Decorating an apartment can be a tricky thing. While you want to make your space your own, typically, you aren’t allowed much leeway with what you can do. No painting, no new flooring, no tiling the shower stall, etc. It does make decorating an apartment a bit challenging but certainly not impossible. You can make your home, no matter how temporary, your own.
I’ve recently been doing some apartment searching and I’ll be honest, it had gotten me pretty depressed. Knowing that I’d be moving into a space that I couldn’t change, even with all these visions of what could be in my head, had me dreading every mouse click. But, last week I met with a women who needed some help maximizing the space in her small apartment. After 90 minutes with her, I couldn’t wait to resume my apartment search. What happened? It took me stepping away from my situation and working with someone else to see that there are millions – MILLIONS – of ways to personalize when decorating an apartment. It is so easy, and possible, to make the space your own.
The biggest challenge of decorating an apartment is being sure to do so in the least damaging way as possible. You will be responsible for what you do so keep that in mind when designing. That being said, the trick is to take permanent ideas and revise them to make them temporary. For example, you want to inject some color and life into your boring, all off-white bedroom by wallpapering an accent wall. More than likely, your landlord is not going to be too keen on you slapping up a huge patterned, bright orange wallpaper. But, let’s see how we can accomplish it temporarily. One way would be create a wood frame that the wallpaper could be attached to then attaching that to the wall. Possibly the costliest option but essentially building a new wall and then wallpapering it would probably be the most realistic looking application. Another option would be to do it in a “small” dose as artwork. Purchase a 4′x8′ piece of plywood, attach the wallpaper to it then attach that to the wall. Instead of wallpaper but with the same intention, invest in some great looking fabric, do some DIY sewing and hemming, install inexpensive curtain hardware the length of a wall and you’ve got a wallpapered wall. While the cleaning of this wall may be more time consuming that wallpaper, it should be a less intrusive installation.
So what are some other ways to decorate an apartment? Rugs, or even more contemporary, carpet tiles installed to be a rug (check out flor.com for lots of ideas and products); furniture pieces with lots of character; furniture reclaimed from thrift shops with a fresh coat of bold paint; curtains, both window and shower; art and accessories that compliment the apartment and your style; using furniture not for it’s intended purpose (dresser in the kitchen for a pantry, anyone?), etc. Believe me, once you start thinking about it, the possibilities will only be limited by your budget. And yet again, I am all sorts of excited for apartment hunting!
Decorating an apartment can be a fun project with unlimited options. And if you get stuck, why not consider contacting Fuchsia to help you out? As you can see, we are certainly up to the challenge!
