If you’re taking a much deserved vacation this summer to the beach, mountains, visiting family, or wherever your destination may be, eliminate any doubt or worry concerning your home or apartment while you’re away. In addition to packing for a trip, prepare for leaving by using this home checklist before your departure and you’ll be just as carefree as you should be while on vacation.
Water your plants – If you have any indoor plants in your apartment, make sure to water them right before you leave. If you have indoor plants that require daily watering, ask a trusted friend, family member or neighbor to water your plants while you’re away.
Turn off all the lights – To conserve energy, turn off the lights in your home. As to not call attention to your home, leave a lamp by the window on just as a security safeguard.
Reset the air conditioning – As another energy conservation step, make sure that your air conditioning is turned up. You don’t want to turn it completely off, but turn up the thermostat. If you are gone for more than a couple days and the air conditioning is off, it could potentially cause damage to certain personal items and cause the temperature in your apartment to reach an uncomfortable level upon your return.
Throw out any perishables – If you will be gone for more than a few days, go through your refrigerator and throw out any food that might go bad so you’re not left with a smelly mess to clean up when you return.
Lock all doors – This is a given, but make sure all entrances, including your front door, any side or back doors and patio doors are all locked.
Help – If you have plants, pets, or anything else that needs taking care of while you are away, make arrangements for someone you know and trust to watch your apartment and collect mail and newspapers for you. Make sure they have a key and you leave them a list of any important information.
Arm alarm system – Don’t forget to set your security alarm system while you’re away and make sure that anyone with a key knows the code.
Unplug or turn off electronics – Besides double checking that nothing is running like the oven or a humidifier, unplug electronics like hair dryers and entertainment systems to conserve energy while you’re gone.
Looking for an apartment to call your own? Check out all of our available apartments in New Orleans and contact 1st Lake Properties today!
The secret to mastering the art of apartment living is maximizing space. There are many ways to achieve this, and one of the most effective is creating multipurpose rooms in your apartment. This way, you can strategically use all of the available space in your apartment to meet all of your at-home needs. Here are some tips and tricks for optimizing your apartment’s floor plan to get the most out of where you live!
Enjoy the sunrooms and bonus rooms at Willow Creek apartments!
Bonus room: 1st Lake offers a lot extra space in many of their New Orleans area apartments, including new sunrooms at the Cypress Creek and Willow Creek apartments in River Ridge, the Lakes of Chateau Estates South apartments in Kenner and the Camelot Court and Windmill Creek North and Windmill Creek South apartments in Metairie. These rooms can be converted into whatever might be missing in your apartment – just use your imagination. Some ideas are a home office, fitness room, guest bedroom, children’s play area, a music room for instruments or home recording equipment. It’s up to you!
Studios: Studios are ideal for one person who has an active lifestyle looking for an affordable living space. Because of their open floor plans using furniture or room dividers to create private space is always an option. Deciding to divide studio space depends on what you want out of your apartment. Separating different areas based on their uses such as sleeping, eating and entertaining can organize the floor plan and section off private areas.
1st Lake has many excellent studios that provide accommodating floor plans to work with and amenities like full washer and dryers, sun rooms and storage space to make studio living a great and comfortable experience.
If you are a resident of New Orleans, then you are located in the fastest growing city in America, according to NerdWallet. While the country is still experiencing the harsh backlash from the economic recession and financial deficit, New Orleans is unique in that it’s on the incline and enjoying the benefits.
This classification was calculated using three factors: population, employment and income. Specifically, population was measured according to the growth in the working age population, employment was measured by the growth in the percentage of employed residents and income was measured by the growth in median income for workers.
Some of the biggest contributing factors to New Orleans’ progressive status NerdWallet cited is their educational improvements, tourism industry and entrepreneurial popularity. According to NerdWallet, “in the past 10 years, the percentage of eighth grade students passing Louisiana’s LEAP test has more than doubled.” Universities in New Orleans are dedicated to public service and civic volunteerism. A great example of this is Tulane University’s GIST program that connects seventh grade girls with female role models and mentors in STEM fields.
New Orleans has become a destination for startup companies in progressive fields like online and technology as well as the film production industry. The emergence of these industries in New Orleans has elevated the level of commerce and in turn poured that much more into the local economy. As a result, business in New Orleans is thriving and better than ever.
If you aren’t already living here, consider moving to an apartment in New Orleans to be part of this thriving community. There are many excellent 1st Lake apartments for rent in the New Orleans area that will position you in the center of all the action.
1st Lake’s apartment communities know how to show their residents a good time. This Memorial Day, two River Ridge apartment communities held their first annual event to celebrate this American holiday.
The Citrus Creek East and Citrus Creek West apartments in River Ridge held a joint Sprinkler Day for Memorial Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sprinklers were set up on the communities’ tennis court area, and both children and adults enjoyed cooling off and playing games around the sprinklers on this hot and sunny afternoon. Citrus Creek also provided smaller sprinklers for the younger children, toddlers and babies to enjoy the cool mist. The older children had fun running through the larger sprinklers, and some brought their own water blasters and other toys to play with.
The adults enjoyed the cool sprinkler mist as well, plus a cherished Louisiana summertime tradition – snoballs! Cox Communications sponsored a snoball food truck called Sno 2 Geaux for the residents during Sprinkler Day. Nothing beats this icy sweet treat during a hot summer day. The snoballs were a wonderful surprise for the children and adults alike.
The event was such a hit, that 1st Lake will bring Sprinkler Day back again for a second year in 2014. If you enjoy great residential perks like these, consider being a member of a 1st Lake apartment community. Check out the many apartments for rent in River Ridge and other great neighborhoods in the Greater New Orleans area.
Summer is a time for celebration in America, especially in July for Independence Day. Louisiana takes holidays seriously and throws a party, festival or parade for just about anything. So for 4th of July, we go all out with the festivities. Start making plans for 4th of July at locations near 1st Lake’s apartment communities in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Mandeville and Slidell.
Essence Fest – Fourth of July kicks off Essence Fest in New Orleans through July 7, the biggest music festival in Louisiana this summer. See headliners like Beyonce, Maxwell, New Edition, LL Cool J, Jill Scott, Brandy and many others. There will also be many great inspirational speakers, plus cooking demos, block parties, family friendly activities and much more.
Go Fourth on the River – Head to New Orleans for the premier Fourth of July celebration, Go Fourth on the River. There will be the signature Dueling Barges fireworks show, steamboat cruises on the Mississippi River, a celebration in Jackson Square and more.
Baton Rouge – If you are a resident of the 1st Lake apartments in Baton Rouge, you will be close to a fantastic Fourth of July celebration downtown. Along the riverfront, there will be activities and events all day long, like food vendors, tons of live music, a staged air raid performance, and fireworks over the Mississippi River.
Slidell Heritage Festival – The Slidell Heritage Festival on July 4 doubles as an Independence Day and local culture festival. Starting at 3:30 p.m. there will be fun live local band performances and fireworks at 9:00 p.m. followed by more live music. There will also be a children’s area with giant inflatable toys, a climbing wall and a video game trailer. There will be something for everyone!
Have a fun and safe 4th of July celebration, no matter which one choose!
1st Lake Properties | P. O. Box 73709 | Metairie, LA 70033 | info@1stlake.com
