8 Ideas to Steal for Your Apartment
Use floating shelves to show off a collection of decorative objects and mementos. Stagger the shelves for a unique look. Basic shelves serve as a strong basis for rotating displays. They will go with almost anything, which means you can change the look of the vignette, leaving the shelves in place and avoid making any more holes in your apartment walls.
Paint Options
If you can't paint the walls in your apartment, paint your furniture. A new paint job on a bed frame or nightstand can be just as impactful as new color on the walls.
Embrace Open Storage
Employ an industrial metal shelving unit as extra kitchen storage if your apartment's kitchen storage options are less than generous. The cool finish of this unit recalls metal touches that are standard in pro kitchens. Use baskets to corral kitchen staples, and incorporate a few decorative touches to keep it fun.
Floor Coverings
Often in a rental situation, you are stuck with whatever finishes are in place when you sign the lease. If your apartment's carpet is not so stylish, camouflage the problem with an extra-large area rug that coordinates with your other decor. If the room is on the small side, you won't need an oversize rug, which can start to get pricey.
Work with It
Vintage buildings have plenty of charm, but some original elements can pose a decorating challenge. Rather than cringe at something you don't like, embrace it and find a work-around. If the bathroom tile is a shade you can't stand, pick a color you do like to serve as the room's main hue. The tone of green used in this bathroom has just a twinge of yellow, which helps the accents to stand out and the yellow tile to recede. Try a blue-green with powder blue tile or sherbet orange with salmon-color tile.
Add an Entry
If your apartment lacks a designated entry, create your own with a bookcase. Remove the top shelves and install hooks on the back wall of the bookcase for hanging coats. Add more hooks to the sides of the books case for hanging leashes or umbrellas. Outfit the bottom shelves with baskets and small drawers for storing mittens, sunglasses, and other out-the-door essentials. Add a memo bar from an office supply store to the top of the bookcase as a place to organize reminders.
Shine On
In any small space, using mirrors is a decorating trick that works wonders. They reflect light and make a space feel bigger. Hang a large mirror in your apartment's dining space, living room, or bedroom across from a window, so it is in a prime position to receive natural light and reflect it back into the room.
Be Entertaining
Turn your TV wall into a focal point. Hang paneled artwork behind the TV to frame it, and surround the TV with plenty of storage. This TV could have been placed on the console beneath it, but to maximize space and functionality in an apartment rental, take your TV to the wall and place a console beneath it that can be used as a serving surface when entertaining. Plus, having a piece of furniture beneath a wall-mount TV grounds it and prevents it from seeming as if there's a random black object floating on the wall.
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