Tips for Hosting a Party in Your Apartment

Follow These Tips to be the Host/Hostess with the Most/Mostest

Here you are in your studio or 1-bedroom apartment, and you’d love to throw a party — just like your friends do in their big suburban houses, with everyone from your cousin-in-law to your uncle’s mechanic invited — but how?  You can do it — if you just plan properly. Follow these tips and you’ll be the host/hostess with the most/mostest, even in your cozy digs.

Type of party

A dinner party works well in any size apartment. Invite only four to six people, which will keep the cooking manageable. Make it informal: if you have a small place, guests will probably see you cooking, and they will be eating in the living room. A nice one-pot pasta dish or a casserole with a salad and crusty bread are simple combos to balance on your lap. Add some wine and a chocolate dessert and everyone is happy. And don’t forget to have some games or a movie for after dinner; some organized fun later can make the evening last long into the night.

A pre-party can also work well. If you and your friends are all going out dancing or to a big sporting event, you may want to invite everyone over for drinks and some nibbles beforehand. You’ll provide a laid-back atmosphere, and you won’t have to invite too many people. It’s another perfect situation for a party in an apartment.

Or, you can go for a bigger get-together. Even some apartments can fit 15 people or so; you just need to make sure you’re not over-inviting. Generally speaking, the better you know the invitees, the more likely they are to come. So, if you want to have a party with about 15 people, invite around 20 of your closer friends. Contact them directly, and make sure you get a response, that way you’ll be able to keep the guest list manageable.

Avoid mass emails to large groups of classmates, your colleagues or your entire softball team. These types of invitees are difficult to predict — sometimes none of them will come, or they’ll come en masse — and with a small space, you can’t take that risk. An overcrowded party can lead to damage to the apartment that puts your security deposit at risk as well as your continued residency.

Maintenance #LifeHack: What to Do if The Garbage Disposal is Not Operating in an Apartment

Three Easy Steps for Apartment Residents

Beginning meal prep?  Getting rid of leftovers?  Cooking dinner?  The garbage disposal, sometimes known as a waste disposal unit, is a tool used to shred food particles so that food can pass through plumbing.  

Garbage disposals can occasionally need maintenance like any other kitchen appliance.  Apartment residents should follow three simple steps if the garbage disposal is not operating.

1) Turn the Garbage Disposal Off: This may seem like common sense, but the worst thing for a garage disposal that is not operating is for more food items to be placed in the disposal.  Is the garbage disposal making a strange sound or, simply, not operating?  Turn the system off to investigate the problem.  There may be a piece of plastic or a utensil trapped inside the unit.

2) Try the Reset Button: Is the garbage disposal simply not operating?  The reset button of the garbage disposal may have popped.  That being said, it is easy to reset a garbage disposal.  The garbage disposal reset button is typically a small red button located on the bottom of the disposal.  Turn the disposal off, locate the button, and press it to reset the garbage disposal.

3) Contact your Apartment Community Maintenance Team: Cannot locate the problem or reset the garbage disposal?  Contact the maintenance team!  One benefit of living in an apartment community is that a dedicated community maintenance team is available to help.  Call the leasing office and/ or submit a service request to report the problem.

Apartment Resident #LifeHacks was created in 2018 by Grady Management, Inc.  Grady Management was founded in 1965 and continues to provide a full service residential, commercial, and consulting real estate firm in the greater Washington and Baltimore metropolitan area.  Learn more from our website or Facebook page.