Just recently, I moved into my first apartment all by myself! With that being said, I have firsthand experience of what it is like taking a blank space and trying to turn it into a cozy home, and how overwhelming and expensive it can be. Here’s how I made my new apartment feel like me without breaking the bank.Â
Start With a Statement Piece
Personally, I found that starting with one bold piece of furniture or decoration can help you find and set the tone for the entire room. First moving in, all I had was a small grey couch. This wasn’t enough to give me a vision of how to decorate the rest of the living space, so I took a trip to the nearest HomeGoods and found the most fabulous abstract rug. Statement pieces like this are so helpful because they offer ideas on how to build the rest of your space around a clear style or vibe, making looking for decorations all the easier!
Pick a Color Palette
Next, I began deciding on the colors that would complement the couch and the rug. For this, choose three main colors you want to see around your new home. Given that my couch was grey, and the rug was an abstract design made up of dark grey and cream, I looked for furniture/decoration in other neutral colors that I knew would clash well with them. Of course, this doesn’t mean everything in your home needs to match perfectly, but having a solid color palette for the basics makes the space feel more put together and intentional rather than just thrown together, which I’m sure we are no strangers to being college girls balling on a budget!
Saving on Decorations
If you have attempted decorating a new space, you would know how expensive decorations have become. I learned this the hard way when looking for cute plants to tie in with my neutral colors and wood furniture. Small house plants were going for so much, I grew discouraged that I would be able to finish styling my apartment the way I wanted without going flat broke! I searched around, and what changed the game for me was buying low-maintenance real houseplants! Shopping for them can be so fun, and they are almost half the price of fake plants! Also, look for budget-friendly shops. Five Below and Resale Shop saved my life by offering super cute, stylish, and cheap decor options!
Dos and Don’ts of DecoratingÂ
DO layer textures, mix old and new items to give the space personality, add personal items like photos to fill wall space, and maybe even a bookshelf with some knick-knacks! DON’T buy everything at once. I cannot stress this enough. It’s easy to feel like you have to get everything done and hung up all at once to be able to settle in, but collecting pieces over time gives you more time to move stuff around and play around with different vibes, to see what else you may need to complete your vision for the place!Â
Turning a new apartment or house into your safe space doesn’t happen overnight. Take your time and have fun with it. At the end of the day, it’s not about making it perfect or having expensive pieces/furniture. It’s about creating a home that feels cute, comfy, and most importantly, yours.