Apartment Decorating: Stay Tuned to Your Creativity
Feb.25
In the bedroom especially, make it uniquely yours
Ah the pleasures of apartment living. It’s such a luxury not to worry about mowing the lawn or fixing the plumbing. Though compact, an apartment is convenient, close to all the work and social centers of your life. What’s more, an apartment presents a great opportunity for creative interior design.
For one thing, the space is probably small, so design choices need to work to make it feel a bit roomier. Use light colors whenever possible; hang a small mirror on the wall; provide enough shelves and cabinets to keep clutter to a minimum.
Imagine a cozy little apartment you found just a few blocks from your job. It has lots of windows and a breakfast nook and a nice big closet in the bedroom. The living room window looks out at a small courtyard. You couldn’t be more excited about getting all settled in.
How will you furnish and decorate your new home? Let’s look at each room, and dream up some ways to make it yours.
Let’s start with the bedroom, because once that space is comfortable, you can take your time with the rest. You bring with you the small four-poster you inherited from Aunt Sally. Modest as the size of this bed is, it takes up a lot of the bedroom’s floor space.
What to do? You were planning to include a chest of drawers as well as a small overstuffed chair, but the room won’t accommodate both without feeling crowded. You eye the large bedroom closet, and inspiration begins to flow.
An hour later, you’re back from the discount megastore (WalMart) with a full set of inexpensive plastic drawers, which fit perfectly into the closet. You also picked up a shoe rack and a small set of stackable baskets. Your clothes all arrange themselves neatly within these cubbies, and stay discreetly behind the closet door. That bulky (and expensive) chest of drawers is no longer necessary.
You also just couldn’t resist a sublime little lamp you found at the store. It looks just right on the small side table next to the armchair that you bought several years ago because it called your name when you went into the furniture outlet.
Now you step back and survey. The bed’s near one wall, set out just far enough so it’s easy to make up in the morning. Your chair and lamp are on the other side of the window. Looks good. You turn around. Uh-oh.
Bare beige wall.
See, one of the limitations in apartment living is that quite often, tenants aren’t allowed to paint or paper the walls. Usually, the building owners require sticking tobasic beige; often limits are placed as well on the number of nails allowed for picture hanging.
Not that you have anything against beige, but that stretch of wall at the foot of your bed just screams for something more exciting. Thank goodness you happened on the WallCandy® Arts website the other day, and you have another eureka moment.
DottiLicious! These whimsical bubbles will bring delight every time you look at them. And the best part is that you can make different arrangements of them whenever the muses so move.
Settling back in your good friend, the armchair, and surveying your new very personal space, you just couldn’t feel more at home. There are three other rooms yet to do, but they can wait til tomorrow. You’re confident that your creativity will serve you just as well after a good night’s sleep.
