Wanting your apartment to impress guests and stand out from other units in your building is a perfectly natural desire to have as a new apartment renter or seasoned apartment owner. While you may be able to come up with some unique apartment decorating ideas yourself, using resources that can give you ideas about how to decorate your apartment in a way that resists current trends can make it easier than trying to do it all by yourself. When you follow our tips below, you’ll notice that decorating your apartment to reflect your tastes and individual preferences while also increasing the sense of hominess the space provides will be a breeze.
Of course, there may be no such thing as unique apartment decorating ideas to increase the home-like feel of a place since there’s nothing new under the sun. Even if something is uncommon or unpopular, likely, other apartment owners and renters have probably done what you’re trying to achieve at some point in history. Even though you may want to have an apartment that is 100% original, the truth is that we all are products of our environment or upbringing and there’s no way to be completely out of the box without sacrificing function or fashion on some level.
Is Decorating an Apartment Expensive?
If you’re short on cash, you might wonder if it’s smart to use unique apartment decorating ideas since some individualized apartment decorating options could be pricey. As with any form of decorating an apartment or house, decorating an apartment to suit your unique tastes can be as expensive or inexpensive as you’d like it to be. Although some stores may have expensive items that are out of your budget and out of the question for your apartment decorating plan, there are ways to get free or inexpensive items to decorate your apartment; sometimes, using found items or decorating basic objects to your liking can result in a one-of-a-kind creation that stands out more than some luxury items!
When you have a strict budget for decorating, it can be helpful to decide what part of the budget deserves the most funds for unique apartment decorating ideas. For example, if you only have $300 to decorate your apartment, you may not be able to devote $200 to a fancy painting and it might be a wiser use of resources to thrift artwork or create your own with art supplies that you already have in stock. You can either devote specific dollar amounts in your budget to certain items or allow certain categories to take up a certain percentage of the budget that fluctuates as needed.
As you’re figuring out how much you should spend on decorating, you’ll want to keep your budget realistic to the prices in your area and adjust it as you go through the decorating process. Even if you’d like to buy a new bed frame for less than $100, it might not be realistic to find a piece of furniture for that price in your area and there are no guarantees that a quality used bed frame will be available when you need it. Additionally, if you know that you want a specific type of lighting for your room and the lighting tends to cost a certain amount of money, you may not be able to get around including that in your budget unless you find an alternative or decide that you’re comfortable decorating without it.
1. Ensure Your Home Is Protected
Before you start researching unique apartment decorating ideas, you should make sure that you have the appropriate insurance. If you own your apartment, it might be necessary to have homeowners insurance depending on the laws in the state where the apartment is. As a renter, you’ll want to get renter’s insurance if your landlord requires it in the lease. Even if it’s not required in your lease, having renter’s insurance can still ensure that your home; including belongings such as valuable decorations and furniture is protected from theft, liability, qualifying damage, and more.
Although insurance might not seem like something that you want to think about as you’re contemplating unique apartment decorating ideas, you’ll be glad you considered what type of insurance you need if you run into a situation where it could be beneficial to have insurance down the road. Tackling practical items on your to-do list like getting quotes for insurance or signing up for an appropriate policy can make it easier for you to relax and enjoy the process of decorating your apartment. After all, it’s hard to relax and have a fun time when you have something as serious as protecting your home or apartment looming over your head.
2. Don’t Go It Alone
Coming up with unique apartment decorating ideas can be challenging if you don’t work in a field related to interior decorating or interior design so it’s never a bad idea to get help with something like this if you’re not a professional in the industry. Every day, home designers meet with clients like you who may have a vision of their dream apartment or some inspiration on a mood board but lack the skills to make this dream a reality If you decide to hire someone to help you decorate your apartment, you shouldn’t feel ashamed or like your decorating skills are bad because you could use some assistance in this process; this is what home designing professionals are here to do!
Before you decide on hiring a specific interior designer or related professional, you should interview several different home designers. While you might click on a personality level with some designers, you shouldn’t go with someone just because you like them personally since you’re planning on paying them to perform a service for you. At the same time, you should be comfortable communicating with your designer, and having a positive rapport or common ground can make it easier for the designer to get on the same page about what your apartment will look like at the end of this journey if you’re both similar in your tastes, values, and preferences.
