June 03, 8:45 AM
Brianne here with some hot decorating tips.
Time and time again I have walked into my friends bare apartments and thought, "PLEASE LET ME HELP YOU!?!?! Get something on those walls!"
Seriously, you would think that some of these Apartmentites lived in some type of asylum or jail cell. It doesn't have to be that way!
I have some solid tips for decorating your walls to share with you today. Some for those who are on a budget and some for those who have some money to spend and some somewhere in between. Whatever it may be...learn from these tips and spread the word to your fellow Apartmentites.
Let's end the bare wall epidemic, one wall at a time.
Check out my uber sweet wall decorating tips:
Get Classic- Stop by flea markets, antique stores, and garage sales to find classic looking things that you could frame and adorn your walls. These could be old pictures, record covers, patterned napkins...virtually anything that has that classic feel.
The Collage Look- And for those who are bad at spelling, I am not saying, "The College Look." Rather get a large number of images and put them in 3 or 4 different styles of complimentary frames. Then arrange them all on the wall like a collage. Remember, symmetry isn't as important as creativity when making a collage wall. The important thing to remember is that the frames match eachother. If you want to go without the frames, that's cool. You can still accomplish a similar effect spacing out images all over the wall. Just make sure and not use a whole bunch of thumbtacks. Instead, you should use sticktac that doesn't rip off the paint.
Plywood!- This one is a little out there and involves some work, but can end up looking really cool. First cover all of your walls with sheets of plywood. Then you can hang whatever, or paint whatever you want. By attaching anything to the plywood, you are not damaging your apartment walls. The less you do to the actual apartment walls, the less you have to worry about in losing your deposit. So cover up the walls with your own walls and get creative!
Art Gallery- Make your walls into an art gallery! Seek out a number of cool paintings that you really like or buy several canvases and paint your own. Then, frame each one and hang them on a single wall that people can awe and admire. You will suddenly have a mini art gallery in your own apartment. I have three!
One Big Piece- Decorating your walls doesn't have to be complicated. One really simple way to get some color and texture on that bare wall is to hang up one, large colorful wall hanging. This can be a large canvas that you simply paint yourself with a bold color accented with several white dots and slashes or even just a colorful stitched blanket hung across the wall. A Chinese rug works really well...plus they are way too expensive to be wiping your feet on anyway. So strap it to the wall!
I hope these ideas get you started on decorating your walls. Even if you just get one wall decorated in each room it will make a huge difference. The guest will enter your apartment and truly admire your work. Remember to always check with your apartment manager before attaching anything to the wall or painting, to make sure that it is allowed in your lease!
Good luck and if you know of any great tips...leave them as a comment! Talk to you soon!
-Brianne