Decorating Tips

[Indigo10]

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Hi Everyone,
I am new to this forum and in light of everyone posting about living situations I have another question to ask and hopefully you guys can help me out. 🙂

I will hopefully be getting two new 1st year roommates in the fall. Right now my apartment does not look very much like a "home". It more looks like someone moved in and plopped two couches down in the living room. I have no decorations, nothing on the walls, nothing on the windows. It is just downright depressing. It also doesn't help that my apartment has a ridiculous amount of wall space with nothing breaking up the rooms.

I really want to decorate it to look nice and comfortable for two new vet students. I know how hard first year is and living in an environment that looks like a cave probably doesn't help stress levels.

I need advice on how to decorate cheaply that will make the apartment look nice. I defiantly don't want it to be just my style, which isn't much right now. How did you guys decorate on a budget? Is there anything you did or did not do to make it more appealing to people who dedicate there lives to animals? Like animal pictures etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! If you like to decorate and have cool ideas please share pics!

 

[cs5910]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to this forum and in light of everyone posting about living situations I have another question to ask and hopefully you guys can help me out. 🙂

I will hopefully be getting two new 1st year roommates in the fall. Right now my apartment does not look very much like a "home". It more looks like someone moved in and plopped two couches down in the living room. I have no decorations, nothing on the walls, nothing on the windows. It is just downright depressing. It also doesn't help that my apartment has a ridiculous amount of wall space with nothing breaking up the rooms.

I really want to decorate it to look nice and comfortable for two new vet students. I know how hard first year is and living in an environment that looks like a cave probably doesn't help stress levels.

I need advice on how to decorate cheaply that will make the apartment look nice. I defiantly don't want it to be just my style, which isn't much right now. How did you guys decorate on a budget? Is there anything you did or did not do to make it more appealing to people who dedicate there lives to animals? Like animal pictures etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! If you like to decorate and have cool ideas please share pics!

PINTEREST.COM!!!

Go to the Do-it-yourself (DIY) or the Home Decor category and you will find thousands of cheap/easy/pretty things to make! Pinterest has made me so excited to move to a new city for vet school this fall and to decorate a new appartment!! It gave me lots of ideas for things to make this summer before I move 🙂

 

[cs5910]

Here is the DIY page, it gets updated 24/7! http://pinterest.com/all/?category=diy_crafts

Here is the home decor page: http://pinterest.com/all/?category=home_decor

There are tons of other categories too! All you do is double click on the pic you life and it will take you to a website to learn how to make it. Hope this helps!! 😍

 

[scb44f]

One thing some friends of mine did right after they moved in together was buy canvas and paint, and then they painted different things that all fit a theme. One was animal prints and another was flowers. Then they put them up in the living room. From their feedback on it, it was a fun way to get to know each other, and it helped them decorate their place together.

Oh, another thing... My husband and I have been fortunate enough to do some traveling outside the states, so our living room is decorated with things we accumulated on those trips. I scored a giant picture frame at a resale shop and then went to Barnes and Noble, bought a world map, and hung that up. I love the way it looks and we have considered putting pushpins on the countries we have traveled to.

There are some sites that give out samples of ceiling tiles, so I requested some (I think I had to pay for shipping or something), painted four of them, and now they are hanging on another wall in my living room. There was another one that had a good sized circle in the middle, so I cut it out, attached a round mirror from Hobby Lobby on the back, and hung it up above my kitchen sink. Looooove it.

 

[503372]

I would personally do anything to get away from the blandness of a white wall. I really hate how the white washes everything out and how the wall becomes dirty over time too. This must be a pet peeve.

Since I'll be living in a dorm or apartment again, I was thinking about investing in a tapestry or that kind of wallpaper you can tack up yourself. I guess painting, wallpaper, etc depends upon whether you rent or own.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urba...&isProduct=true&cross-sell=true&guide-bn=true

 

[485501]

A way I like to do curtains is to just buy fabric (or big scarves, for a small window), a pressure-fit curtain rod, and then some of those curtain rings with alligator clips. Fold the fabric in half or fold a bit over on the top, clip it in, and you've got curtains! You can change colors/patterns really easily to fit different seasons or try new styles, you can layer multiple fabrics to get cool effects, etc. If you want to be able to tie the curtains to the side, just get some little screw-in hooks at a hardware store and put them either side of the window, then make a cord by twisting together several strands of yarn and folding them in half so they wrap around themselves. Tie the ends together, then hook each end of the new cord around the hook. Very cheap, and again you can change styles whenever you want.

