With looks like this, it might be hard to leave our newest apartment community in Covington, but outside of Artesia’s gates is a town filled with tons of great attractions for adults and kids alike. If you love the outdoors, the Northshore is a great place to venture out and explore. You’re in close proximity to picturesque waterways, scenic state parks, and canopied bike paths that wind through the area’s townships. Thinking of indoor options? Test your wits at an escape room or go on a date to the movies.
The Northshore is home to several bayous and streams, which are ideal for an afternoon kayak ride. Beautiful cypress trees and diverse wildlife make paddling the Cane River or Tchefuncte River a relaxing experience. You can rent kayaks from a number of local outfitters, and use Louisiana Northshore’s list of launch sites for your personal watercrafts. Bogue Chitto State Park has great hiking paths and riverside beaches, and Fontainebleau State Park’s 2,800-acre space has boardwalk pavilions, and beautiful, renovated cabins for rent (make sure to book in advance, as they fill quickly). Did someone say, “Staycation?”
If you really want to get wild, head to the Global Wildlife Center for a safari ride alongside giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, and bison! You’ll ride in an open-air bus and get the opportunity to feed the animals by hand. Be careful with those giraffe tongues, though!
If you’re looking for a different kind of outdoor fun, the Tammany Tracy Bike Trail stretches from Abita Springs to Covington down to Mandeville, and into Slidell’s Camp Salmen Nature Park. End your light ride from Covington to Abita Springs with a beer at the Abita Brewery, or coast down to the Mandeville lakefront for a sunset stroll.
It’s still a tad hot outside, so you’re thinking of holding off on all things outdoors until later this season…That’s ok! There is plenty of indoor fun for everyone in the family. If you’re due for a date night with your loved one, the Movie Tavern is both the dinner and the movie. Take a seat and let a server bring you dinner while you watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Or you can clue into one of the Northshore’s escape rooms like The Escape or Escapology and race against the clock to free yourself from the enclosed space.
Altitude Trampoline Park is an indoor trampoline park with tons of high-flying fun. We love this place as a solution to rainy-day woes, and there are plenty of different bouncy options to keep your kids engaged until exhaustion.
Artesia’s centralized location gives you easy access to all of the Northshore’s best entertainment and attractions. Whether you’re looking to hit the water or hail the waiter, Covington has everything you need for your outdoor adventure or your indoor indulgences.
Fall is here, which means new produce will be in season, the weather will (hopefully) cool down, and holidays will be here before you know it. Here are some ways to acclimate your apartment for the change in season.
Wreaths and deep, jewel tones are two ways to add affordable fall decor to your apartment. (Photo via Flickr Creative Commons)
Autumn Wreaths – Get in the fall spirit and add a festive fall wreath either inside your apartment, on the front door, or both! Wreaths made out of twigs and foliage are always nice for fall and add that autumn touch that signals the season. Check out stores like Michael’s and T.J. Maxx for faux wreaths, or consider ordering a fresh wreath from a local florist!
Tabletop Decor – Placing pumpkins throughout your apartment, including your dining table, mantle, or fireplace, is the perfect representation of fall. You can even set up a basket of pinecones in your living room and a cornucopia on your counter for that additional touch.
Color scheme – Consider changing your drapes, sheets, and wardrobe to more fall-friendly colors like jewel and earth tones to really embrace the season. Or, add small pops of color through autumnal accessories like throw pillows and scarves.
Whether you use all of these ideas or pick and choose, adding fall decor to your apartment is the perfect way to bring extra coziness and warmth to your home for the season.
Essential oils have become a popular addition to self-care regimens, but they’re also useful for a number of household needs. So, what is an essential oil? According to Wikipedia, they’re “concentrated hydrophobic liquids containing volatile aroma compounds from plants.” Essential oils have been traditionally used for aromatherapy, but more and more people are incorporating them into their day-to-day lives. The great thing about these concentrated liquids is their versatility. They’re also a great natural alternative to chemical cleaners.
