As the year begins and classes start, you might find yourself looking around your apartment and dorm thinking that it’s pretty bland. You decide you want to decorate, but as we all know, decorating can become very expensive, even with our handy-dandy friend: Pinterest. After shopping with my roomies and talking to my fellow HC girls, I’ve come up with some minor decorating ideas that shouldn’t hurt the bank too much!
1. Streamers – My roommates and I have these awful plain white walls that fill our apartment. We knew we wanted to do something with them, but weren’t sure. My one roommate, Kellyn, found this creative idea on Pinterest (of course) to decorate walls with streamers. All we did was go to Target, hit up the party aisle, and go to town. It was a very simple process once we started decorating. We just tacked some string to the wall, and then hung the streamers down the wall while taping them around the string! It’s a very simple and fast task that adds just enough pop of color to your apartment. And if it gets damaged or doesn’t work, you haven’t invested a lot of time and money into the project.
2. Shower Curtains – This might seem a little odd, but it’s actually a very cute idea. Shower curtains are great for covering blank walls. Some tend to be very expensive, but my roommates and I found some cute ones at Target for $15. We hung them up in our living room behind the TV. They drape down the wall acting like a tapestry. And while a tapestry might be the more normal way to go, they too can be very expensive. So next time you’re looking for a creative way to cover a wall, check out the shower and bath aisle – you might just be surprised by what you find!
3. Dollar section at Target – Target, Target, Target! I think it’s safe to say that Target is the best thing since sliced bread. One of my roommates’ and my favorite sections at Target is the dollar section. We could spend hours looking through that area (which we do ;)). We found a very cute door sign for under $3 and bright lights to hung up that were also $3 a box. They have anything and everything in that section. You can get mugs, kitchenware, whiteboards, stationery, and much more for typically $5 or less!
4. Primark at King of Prussia – Primark is another great store to get decorations for cheap. They have many great accessories that can hang from walls and doors to add a little fun to the room. Most of their smaller items are under $5. The most expensive on their website was $16! No college girl can turn down those prices!!
5. Fake a Headboard – Another great idea a fellow Her Campus collegiate gave me wasfaking your own headboard. She uses tacks to hang her jewelry right above her bed, but spaces them out nicely so that she can fit pictures in between the jewelry. It’s a cute and clever way to store your jewelry, and also makes for a nice piece above your bed using things you probably already own. All you need are some tacs, tape, and pictures of friends and family.
So next time you’re staring around your dorm or apartment trying to think of a cheap creative way to decorate, remember these tips. So many of us over look these simple ideas that even those of us who are not so good in the craft department can do!