3 Budget-Friendly Ways To Elevate the Look of Your Apartment

Do you feel like your apartment looks like it could use a bit of jazzing up? Have you been perusing apartment design ideas and wishing you could make yours look the same way? Plenty of apartment-dwellers think that decorating their homes beautifully is a luxury they can’t afford. Many renters are also bound by the rules set by their landlords, preventing them from making any permanent changes to the property.

The good news is that–with some ingenuity and resourcefulness–you can make your apartment look and feel better. Below are a few budget- and renter-friendly decorating ideas:

Adorn your walls with art

One of the easiest ways to bring color into your apartment is by displaying art. A large-scale painting or print can instantly transform any bare wall, creating a focal point that draws the eye. It also makes any room feel less empty.

You can easily purchase original art from local independent artists at reasonable prices. If you’re a fan of the masters, you may instead opt for art prints. These can be purchased right here at our online storefront. You can buy a ready-made matted Monet art print directly from our shop or order prints on demand and receive a high-quality reproduction of your favorite piece according to your specifications.

In addition to Monet art prints, our online shop also boasts a stunning collection of merchandise that reproduces works from other fine artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Katsushika Hokusai, and Gustav Klimt. These inexpensive options allow you to adorn your walls and surfaces with masterpieces while staying within your budget. We especially love this Van Gogh Sunflower pillow cover for adding a cheerful pop of color to your living room, which pairs well with this Van Gogh Sunflowers Cup & Saucer set.

There’s no reason to limit yourself to paintings, either. Arranging photographs artfully can create a striking statement wall of memories that you’ll love seeing every day. You can also use photo-safe double-sided tape to mount postcards or your favorite photographs, such as this collection of Real Photo Postcards: Pictures from a Changing Nation or pages from the MFA Highlights: Photography book.

Create a color scheme

Though not immediately noticeable with a glance, one of the best ways to bring a room together is to decorate in a specific color scheme. If you’ll notice, most of the rooms photographed for home design ideas all make use of a cohesive color scheme.

Even if you have no knowledge or experience in interior design, choosing a color scheme is easy. Simply choose three colors: a base, a secondary color, and one for accents. As a general rule, it’s best for your base color to be the lightest of the three.

From there, simply follow the 60-30-10 rule of interior design. 60% of the room should be in the base color, while 30% should make use of the secondary color. Finish up the remaining 10% with decorative objects and items in the accent color.

Having trouble coming up with your own palette? An easy way to create a color scheme is to center it around a piece of art that you’re displaying. Take this poster of Monet’s Water Lilies for instance: use a soft blue as your base color, and then choose a shade of turquoise or green for the secondary color. Finally, add touches of pink as accents around the room, and you’ll be left with a space that feels just as serene and peaceful as the original painting.

Go thrifting for treasures

Another place to score excellent deals for your home is your local thrift store. With a bit of elbow grease and imagination, you can transform any old piece of furniture and create something that goes well with your aesthetic.

What are the advantages of upcycling old furniture? While these pieces may seem clunky at first, a majority of them are made with extremely high quality materials—think real solid wood and brass accessories. Despite their antiquated appearance, you know that they’ll last for years. Bringing them home with you also saves them from the landfill, making them a more environmentally-conscious option than buying new, but disposable, furniture.

It’s easy to update the look of these old pieces, too. With some sanding and a fresh coat of varnish, you can get rid of any signs of age while letting the natural beauty of the wood shine through. Alternatively, you can paint them a whole new color and replace the accessories with new ones easily found at a hardware store to better fit your tastes.

After that, consider placing this Klimt Italian garden vase on top and then adding fresh flowers for an instant mood-lifter. Other options include this Van Gogh Irises plate that you can use to hold your keys, or this snow globe inspired by Hokusai’s The Great Wave you’ll love playing with.

At the end of the day, we all want to come home to a space that looks great and feels comfortable. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to decorate your home with pieces you love. Peruse our online catalog today for more great home decor items to make your apartment truly your own.