Full disclosure: it took me a while to figure out how to decorate an apartment. The first apartment I lived in on my own was fully furnished (not very well) so I didn’t bother trying to decorate it. I tried a little harder in my next apartment, but I also knew I wasn’t going to stay in Harrisburg for very long so I didn’t put too much effort into making the decorations feel perfect–I just did enough for it to feel homey instead of blank. Only when I moved to DC did I fully commit to decorating my apartment, and I think it was worth the wait.
When I started decorating here I realized that waiting to make a plan for so long had worked out well for me–I had a nice collection of things that I wanted to hang on the walls, things I wanted to display, and a few more statement-y furniture pieces. So, starting from the beginning I picked out the majority of the furniture in neutral colors so that it would match whatever style I decided to decorate with (and would be fine if I ever decide to re-decorate). This means that my furniture is black and white (for the most part) so that the pops of color come from throw pillows and books and blankets (and the yellow bench that I couldn’t resist buying).
This brings me to another point. I was pretty broke when I moved into my first empty apartment and I didn’t have any furniture. As in I owned a table and chairs that I’d bought on Craigslist for $100 and that’s it. So I had to come up with a strategy for buying essential furniture and still being able to eat. Basically the plan was that I (when I say “I” here I really mean me and Brandon) would buy the essentials from cheap lines at Target and Walmart and Amazon and then slowly upgrade things as they broke or as I could afford it. This has worked out shockingly well and to be quite honest, there are still some Target and Walmart furniture pieces in my apartment right now that are still holding up fine so they haven’t been replaced yet! (Also, absolutely buy your mattress from Amazon–I got a pretty cheap memory foam mattress and topped it with a memory foam mattress pad I already had and it’s amazing.)
Now for the walls. My first comment on apartment decorating is to read your lease and see if you’re allowed to put holes in the walls. I’m not about losing a security deposit over a painting on the wall. (Don’t tell, but I skipped this step in Harrisburg and ended up running around with a can of spackle on moving day patching up all the holes–still got that security deposit back though!) If you’re allowed to use nails then HECK YES GO FOR IT, but if not, Command hooks and tape are about to be your best friend. Some of my walls are concrete so I use a mix of nails and Command hooks to hang things up.
My walls have a mix of things I’ve collected over the years hanging on them. I have art that my sister painted, cross stitches friends made for me, cheesy art that I’ve bought at craft fairs and love, and so many other things. But one of the things that I love the most (mostly because I’m shocked at how great of an idea it was) is the trio of framed Kate Spade postcards. You know those cute free postcards that some brands drop in your shopping bag or have for you to grab at the register? Well I had a few that I really loved and went to the dollar store, found some neutral picture frames, and framed them! I swear you’d never know they were free postcards and you’d never know they’re in dollar store frames.
Framing pretty much anything makes it seem more put together and makes your space feel more adult. I’m not trying to be in my mid-twenties living in an apartment that feels like a college dorm room with posters tacked to the walls. So instead I went to Michael’s and had them help me pick out frames for some of my art and for some of my posters that I didn’t want to give up. As in I literally walked into Michael’s with a bag full of things I wanted framed and had the person in their custom frame shop help me pick out the right pre-made frames for each size.
Many of my decorating ideas came from things that I saw on Instagram or Pinterest. Like organizing my books by color (don’t hate, it’s not like they were in alphabetical order before, so now it’s actually easier to find the book I want because I know what color the cover is) or figuring out how to have some books on their sides and others upright to create levels. I’m also a huge believer in stealing decorating ideas from your friends. My friend Amara always has the perfectly decorated spaces so whenever I visit I always look around at what she’s done and make mental notes on what could work in my space!
Okay, that was a lot longer than I expected–guess I had more decorating tips than I originally thought!
xoxo,
J
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