You’re a brand new young adult out in the world, and you’re looking to finally move out of your parent’s house into a place of your very own.
Although one of the hallmarks of adulthood is buying a house and settling down, for a young adult just trotting into the brave new world of adulthood, the first step out of their longtime bedroom is their very own apartment. Granted, you won’t be owning an apartment, just renting one out, but it is one of the first major milestones of an adult finally striking it out in the world. However, although you’re renting an apartment unit and not buying a home, you will still want to decorate your new apartment as though it was your very own, but you may feel as though being on a budget won’t allow you to go all out and make the apartment your own.
Well, you actually can. Here are some great tips as to how you can go about decorating your new apartment and making it your very own while keeping the purse strings on your wallet tight.
Clean Up and Inspect
Before you start heading off to a home good supplies store, you probably need to make sure that the apartment is inspected and clean.
Normally, the apartment complex that you will move into will do basic cleaning and maintenance of an apartment unit after a tenant moves out, so, normally, you can skip the apartment cleaning step. However, in older apartments in denser cities (looking at you, New York City), the apartment may not be cleaned before you look at it. So, after you have gotten the keys to your new place, you will want to make sure that it’s cleaned up from top-to-bottom before you start decorating.
Also, make sure that preventive maintenance is done on your new apartment. Although apartment managers will do basic cleaning of the unit before you move in, there could still be some maintenance issues that could pop up that you will have to attend to. For example, you may find that you have a water leak underneath your kitchen sink, something that you didn’t know you had before you moved in. So, you will need to contact the complex’s handyman to get that and other issues looked at and fixed.
Purchase Removable Wallpaper and Wall Decor
Now that the apartment is cleaned and the maintenance issues have been fixed, it’s now time to finally dive into decorating your cute, new apartment, and to start, you will want to purchase some removable wallpaper and wall decals.
Why use removable when decorating your new apartment? Because, when you’re leasing residential property, the complex is the owner of the unit, and in some leasing contracts, it may require that you don’t use any permanent decals or wallpaper on the walls. That may get on the other side of your creative ethos, which is why you should go with removable wallpaper and wall decals to decorate your apartment. You won’t have such an arduous search for these products, either, because home improvement stores and even chains such as Walmart always have them in stock and a great variety to boot.
Visit a Thrift Store for Lightly-Used Wall Decor
Now, you may think that decorating your new apartment will cost you an arm, a leg, and some feet, but there are plenty of places where you can go to decorate your apartment on a budget. Namely, thrift stores.
Thrift stores are perfect places to buy great things for your home at a cheap price, especially wall decor. Yes, most of the items you will see in a thrift store such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army will be second-hand and lightly-used, but you can certainly find some very nice wall decor for a fraction of what you will pay at a home goods store buying brand new. So, don’t overlook thrift stores, they may have some vintage fine art for sale that is begging to be hung on your wall.
Refurbish Older Pieces of Furniture
The next biggest expense to decorating your new apartment is buying new furniture. How else are you going to sleep and have a place to set your flat-screen TV?
No one has to explain just how expensive furniture can be. It’s a huge expense, which is why most people pay off furniture like they’re playing off a car. However, you don’t have to go to a furniture place to buy new furniture. If you like second-hand furniture, there are plenty of places where you can buy used furniture and refurbish them to make it new and useful again, such as thrift stores, second-hand shops, and even on the side of the road. Yes, furniture that homeowners throw out can be used to be refurbished and brought back to life.
You don’t have to be an expert to refurbish old furniture. Just clean it up, make some cosmic fixes, and there you go: furniture that was once old is now new again. It can be that simple! Also, refurbishing old furniture can be great exercise, as it will allow you to burn off some calories. Hey, you can buy cheap furniture and get a workout in the same deal? We’re sold!
Purchase Plants for Decorative Purposes
Nothing brings a new apartment to life more than plants.
Buying plants in decorating your new apartment will make your home feel more at ease and homey. Not only that, but it will also improve the air quality of your apartment. Yes, taking care of plants will require some work, but it is greatly worth it for the amount of value they will bring to your new apartment.
Change Out the Lighting
While your new apartment will come with lighting, it may be a bit too drab for your tastes. However, changing the existing lighting is normally not allowed in most rental agreements.
