on budget because people are pretty rough on short term rentals so I like to buy pieces that have durability but aren’t too expensive to replace if need be. I got LOTS of furniture and decor from Target last month when we were renovating this bungalow.
3. Commit to the mindset that you will make the most of the opportunities this situation presents. Even in a small apartment like the one we are staying in we have had several bunk bed slumber parties, we’ve utilized the amazing outdoor amenities like a fire pit where the kids cook s’mores right beside the pool, and close beach access. Downsizing has forced us to keep our “stuff” in storage and has shown us how little stuff we actually miss/want. If you are feeling a bit underwhelmed by the idea of housing where you can’t paint the walls or update the bathroom (I am guilty at times), shifting your perspective to the flexibility and freedom of the liquidity of the situation is pretty great too.

I wanted to share a look at the cozy Casaluna bedding I got for our queen bed. Our rental house is booked for the summer but you may get to sleep on it yourself if you rent there after we update it!

I like to start with a neural base and layer in different textures. I used a “natural” colored comforter and added shams both in that color and two shades of white. The Casaluna queen throw blanket at the end of the bed keeps my feet warm at night and also adds cozy texture to the bed. I like to use down pillow inserts so that the pillows have the karate chop look. Typically I get an insert 2″ larger than the pillow cover but in this case they are the same size.

SHOP THE ROOM:

I am working on finishing up the living room but I had shared this room board that utilized one of the sofas we purchased. I am using the 61″ “oat colored sofa as well as the 85″ sofa with plans to move these over to the rental house when we move to a larger space.

Below are some other Target items I purchased to make our apartment feel a little more homey:

I hope this post was helpful to some of you who are on the move! Thanks for stopping by.

Thank you to Target for sponsoring today’s post.