When you’re renting an apartment, it can be hard to find the right ways to decorate it and make it feel like your home while sticking to a tight budget and respecting your landlord’s space. My first apartment consisted of a mix of mismatched furniture, bare walls, and a mattress that I just plopped on the floor of my bedroom. Hey, I was young and in college! I didn’t need a bed frame!
When I moved into my second apartment (and as I matured), I realized I wanted my apartment to reflect my style and feel like a home of my own, not just a temporary living quarters. Here are some of my ideas on decorating your apartment on a budget so that it can have the appearance and feel of a lived-in home.
1.) Start with the walls. If you don’t want your apartment to feel like a mental institution, then I suggest doing something about the sterile hospital-setting look of bare white walls. Check with your landlord if you’re allowed to paint. If you are, that’s the cheapest and easiest way to give your apartment some color and personality. If you landlord doesn’t allow this, get some inexpensive prints online or at an art fair and hang them on your walls. Ditch the duct tape and buy a cheap frame to add a touch of class to your wall art.
2.) Rearrange the furniture. If you need a new outlook on your apartment, rearranging your furniture is great way to get that at no cost. Move the couch and TV to a different spot or angle. Update your bedroom by moving your bed against a different wall. It may seem small, but a new arrangement can make a big diffenrence.
3.) Get a plant. Plants are a great way to bring life into your apartment. Not only are they an easy, affordable way to decorate, but they also help control humidity, clean the air, and add an organic touch to your apartment.
4.) Update your furniture. Reupholster old chairs and couches with cheap material from a local fabric store. Restain wooden tables and chairs to give them a new look.
5.) Get creative with storage. Nothing is more uninviting than a messy apartment. Go to a garage sale, look online, or visit a thrift store to find inexpensive shelves and storage containers to organize your apartment.
6.) Do-It-Yourself. There are so many ways to decorate and create new furniture for cheap by doing it yourself instead of spending money at a store, such as creating your own headboard out of stained wooden planks. Your mattress can’t stay on the floor forvever! Check out this Pinterest board for great DIY ideas!
