Hey there all you tenants, landlords, property owners and property managers. Sometimes you may think to yourself, man, I’ve got too much stuff on my plate! We know we have. Sometimes we also find ourselves thinking, man, I’ve got too many plates on my stuff! The ratio of plates to stuff is an important one to maintain in a rental property, and one that is often overlooked by tenants all over. Lucky for you, this week on the rant, we’re talking dishware–everything from salad forks to serving bowls, when to use what, and how to store it so it doesn’t clutter up your precious space.
The first thing to consider as a tenant looking to move into a house, apartment, condo or duplex, is whether or not you plan on entertaining often. With thanksgiving just past, it may be another year before you have to host a massive dinner, but many of you out there are bound to have another big family get together in about a month’s time, and many of you will probably have friends or family over even sooner than that.
Most of the time when entertaining company, you’ll think about how much food you need, but an important and oft-overlooked aspect, especially among you twenty-somethings is thinking about how many plates and utensils you need. Your friends may pretend that they’re cool with eating out of frisbees and dog bowls, but part of being an adult is having dishware to serve your food on when you have company. You don’t necessarily need your grandmother’s silver and fine china, but at least a set of matching plates and bowls is a great thing to own, especially if you host people at your rental property fairly regularly.
On the other end of the spectrum, part of maintaining a clean kitchen is not having too many things in it, especially since there’s a tendency to not wash things if you can just grab a new, clean one, until eventually you have a pile of dirty dishes on every surface available. Especially if you live in a smaller apartment, try to figure out what your bare essentials–a few plates and bowls, a nice mug, enough silverware for a few guests, but not much more than that. Otherwise you’re running into clutter territory fast.
As a landlord or property owner, make sure to advertise it if your property has lots of cupboard space and areas for entertaining company, since these can be major draws for potential tenants who plan on hosting events, and don’t worry, people who care about cupboard space probably aren’t the keg and solo cup crowd anyhow.
Do you have rental questions of your own? Comments? Concerns? Love letters? Hate mail? We’ve got room on our plate: Hometownrant@hometownrent.com