If you want to change out the lighting within your apartment, first consult with the landlord to make sure that it’s okay. Most of the time, they will agree, but sometimes they won’t, which is why you should always consult the landlord. If you do get permission to change up the lighting within your apartment, it will be a great way to bring more light into the home at a fraction of the cost. Lighting can really make a difference in how an apartment looks and feels, and adding more lighting is not only cheap but will also give your home a more “homey” feel.
You may consider adding string lights or fairy lights, funky used lamps, or glow-in-the-dark decals for the ceiling.
Build a DIY Wine Rack and a Bar Cart
After the year we’ve just had, it’s safe to say that many are looking to add some sort of wine rack to their new apartment. While you’re decorating your new apartment, you should invest in this as well.
Adding a wine cart and bar cart will be great features to your apartment, as it will give you an organized space to put your wine that you can show off to your friends. Even better, you can build your wine rack and bar cart and not have to pay a high price to buy one at a home improvement store. There is a health benefit to having wine in your home, and that’s to help clean your death. According to Lake Mary Dentistry, having a little water along with your wine can help in teeth whitening, cleaning the remaining residue off of your teeth. Just make sure to not use red wine, as it will cause your teeth to stain.
Organize Your Closet for Maximum Space and Efficiency
Now that you have the wine and bar cart built and ready to show off to your guests, now it’s time to work on your closet space.
If you’re like the majority of Americans, chances are, you have a closet that is full of clothes, shoes, and other stuff. It can be hard to pick the right outfit to wear for the day when it’s cluttered and packed in your closet like sardines in a can. This is why one of the first things that you should do once you move into your new apartment is to organize your closet so that it can achieve maximum space and efficiency. Granted, some apartment-dwellers may not have that luxury, as their closet space may be a bit too small; with some ingenuity, however, you can maximize any space to make sure that you have enough closet space for all the things you intend to put in there.
Build a shoe rack that you can put your shoes in, which will save you space in your closet. Or, you can invest in sealer bags, where you can put your rarely worn clothes in a bag and seal it up by sucking the air out of the bag. That will create more space in your closet as well. You must maximize your closet space so that it can be an efficient place to keep your clothes and other items that are important to you.
Make Your Bedroom Feel Big
When you rent an apartment, bedroom sizes are going to vary. Some units come with big bedrooms, while others may be small. Having said that, no apartment bedroom can compare in size to a bedroom in an actual house, so you will have some work cut out for you to make your bedroom feel big.
The good news is that you can make that a reality in your apartment. Making space in your bedroom is a huge part of the design process, and with a bit of imagination and thought, you can make your tight bedroom space feel like a room built for a queen and a king. Make sure that you remove packing boxes from your room. Those boxes have no place in your bedroom, and you should break them down and put them in a hallway closet. Next, find a way to angle your bed so that it won’t take up a lot of space. Granted, if you have a pretty big bed, you may want to think about downsizing your bed a bit so that it will make room in your bedroom. Your bed will take up the majority of the space in your bedroom, so putting it in an area where you can create space or downsizing will make a lot of difference in how much space you have.
After that, you can go to town decorating and organizing your bedroom the way that matches your personality. As with every other space in your apartment, you should design your bedroom as your own, giving it a fresh, light, and comfortable feel that will make it feel a lot like home, even if you’re just renting for the moment.
Keep Your Bathroom Well-Organized
The final place that you should pay much attention to is your bathroom.
Now, some may think that the bathroom is an afterthought, just a place to shower and get ready for bed, but you should make an effort to make sure your bathroom is well-organized. Keep natural bath products in your bathroom cabinets, and if you don’t know which products you should keep in your home all the time, you can consult with local dermatology services for tips on which products you should stock in your bathroom.
Make sure that you get shower curtains and bathroom rugs that will match the aesthetics of your bathroom and make it nice. Believe it or not, the bathroom is one of the more important areas of your apartment, so you should spend the time needed to make it spacious and comfortable.
There are several ways you can decorate your new apartment while on a budget. Shop in thrift and second-hand stores for furniture, use your imagination to make space out of tight spaces. Ensure that the apartment is clean and free of maintenance issues, and make sure that your bathroom is well-organized and spacious.
By using these tips, you can make sure that designing your new apartment won’t take a bit out of your wallet, and you can brag to your friends about how you created a cute apartment while saving some major dough.