 

[orca2011]

I had some photographs I had taken for a photography class and have hung those in my room along with those giant wall frames that can hold like 12 pictures each. I also have a bunch of blue,green and tealish vases sitting on a shelf for decoration by my window. That's a pretty simple thing to do with any color as well. I also have a couple of cheep bright green, small floor rugs on top of my carpet to add additional color.

We were fortunate enough that our landlord was okay with us painting our the walls too. Our kitchen is bright green to break up the whiteness of that area. My bedroom is the same color, while my roomie's room is a blueish color and the bathroom is like periwinkle.

Fun color table mats, bath mats, or kitchen floor mats work wonders too.

My sister also donated some of her art pieces, one of which a several piece project that we have sitting on top of the mantle. If you have any friends or family members who are artistic, see if they'd be willing to create a unique piece for your apartment.

We also have quite a few fake plants around the living room too.

 

[jmo1012]

wall stickers!!! My room is currently goofy wit multi-colored polka dots all over the walls and an inspirational quote over the bed. some of the dots are dry erase. for extra fun because i knew my roommate would like it, i bought tropical fish stickers that are now all over our kitchen. we live in the caribbean and go snorkeling, so it fits haha.

you don't have to be playful though, you can definitely be classy with the stickers too. my neighbor has some really pretty black ones that make her place look fun but elegant. stay away from anything thats really sticky (i.e. the pretty little mirrors) unless you plan on never removing it and repainting the wall when you do, because those things are not re-usable and will indeed wreck your walls. the stickers peel off really nicely though.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=wall+stickers
more pictures of my apartment:
http://doctorinthesand.blogspot.com/2013/02/new-apartment.html

 

[Indigo10]

wow these are all really great tips! I really am not good at art but my sisters are so maybe then can help with canvas stuff!!

I have a giant wall that has nothing on it and I would love to put a really inspirational quote and some pictures around the quote! The only problem is that I have walls that look like this



I hope that pic works. But anyway. Its not completely white (THANK GOD) its kind of off white everywhere in the house. But the texturing on the walls may be a problem. Not to mention that its super ugly lol!

 

[jmo1012]

wow these are all really great tips! I really am not good at art but my sisters are so maybe then can help with canvas stuff!!

I have a giant wall that has nothing on it and I would love to put a really inspirational quote and some pictures around the quote! The only problem is that I have walls that look like this

View attachment 22655

I hope that pic works. But anyway. Its not completely white (THANK GOD) its kind of off white everywhere in the house. But the texturing on the walls may be a problem. Not to mention that its super ugly lol!

my walls aren't perfectly smooth - they're made of concrete. they aren't as textured as yours, but i'd be willing to bet you could still get it to work. i found that i just had to be more patient and gentle while applying the stickers. they'll conform to the wall like stickers do. maybe start with one (thats cheap) and see how it goes? they peel off nicely too if you dont like them. i got mine on amazon, but my neighbor got hers at target, and kohls has them too

 

[PetPony]

I can't wait to move into our small apartment in the summer, because I'll be staying there for a few years so I really get to decorate it however I want to.

My mom is making me this for the living room:

I also just saw on pinterest that someone put yarn around a paint roll which left a really cool pattern on the wall. I might do that in the bedroom on one wall. 🙂

 

[dovelover]

I can't wait to move into our small apartment in the summer, because I'll be staying there for a few years so I really get to decorate it however I want to.

My mom is making me this for the living room:

OMG Love this! But unfortunately, I think my cat would too...

 

[PetPony]

OMG Love this! But unfortunately, I think my cat would too...

That's another reason I like it actually. haha There's gonna be a blanket in one of the boxes probably for the cats.

 

[felinelvr44]

I recommend: apartmenttherapy.com

I think the biggest things you can do to make your home look more like a home and less like a dumping ground for your stuff is:

a) paint the walls - I know most people add the caveat "if you are allowed" but I say paint anyway. We aren't "allowed" to paint but we've lived in our current place for 5 years and would have gone nuts with the same off-white color everywhere. We will paint everything back before we leave. Our living room is Benjamin Moore Silver Fox and it's an awesome color. It's a warm gray but sometimes looks a bit more purpley or tan depending on the time of day (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/classic-gray-paint-silver-fox-92641)

b) Hang artwork. Ikea sells large pieces for cheap and their frames are simple and reasonably priced. If you can't afford one large piece, a grouping of several frames looks nice. The center of any artwork (or group) should hang 57" from the floor regardless of ceiling height. I hate seeing art that looks like it's escaping up the walls in older homes with high ceilings. 57" = average human eye height and standard for many galleries and museums. Edited to add: thrift stores can be a great resource for neat frames as well. If you don't like the artwork that's in it you can pop in a poster or a print from etsy (I buy most of my "art" from Etsy...).

c) Add texture. This can be rugs, patterned or plain, baskets, plants (!!), a soft blanket, a textured art piece on the wall, curtains, etc.

