I feel like I live in a fucking hotel room, and it's driving me crazy. I spend all my time in the bedroom, since that's where my desk is set up for my work from home job, and I can't move that.
In all honesty, plants. Adding things to my apartment that are uniquely mine has helped a lot.
Refrain from showering until your natural scent is overwhelmingly present. It's a little-known fact that landlords will abandon a property if it smells like a human (landlords aren't human).
plants — snake plants do great in apartments and are great if you've never done much plant care before (they are hard to kill, aren't picky about the amount of light they get, don't need frequent waterings, and put off a lot of oxygen)
Get a speaker and play your music over it sometimes instead of just using headphones
+1 for stuff on the walls
+1 for candles, having a scent associated with your space makes it feel more "yours"
+1 for alternative lighting, the cheapest and easiest way to de-hotel-ify a room is to tape up some strings of fairy lights
Area rugs help too if you have flooring other than carpet, can be more expensive though
Many landlords do not approve of candles near the walls.
You can get around this, though, by thumbtacking the box to the wall and having the candle rest on the box.
If you don't have a box, simply thumbtack your landlord to the wall instead
I find that having a separate space for work and free time, even if they are in the same room, has helped me hold on to some sanity during the pandemic. For example, I try to not sit in my work chair as much as possible when I'm not working, and got a wireless keyboard and a little table so I can use the computer while sitting on the sofa. Going for walks has also helped.
Walks and just getting out of the same space you stayed in all day helps immensely, can confirm
Have you tried piles of laundry all over? Serious answer, plants help a lot, as does alternative lighting. We keep almost all the overhead lights off and use lamps.
Putting in some LED strips can be nice too. Especially at night. I installed some in the kitchen (under the cabinets) and it gives the apartment a more open feeling at night.
What can help I think are getting things to put on your walls. Posters or plants on shelves, stuff like that (textured blankets are also really nice for this). It adds some of your personality to your place and makes it feel familiar. Also adding cheap rugs and other more organic-like objects to the floors and walls. It fills empty space, but also it helps trap sounds. Something that makes me really uncomfortable is when I move and speak in my place and sound just echoes. It's subtle but I feel it makes a huge difference for comfort
God yeah the echo doesn't seem like a lot until it's gone and you realize how much cozier it makes your place
Having my desk in my bedroom is one of the worst things for my mental health. I know you said you can't move your desk for work, but maybe you can spend all other time at another part of your place? Even just like a little desk or couch near a window in another room. I used to eat breakfast/lunch at my desk too, and it helped to just do that literally anywhere else. I do it on the couch and coffee table in the living room now lol. Not sure how big your apartment is though, so it's understandable if you just don't have multiple rooms/spaces to break up your different daily activities.
this isnt even something i thought i needed to do, but reading the suggestions i feel like i gotta now. no more hotel apartment
I don't know what your apartment looks like right now, but I'm going to guess it's like the difference between a good sims home and a bad sims home. You've gotta decorate! Art on the walls, knick knacks on your shelves, plants anywhere you can keep them healthy! There's something to be said for minimalist utilitarianism, but no one's ever accused a brutalist building of feeling homey. You've gotta make your space feel lived in by leaving evidence of life around it with your own style and presence. (No this does not mean leaving trash around, not that kind of evidence of life)
