Welcome, fledgling Florentine! After months of daydreaming about your fabulous life abroad, your plane has touched down at Peretola. You’ve chosen classes, stuffed some Italian slang up your sleeve, and can finally take pride in remembering to weigh your produce. The jet lag has worn off and Florence is starting to feel like casa, except in one crucial place: your apartment. Bare walls and drab decor invite bouts of homesickness. With a limited budget and a finite number of days here, finding ‘fixup’ motivation can be tough—but personalizing your apartment will help you feel less guest, more local. As a short-term renter, you can’t attempt a remodel, but there’s plenty of room to add other creative touches.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX WITH BASICS
Surprisingly, ho-hum essentials like hampers and wastebaskets can add cool accents to your space. Instead of buying cheap eyesores, look to Le Sorelle (borgo San Jacopo, 30), a Lucca-born shop that stocks eco-friendly, multi-purpose washable paper bags that won’t break the bank. Offered in a variety of sizes and colors, they make practical, aesthetically pleasing wastebaskets and hampers. At semester’s end, fold them up and take them with you as a Tuscan-made souvenir.
GET PLANT-ASTIC
The power of plants is no joke. Stick flowers, cacti or even fake IKEA greens on a shelf, table or desk to add instant homey appeal. Shop the early-morning market stalls (piazza Santo Spirito and Campo di Marte are two solid options) for some of the best deals. Vases and pots aren’t hard to come by: make do with mason jars and empty bottles from the nearest vino sfuso wine store.
BUILD A KITSCH-EN COLLECTION
Your cabinet basics are probably already covered. But small, quirky kitchen pieces add personality to your place and make flight-friendly Florence gifts and souvenirs when wrapped carefully. Check out the inexpensive, calligraphy-scribbled mugs at And Company shop (via Maggio, 60r), build up your small bowl collection with the colorful choices at Anita Russo Ceramics (via Romana, 11r) or scour the San Lorenzo market for funky wine stoppers.
SET UP A VISITOR BOARD, GUESTBOOK OR MEMORY JAR
Once you’ve added some personal touches to your apartment, you’ll probably be bit by the entertaining bug. It sounds overly sentimental now, but one day you’ll want mementoes of aperitivi and dinners spent with your Florence friends. (Instagram feeds change!) Buy a display board, a leather-bound notebook or simply use a jam jar to collect notes, photos and signatures from friends who pass through your flat. Use colorful or textured paper from your neighborhood cartoleria, or two TF staff favorites—Cartoleria Le Dune (via della Spada, 33r) and La Scartoffia (piazza Santo Spirito, 14r).