There are dozens of essential oils you can choose from, but there are a few specific options that are ideal for home use. According to Keeper of the Home, they are:
Lavender is a staple scent, and you can find lavender perfumes and house sprays at almost any home goods store. It’s a soothing scent, but it’s also a great topical agent for fresh cuts. It acts as an antibacterial serum when applied undiluted. Burned yourself cooking? Apply lavender to ease the pain. Heading out to walk down one of our garden paths? Use it to ward off insects as a natural repellant.
If you combine 5 drops of eucalyptus and 5 drops of tea tree oil to a 16-ounce water bottle, you have a mold-fighting bathroom spray that smells great. Lemon oil disinfects quick, which can prolong the life of your dish sponges, and it disintegrates stubborn substances like wax, sticker residue, and gum. Peppermint can keep bugs away from your home. Use a cotton swab to brush your windows and doors with the crisp, minty oil and those flying pests will stay away.
Tea tree oil has a lot of great topical uses, but it’s also an amazing antifungal and antibacterial cleaning option. Mix it with water and lemon oil to clean your high traffic areas with ease. After you’re done fighting germs, soothing burns, and stopping bugs from invading your space, take your favorite scent and diffuse it for a relaxing end to your essential oil home improvement project. You deserve it!
One of the most frequently used rooms in any home or apartment is the kitchen, but for many people, it can also be one of the most stressful. Sometimes it feels like there just isn’t enough room to prep and cook dinner or store all of your dishes and pantry items.
Organizing a kitchen properly can not only make the kitchen neater, but more practical. By incorporating a few simple space saving hacks, you can create a much more peaceful and enjoyable kitchen experience.
A sleek, modern kitchen with plenty of cabinet space awaits you at our brand new Artesia apartment community in Covington, LA.
If your kitchen pantry has no rhyme or reason to it, it can quickly get out of control if you’re not careful. When this happens, food items, spices, paper products and anything else you keep in your kitchen pantry can become disorganized, messy and hard to find. There are simple ways to tidy up the kitchen pantry and keep it neat so you never have to worry about kitchen clutter again.
Start by purchasing different sized plastic or metal baskets to sort pantry products. Use these to separate pastas, oils, cereal, rice and grains, pet food, tea and coffee, bread and anything else in different bins with labels.
First, remove all items from your pantry and set them on the kitchen counter or table while you wipe down the surfaces inside of the pantry. Throw away anything that is old, empty or that you’re not going to use. Then start sorting the items into the different baskets or bins, except for canned food. After placing the pantry organizer bins on the kitchen pantry shelf, make a spot for the canned food. It’s useful to not only organize items into bins, but organize the bins together by shelf.
After organizing, sorting, and labeling the goods in your kitchen pantry, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to find food you forgot existed. No more thinking you don’t have any groceries in your kitchen when they’re clearly visible right there in front of you!
Keeping your counters clear is key to maintaining your kitchen sanity. Counter space is useful for all sorts of everyday kitchen tasks, from cutting vegetables to making a sandwich. A well-organized kitchen should include plenty of clean counter space.
Hooks are great for freeing up counter space. You can find anything from small hooks for coffee mugs to large hooks for pots and pans. If you have nice copper or stainless steel pots, you can show them off. Hanging your kitchen supplies is a great way to functionally decorate. But remember, these hooks can only be hung in our apartments with finishing nails!
There are several magnetic kitchen storage devices that can keep important items out of your way. Magnetic knife strips are a great way to keep knives easily accessible and off the counter tops. Try a custom wooden option like this one. You can also incorporate a DIY magnetic spice rack into your decor. These spice racks are fun, unique, and free up plenty of cupboard space.
If you find yourself needing more cabinet space, look for a cute bookcase or china cabinet to keep near the kitchen. You can use it to store items like pretty glassware, dry food stored in matching jars, cookbooks, and indoor plants. A bookcase can make for beautiful decoration while serving a valuable, space-saving purpose.