3. From Top to Bottom
As you’re looking on the internet for unique apartment decorating ideas, you should create a list of the tasks you need to do from the top of the apartment at the roof or ceiling to the bottom of the apartment on the floors. If you’re allowed to renovate your apartment due to the terms of your lease or because you own the unit, you can take out the old flooring and add floors that resonate with your style like hardwood floors or luxury vinyl planks. For those with a lease that prohibits renovating your apartment, you can still change the look and layout of your apartment by using temporary fixes that you can remove when you move out of the unit such as stickers that make your countertops look like kitchen granite.
4. Make One-of-a-Kind Decor
For crafty folks, one of the most fun ways to decorate your apartment is creating art pieces or furniture that no one else has from scratch. To get supplies, you can contact suppliers like glass suppliers and wood suppliers directly if you have the ability to obtain materials in that way. You can also take items that you thrift or find on the curb for free and embellish them or personalize them to make them your own if you’d like an option that requires less technical knowledge about building or crafting.
If you’re good at executing plans based on a blueprint or instruction guide but you’re terrible at coming up with unique apartment decorating ideas on your own, you can rely on social media platforms or even library books to get inspiration and practical instructions for how to make unique items for your home. You can either plan what you’ll make for your apartment before you start creating things or you can make items and see what you’d like to add next as you go. While some people find comfort in having a strategy for how they’ll decorate the space where they live, others like the thrill of spontaneously making new decorative items and considering what might fit into the space next without a concrete idea of how the finished product will turn out.
5. Upgrade Your Outdoor Entertainment Space
For those who have an apartment with a patio, yard, or other outdoor space, you won’t want to forget this area when you’re making your apartment space feel more like home. If you have cats or you simply want to keep bugs and debris out of your home’s entertainment space, you can add an outdoor screen enclosure to this space to make it feel cozy. While there are some standard outdoor enclosure options for your home, you can also use recycled materials to create your own enclosure, or you can commission someone in the trades to construct one for you.
When you’re working on your outdoor entertaining space, it’s important to follow all laws related to zoning and follow your lease if you’re a renter. Failing to do these things can result in consequences like fines, eviction, and even jail time. It pays to do your research about what is allowed in your area for an outdoor space and what is illegal before you start to construct something that might get you in trouble if it doesn’t meet the standards set in place in your town, city, or municipality.
6. Use Interesting Window Coverings
Boring white blinds on a home window might not feel cozy. To make your place feel more like home to you, you can contact your local blind company and see if they offer unique options for covering your windows. From the color to the way the blinds function, there are plenty of ways to make your window covers stand out.
7. Prioritize Maintenance Needs
Before you can have fun decorating your home, you should address any maintenance issues that you’ve been putting off for a while. If you have a faucet that keeps leaking or a toilet that won’t stop running, you can call the plumbers to help. You can also do some maintenance tasks on your own such as touching up paint to save money.
A home doesn’t feel very homey or cozy if it has maintenance issues. Additionally, some maintenance problems like leaks could damage decorations if left unaddressed. For these reasons, you won’t want to delay getting the maintenance help you need, especially if you live in an apartment complex with a dedicated staff for maintaining units.
8. Restore Antique Elements
One of the most fun ways to make your apartment feel more like home is restoring antique pieces or elements in your home. If you’re lucky enough to live in an apartment that has stained glass windows or cabinets, you can invest in stained glass restoration to make these pieces sparkle like new. If you have antique items like a grandfather clock or antique furniture, you can either restore them to their original glory or you can use them as a base for a DIY project.
When you’re restoring antique items, you should take precautions to protect your health and safety since some antiques use materials that are harmful such as lead paint. Some antiques may also have mold or mildew, so being mindful of these potential health hazards and knowing when you shouldn’t work on an item is wise. If you’re not sure if a piece is safe to restore or sturdy enough to tolerate the restoration process, you can take it to a professional who deals with antiques to decide what the best next steps would be.
In conclusion, you can incorporate as many unique apartment decorating ideas into your unit’s design as you’d like. Even if your apartment is fairly standard outside of a few little unique touches, these dashes of interest can add a sense of mystery and individuality to your place. When you have a roommate, you may need to compromise with how unique your apartment design is but you can always try to find a roommate who shares your love for odd or one-of-a-kind decorating choices and create a masterpiece of an apartment that your guests won’t find anywhere else.
