Q Do you know of any ways to give my apartment a little bit of life during these cold winter days? I don't want to do any major renovations such as repainting or buying new furniture but need a slight change during my days of hibernating in my apartment. Coming home to the same dreary place every day in a bad funk from the cold is not doing it for me. -- Cheverly
AIt is a good inclination to fight off the winter blues rather than accept the monotony of your winter nesting period. Redecorating or changing your living space could do wonders for your mood.
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Of course, you could liven up a room without painting by buying new art, a comforter, a rug, curtains or even a bright lamp.
Another idea, even less expensive, is to use aroma as a form of interior decorating. Obviously, the odors that will enhance your spirits are not those strong cooking smells that apartment-dwellers often complain about.
In fact, the smell of cooked meat or barbecue can make you perceive your space as smaller than it is, said Alan Hirsch, the neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.
Hirsch has done extensive research on how smells affect people's behavior and moods and has written several books on the subject. Where home decorating and fighting off the winter doldrums are concerned, Hirsch said, "you can really use smells in a functional way. A burst of scent can instantly change your mood. But it's not just about putting a smell in a room, and it smells nice, and therefore it makes you happier."
He said, "Inducing an olfactory response will help you be happier in the winter, in terms of the sadness that we all get being exposed to cold and monotony for so long since we are not able to go out in the winter."
Different scents from candles, potpourri, incense and natural items or processes (plants, flowers, baking) can cause different emotional responses.
Hirsch said that often people are more content when they smell odors that make them nostalgic for childhood, such as baked goods, Play-Doh, baby powder or pine trees. He said that if your winter rut includes constant fatigue, you can use aromas that make you more alert. "Peppermint, citrus and spearmint stimulate you to be awake and fight off dull situations in winter."
Hirsch said our olfactory ability is at its worst in the winter for several reasons, such as the higher rate of stuffy noses and the fact that air is denser in the winter than in the summer because molecules are closer together. Because of this, he said, a higher level of odor is needed to infiltrate the air. So, he says, with enough concentration of an odor, you can induce different feelings.
"You can sequentially light candles, depending on what you're doing and what you want to do. You can alternate them depending on the day of the week," Hirsch said. Based on his research, he said the following scents have specific effects:
• Green apple and cucumber smells make rooms feel larger.
• A mixed floral smell increases learning, so it might be a good idea in a study or home office.
• Cucumber-melon reduces anxiety (and increases sensuality in women).
• Lavender facilitates sleep, so it would do well in a bedroom.
• Buttered popcorn and strawberries in an exercise room help you burn more calories, as long as you're not eating them.
• Banana, green apple and peppermint make people feel full faster, so if one of your New Year's resolutions was to eat less, you may want to test these scents in a dining room or kitchen.
• Lemongrass increases wakefulness.
And, if you are baking cakes and cookies all day to continuously spark happy olfactory-based emotional responses, it might be interesting to note that Hirsch has found the smell of doughnuts and cinnamon buns to be more effective than a nice woman's perfume in arousing male sensuality.
I am looking for a suitable house or townhouse. For six years, I lived with my girlfriend in a townhouse that she owned, and the only thing I can think of to show that I paid rent is the automated payments for $800 that were taken directly out of my bank account to pay the mortgage. She paid all the utilities and such. After I moved out of her place, I stayed with my mother while she recuperated from surgery. Will this be enough to get a lease in my name? What can I do to make myself look more appealing as a renter? Before I moved in with my girlfriend, I had apartments in my name on three occasions. -- Lorton
It really depends on the landlord. Some landlords maintain strict policies about renting to people without tangible rental history, and others are more welcoming to people without solid history as a tenant.
Because some landlords are known to have their own rules for renting to tenants who have, say, five years of rental history, be honest about your situation so that you do not waste your time applying to a landlord who will instantly reject you.
The fact that you paid your rent on time for six years, however, should suffice as good rental history. Get your bank to vouch that you made the payments regularly and, if the situation with your girlfriend is amicable, ask her to provide a reference for you, too.
Contact your former apartment buildings and see if they still have information on your tenancy on file. Many landlords will look favorably on the fact that you were able to rent three different apartments in your name in the past. If for some reason that is not enough proof for a particular landlord and you are eager to live in the building, ask your mother or someone else to co-sign your lease. Co-signers often help persuade skeptical landlords to take a chance on people who cannot prove that they were good tenants. You may also consider offering to pay a higher security deposit to show you are a serious, responsible tenant.
Whatever evidence you have to prove that you were a good resident, such as before and after pictures of your unit, will help your case.
Besides finding out if you paid your rent on time, a landlord checks rental history to make sure you were a good neighbor and didn't disturb others or damage your unit or the property. If your girlfriend cannot provide a prospective landlord with this kind of information, then consider asking a former neighbor for a reference.
Do you have questions, comments or ideas about apartment life? Contact Sara Gebhardt via e-mail at gebhardts@washpost.comor by mail, c/o Real Estate Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.