 

[wolfspeaker]

OMG Love this! But unfortunately, I think my cat would too...

I would LOVE that piece, but yeah, my puppy would too.

Roommates moving out next month, so I can re-decorate the house how I want it!! 😀

 

[dovelover]

I am a crazy decorator. I can't stand bare walls. Or floors. Or cabinets. Or windows. Or tops of toilets. Or... you get the idea. I decorate EVERYTHING. It isn't cheap though. But I've accumulated my decorations over many years, so that decreases the financial impact a bit. But when I moved 3000 miles away from home, I couldn't take much with me. And since it was only a temporary move, it was silly for me to buy much, either. But I managed to make my place look nice by taking a few things with me that didn't take up much space (ie curtains, collapsible lanterns, posters, etc.) and finding some new items for cheap (most of which I fell in love with and had to find space in my car to pack them on the way back home...)

If you aren't creative enough to make things yourself (and honestly, do-it-yourself stuff can often wind up being more expensive), find an ikea. They have a ton of decorative stuff, some of which is very quirky. Most of it is somewhat minimalist and modern, but they've gotten more into traditional styles in recent years. And most importantly, they're CHEAP! 😀

Curtains are a really easy way to jazz up a room, and not necessarily on just your windows! You can use curtains as a cheap way to cover or break up large sections of bare walls. I put one behind my bed in an apartment once and it provided a nice focal point.

Note, I did end up later adding a photo of mine that I had printed to that bare section of wall on the right.

I also used cute (cheap!) round placemats from ikea to decorate some bland closet doors once. I just put them up with command strips (expensive, though sadly) But that was back when I was more into polka dots--now I'm all about trees and natural textures.

Some posters of things like natural landscapes or cute animals could be a fairly generic but cheap way to fill wall space. This time of year you can also get wall calendars on clearance. If you find one with pretty or cute pictures you can cut them out and hang them up in somewhat smaller bare spaces.

I'm also a fan of christmas lights. A bit tacky perhaps, but they not only add something to a space, they also give a nice, cozy lighting quality. And they're cheap. Lanterns are a more stylish alternative to christmas lights, but they're a bit more expensive. They're usually sold in the spring for patio decorations.

Look for sales/clearance items at craft stores too. You'd think being craft stores they would sell primarily stuff for you to make things with. But they actually sell quite a bit of pre made decorative items. I got an awesome metal wall art piece for about $3 once.

Mixing up textures is a big thing. Don't just cover your walls with posters/pictures/other flat stuff. Textiles help make a room feel cozier quite literally by doing things such as absorbing sound.

If you happen to have a well trained dog (or access to one) you could try making a paw print painting! When I interned in a zoo I trained and enriched our skunk and made probably almost a dozen paw print paintings (cheap christmas presents!) I have five of them for myself-four of them are colored to match the seasons so that I can hang one up at a time and change it up every few months, and I made a smaller one for my kitchen or bathroom.

I have some bland white bookshelves from ikea that usually just blend into the wall (I got white because they were the cheapest...) I'm thinking of getting some contact paper or fabric to cover the backs of the shelves and make them look a little more interesting. One of them is actually already covered with fabric, but the iron on adhesive we used didn't work so well and there's random iron prints on the fabric. So need to redo! I'll probably try spray on adhesive this time if I got the fabric route (which I probably will, as contact paper is expensive in the quantities I'd need for this project!)

 

[kakurubird]

Some posters of things like natural landscapes or cute animals could be a fairly generic but cheap way to fill wall space. This time of year you can also get wall calendars on clearance. If you find one with pretty or cute pictures you can cut them out and hang them up in somewhat smaller bare spaces.

I'm also a fan of christmas lights. A bit tacky perhaps, but they not only add something to a space, they also give a nice, cozy lighting quality. And they're cheap. Lanterns are a more stylish alternative to christmas lights, but they're a bit more expensive. They're usually sold in the spring for patio decorations.

👍👍 I saved my wall calendar from last year and just found another old one, both of which are nice quality and have really nice pictures. And I also love christmas lights. I cannot stand that bright overhead lighting and instead love having lots of lamps/lights so I can mix and match to how bright I want the room/where I want the light.

I really like your trunk bedside table in that photo! I have an old one (very similar looking) that I stuck a lot of ugly stickers on when I was in middle school. :/ Any suggestions on something that would look nice to cover over the top and hide them?