Kitchen drawers often become a place to toss all sorts of things, but with a little planning, your drawers can feel much more orderly.
Everyone has that wretched “everything” drawer filled with scissors, random envelopes, and soy sauce packets. Use utensil trays, small plastic bowls or baskets, and drawer separators to keep everything in its place and easy to find.
With an open floor plan like this one at Artesia apartments, you’ll want to keep your kitchen tidy and organized!
After you’re all done organizing your kitchen, get creative and pick a recipe you’ve been wanting to try out. Cooking with a clean canvas is always the best way!
Enjoy ample kitchen pantry space at 1st Lake’s apartment communities, like the Artesia apartment community in Covington. The modern, state of the art kitchens at Artesia feature energy efficient appliances with double stainless steel sinks, multi-tone granite counter tops, and custom cabinetry.
If you’re looking for a more spacious and modern kitchen to cook in and clean, check out the available metro New Orleans apartments from 1st Lake Properties!
College semesters are about to kick off across the Greater New Orleans Area! While some students will choose to live in dorms during their semester, the freedom and flexibility of apartment living can be a great change of pace for any college-goer! With several universities and colleges very close to multiple 1st Lake Properties, the commute time can be minimal and the privacy and peace of mind that comes with an apartment can be helpful for hitting the books during the upcoming semester! So, what’s the big difference?
While college dorms can offer the convenience of a centralized location and a built-in social structure, they can also be noisy, chaotic, confined, and restrictive. Beyond this, the cost of a meal plan for your dorm can be pricey, with many students not taking full advantage of it.
Loud communal spaces can distract during serious study sessions.
Another aspect of dorm life that can be frustrating is the lack of privacy. The communal bathrooms, the long lines to do laundry, and the generally small, cramped quarters of a dorm room can be overwhelming. Beyond these hassles, those who live in dorms have to abide by visitation rules, which have restricted visiting hours and are enforced by the watchful eye of a Resident Advisor. All of this can add extra stress to a situation that is already quite a challenge!
Sharing one small room with multiple people can leave you feeling claustrophobic.
The freedom and autonomy that comes with apartment living is also head and shoulders above dorm living. With apartment living, students can be afforded many of the same benefits of a dorm without all the headaches and restrictions. With many apartment homes very near college campuses, proximity to school is not a problem, and commuting time is very quick! The built-in social structure of a college dorm is also present in an apartment home, with many of your neighbors in and around your building being young people and students themselves! With the added convenience of having a private bathroom, your own washer and dryer, and the spaciousness of a modern apartment home, the benefits of apartment living over dorm living are great.
Your own room. Your own style. Your own privacy.
Students in apartments are not subject to restrictive visitation hours or room inspections by housing staff. The options available to students are also far superior to the limited choices inherent in dorm living. Students get to choose their own living space based on price, location, number of bathrooms or even amenities such as an on-site pool, hot tub, or gym! Thinking of adding a furry friend to the family? We’re pet-friendly!
Post-class peace and quiet or a study sanctuary? You decide!
Apartment living can also be much more peaceful and serene than the crowded and noisy atmosphere of a dorm. Students can relax and study away from noisy hallways and crowded classrooms, in a space all their own. Living in an apartment for the first time can also help a young person grow into a responsible adult as they learn the ins and outs of leasing agreements, utility payments, and other aspects of independent life that are crucial in adulthood!
More space for visitors and significantly fewer restrictions? Goodbye curfew!
Freedom, fun, happiness, and privacy are the key ingredients to making college a great experience, and why most students would much prefer apartment life over dorm life! If you’re a student looking at living options for the upcoming semester, take the time to explore your options, weigh the pros and cons, and make college the best experience it can be. Oh and don’t forget to ask about our student discounts!
1st Lake Properties | P. O. Box 73709 | Metairie, LA 70033 | info@1stlake.com
