furniture

[Gerianne]

when people move into an apartment, you get to see their furniture.
I saw someone who had bins and bins of yarn.
another lady had tons and tons of books.
another had a nice wicker cabinet
you could get some decorating ideas when you watch the furniture come rolling by.

[makeblessed]

This would never work for me, as I  do not pay that kind of attention to what people are moving in and out of their apartment; for me not a good use of my time. I generally get my decorating ideas from magazines or sometimes furniture stores; but if it is working for you then , go for it.

[cwillard1]

Pinterest has great ideas .   Some people have great imagination and how to reuse items.  I could spend all day looking at these projects

[UGetPaid]

I remember when I first moved away from home for college about 4 hours away.  I rented a small one bedroom apartment in a complex and filled up a small U-Haul with furnishings.  While moving my stuff in, there was another tenant who lived directly above me - an Asian man with a wife and children.  I'm sure he was just curious, but it really creeped me out that he walked right up to the moving van (even poked his head inside the back of the van) and was looking very closely at all of the items inside while my dad and I carried the heavy items in to my new place. He didn't bother anything and he did not steal anything and he did not say anything (he just smiled)... But in my mind there still were personal space and privacy issues involved.


A few years after that, I helped a high school friend make his move from Ohio to Iowa.  His brother and I were helping him move items is a similar situation and some pot head who lived in an apartment nearby starting helping also.  My friend told him, "Thanks, but we got it."  The guy was not mean or upset, but he didn't get the message and he kept reaching in to pull out items.  At one point he my friends younger brother if we "smoka da dopa?"  We eventually had to ask him to leave when he would not stop touching the boxes and other packed items.


The original poster's idea of watching what kind of items new renters have and getting decorating ideas from that is fine, as long as it is done from a distance.  But invading personal space and "helping" without asking when the help is not requested or is specifically declined is NOT cool.