How to Easily and Inexpensively Add a Little Luxury to Your Everyday Kitchen and Bath Experiences
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Even before I moved into my new apartment, I was looking for ways that I could recreate some of the luxury amenities I had become accustomed to in my house. Now keep in mind that I had remodeled my kitchen and baths to my own specifications and purchased the best my budget was able to afford at the time. When you move into a rental, you don’t have the flexibility to remodel so you have to make the most of what you’ve got to work with so here’s what I did.
These are also inexpensive ways for you to add value to your own homes for resale or to add a little luxury on a budget to your everyday life.
1. Water Filter for the Kitchen – I had a Culligan reverse osmosis water filter system under my kitchen sink with a water dispenser installed on the rim of my sink. I had planned to bring this system to my apartment, but quickly realized that that wasn’t going to be possible because in order to install the dispenser, I would have to drill into the countertop. I doubt very much the management here would allow that. So, I had to find an alternative. I found this Clean & Pure 20,000 Gallon Countertop Water Filter on HSN and ordered three. Why 3 you ask? Because I wanted it not only for the kitchen, but also for my bathrooms. Yes, I’m weird like that and wanted filtered water for brushing my teeth, but it turned out the water filter won’t attach to the faucets in the bathroom so I had to return those, but I do have filtered water in my kitchen to drink and cook with for just $40! If you own your home and can afford a built-in water filtration system, I would recommend it, but this is an inexpensive alternative and it’s easy to install (once you have the right amount of washers in place).
2) Water Filter for the showers – I had a Culligan water softener system installed in my house that filtered all the water in the house so we didn’t have hard water deposits, chlorine, etc. I loved that system and when you’re used to that, it’s an adjustment to go back to hard water…an adjustment I’m not willing to accept long term. So I researched water softener systems for apartments, even called the management office to find out what we can do and bottom line, it was too difficult and not technically allowed so I decided to go with this Equinox EQ-40 Shower Water Filtration System which “improves municipally treated water by significantly reducing chlorine, chloroform and harmful VOCs, while enhancing pH for a cleaner, more healthier and enjoyable shower.” Honestly, I don’t know if it works (I think it does), but I feel better that I have it. I didn’t even take a shower here until I had it installed (which I did myself…imagine that!). So…rather than having a $3000 water softener system (which I do recommend), you can improve your water for just $50 per shower head.
3. Handheld Shower system – When I remodeled my bathrooms, I spent a lot of time researching just the right shower systems and decided on Grohe for the master bath and Hans Grohe for my daughter’s bath. I even went with the Sterling finish in the master bath because it was “different” from nickel or chrome. We even had a rain shower head that came down from the ceiling – very relaxing! Obviously, that’s not possible in a rental space. I don’t know about the rest of you, but having one stationary shower head does not do it for me. I don’t enjoy it when I’m at a hotel and it definitely doesn’t work for everyday comfort. How do you clean the shower/tub without the ability to spray. And I have a 4 year old. Try getting a child to stand under the shower head and attempt to get different body parts clean without the handheld…not easy. I found this Peerless 76950 2-in-1 Shower System on Amazon and love it. For less than $35, you can improve your shower experience significantly. Hope you find these tips helpful. Go ahead and give yourself permission to add a little luxury to your every day life. I just showed you how to save thousands of dollars to have these experiences...enjoy!
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