I want to spruce up my living room in my USF apartment. Where should I start?

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Your living room is the centerpiece of your apartment. Why not make it snazzy?

These days, people worldwide are spending more time inside than ever before, especially college students. I don't know about you, but since this COVID-19 pandemic started, I've watched more movies and television shows than I can count. Plus, movies normally only available in theaters are now being released on-demand, so there are more reasons than ever to stay vegging out in the living room! If you're like me and want your living room to be the envy of your apartment building, you might be wondering how you should go about doing that. Here are some tips and tricks to make your USF apartment's living room stand out amongst the rest.

If your University of South Florida apartment came furnished, odds are you walked into a living room with a relatively large television, a couch, a coffee table, and maybe a chair or two. For most people, this would be about all they desire. But for people like us? We've got some work to do.

First of all, we'll need to make sure your speaker system is up to speed. If you have an old speaker system in your garage or bedroom back home, I'd suggest swinging by and picking it up. If that's not the case, Amazon and Best Buy are always an option. If this pandemic has hurt you financially, you can get really creative with your speaker options! Sophomore year, when I was on a budget but wanted my TV speakers to give louder and fuller sound than they were giving, I cut small holes in the bottom of plastic Solo cups and taped them on the wall next to the TV. While not necessarily an ideal set-up, it emitted sound that filled the room, which was what I wanted in the first place; if this is something you would like to try out, I would highly recommend using a marker to give your plastic cups some cool designs before hanging them up. It will give your makeshift speaker system a much groovier appearance!

Maybe you're the kind of person who doesn't want your living room TV to be the center of attention, and you'd rather focus on good conversation with your roommates or (socially distant) friends. If the above speaker idea intrigues you, I invite you to try it out, but that's certainly not going to cut it if you're a bit more social. LED lights are a common amenity college students purchase, and I must admit, they've made my living room much more inviting and enjoyable. Acquiring stick-on LEDs from an arts-and-crafts or electronics store and placing them along where your walls meet your ceiling is a very nifty trick I've seen in numerous USF apartment living rooms. In fact, whether your apartment came equipped with an internet connection or you brought your own, oftentimes you can coordinate your music to your lights; few things are as relaxing after a long day of classes than chilling out on the couch and letting the lights and music give you a private light show!

You are always going to remember your apartment near USF, so why not really make the living room your own? I have countless fun memories of hanging with my friends or roommates in my living room, no matter the occasion, and I guarantee you'll feel the same. 

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