Moving into an apartment is an exciting time, and decorating your apartment and making it your own can be one of the most exhilarating moments in your adult life. Whether the apartment is your first or one of many, implementing a unique style that represents your personality and voice is critical to ongoing happiness and peace of mind. In fact, research has shown that decorating actually lowers stress by reducing cortisol, a fact that is pretty amazing. The question, then, is how, exactly, to make your apartment your personal sanctuary.
1. Art galleries
Blank walls can be depressing, and the best way to combat this type of spacial emptiness is to create your own personal art gallery along wide or spacious walls. For tall walls, you can offset a large painting or picture with a couple portrait-sized snap shots. For wider walls, a triptych or a panoramic shot provides a small apartment large-scale views.
2. Layers of color
In your bedroom and in your living room, layers of colorful pillows or throws will provide a pleasing landscape that can make a small living space feel sophisticated and complete. Additionally, the layers help tie together accessories or framed photos.
Layers of color can also help create a calming space as different colors and materials can capture the sunlight through nearby windows. For the best effect, you should use complementary colors for a bold look and similar shades for a calm, unified look. The best things to layer include pillows, blankets, and throws. However, you can also layer color on a table using a table cloth, mats, and cloth napkins.
3. Efficient storage
Small apartments can be overwhelmed with knickknacks and decorations. Consequently, you should consider any extra space potential storage space. Creative storage can be accomplished via containers that tuck under a coffee table or beside a bookcase. However, you can also obtain end tables with shelves or use storage containers in your bathroom or laundry area. Finally, attractive storage can come in the form of modular carts with shelves. For kitchen or dining areas, buffet cabinets can help tie a room together.
4. Photo books
Photo books on your end table or coffee table are attractive conversation starters. Additionally, they can serve as a colorful segue from one accessory to another. Photo books are best used as decorations if they are in different sizes. For instance, you can use an over-sized book of scenic vacation photos that you took yourself to highlight a coffee table. Small photo books can accentuate larger ones, helping to keep your prized memories front and center in the rooms you love. Lastly, it has become so easy to create photo books online.
5. Apartment-sized furniture
One key thing to decorating your apartment is to keep the furniture from overwhelming the space. To properly do this, you should buy furniture that allows up to 24 to 36 inches of walking space between each piece. Additionally, you can maximize your kitchen with a small dining set. To make your bedroom feel larger, you can opt for a full- or queen-size bed instead of a king-size bed that might make your room feel cramped.
6. Artistic rugs
Rugs are tricky because they can overpower a room, but if you can find one that matches your photo gallery and photo books, you will find out what it means to truly love your living space. Artistic rugs should have patterns that match the weave or style of your furniture. Additionally, the colors should complement your walls.
7. Floating shelves
Floating shelves offer a clean feel to any space. They are easy to install directly into a wall as long as the wall is backed by a wide stud. Additionally, they make any space feel modern and open.
Shelves can be polished natural wood, or they can be painted in bold colors to accentuate your tastes. In either case, they should be thick enough to not feel lonely on an open wall. For narrow spaces, you should find shelves that are not too thick, or they will overpower the wall.
8. One bold dash
The use of bold colors can be very effective if used sporadically throughout the apartment. For instance, you can use single-color throw rugs or brightly colored kitchen art to bring out a more festive feel. For your bedroom, bold accents mirroring either side of your bed can tie together your linen. For a bathroom, bold candles, shelving, or towels can feel fresh and enlivening.
9. Zones
For smaller apartments, it is effective to decorate in clearly demarcated areas. For instance, the living room can be set apart from the nearby dining room, and the kitchen or bar area can utilize a different style of decorations from the rest of the front room. Doing so will give each area a unique feel, something you, too, will appreciate when moving from the couch to the dining area and then to the sink. Simply put, zones help make small spaces feel larger and much more complex.
10. Light
Of course, light paint makes the room feel more open, but it also helps lower your electric bills because it reflects more natural light. In addition to light paint, you can place mirrors strategically throughout the apartment to capture sunlight. Doing so will make smaller spaces feel airy, and they will help increase the overall lightness of the apartment.
In terms of paint, it is important that you use an off-white shade. Pastels also work. White paint, for instance, can be glaring, and it can show dirt. Off-white paint and pastels will match other shades, and they will help prevent your room from feeling as if you need to squint.
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