Inexpensive Apartment Decorating Ideas
- Apartment design and decor can be inexpensive and stylish.My apartment image by roxi1st from Fotolia.com
Apartment living often calls for creative and inexpensive decorating solutions. Pleasing, comfortable decorating ideas don't have to be expensive or require a professional. Vibrant color, smart storage and clever arrangement of furniture and accessories are within everyone's reach. Make your apartment into your home with design that personalizes and beautifies your living space. - Customize standard, king-sized or body pillows for your couch, living room, an odd corner or an extra room. Choose fabric you like, cut a little larger than the pillow size and sew three sides together. Use Velcro on a flap on the fourth side and you have an attractive, inexpensive and versatile custom big pillow. Add tassels, rope trim, sequins or any decorations that catch your fancy. Make a stack of big pillows tied together with a big satin ribbon for a corner of any room. A variation of custom big pillows is cheap, custom "beanbag" furniture. Cut 3 large, three-foot diameter circles from heavy cloth like denim, corduroy or canvas and sew all sides together, closing the last open part with a 12-inch-long zipper. Fill the shell with inexpensive bed pillows and zip closed.
- Make garage sale and flea market furniture finds really pop with a coat of acrylic paint. Paint a used hutch or credenza all red, or "design" a black lacquer furniture grouping with under $20 worth of paint. Customize a folding table and chairs with leopard-print covers for a kitchen table set. Cover your couch cushions in zebra-print fabric. Look at used furniture and imagine how it could be used in your space with a little adjustment or redesign.
- Customize any area with a fabric panel. Pull your favorite fabric over a lumber frame made by nailing or screwing together four pieces of wood. Staple the fabric onto the wood frame or grommet the fabric at three-inch intervals and tie it to the frame with ribbon or cotton rope. Use the panel behind a headboard in the bedroom or as a wall hanging in the living room. Coordinate accessories like lamps, pillows and vases with the colors in the fabric panel for a stylish designer look.
- Use windows as a way to add style to your space. Drape inexpensive sheer curtain panels over the top of vertical blinds. Use colorful patterned tablecloths from the thrift store to dress up kitchen valances. Use ceiling-to-floor curtain panels to dress up a blank wall or hide a desk area. Add drama to the bedroom with two or three layers of curtains in romantic fabrics like silks, satins and velvets.
- Fill a large vase or interesting bucket with a bunch of tree twigs and tie artificial or paper flowers onto them. Two or three large houseplants add green growing color. Fill different sizes of glass vases or jars with dried leaves, seeds and pine cones in the fall. Put some sand, seashells and beach glass into a decorative glass bowl or jar in the bathroom. Use large rocks found on vacations or day trips as paperweights or mantelpiece decorations.
