When you move into your apartment, you start with laying out the bare necessities. Then the fun begins, and you can get to the joy of personalizing your home with your unique touch.
While you’re hanging pictures and accessorizing your rooms, it’s easy to hit the typical places. There are other areas, though, that are frequently overlooked by most people.
As you slowly turn your apartment into a comfy home, make sure you decorate these essential spots, too!
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1. Your Four Corners
The corners of each room can be cobweb collectors, or they can be a great place to display your decor. The perfect even angles are just right for shelves or pictures to hang!
Since you have preset lines already there to guide you with leveling, it’s fun to play around with a gallery wall. Collect your framed photos and display them in straight, zig-zagged, and geometric patterns.
If you’re concerned about keeping everything level, use the edges along the corner to align your pictures.
People who live in apartments often shy away from hanging decor on their walls. It is usually frowned upon by many landlords because of the holes it makes. You can create a gallery wall without damaging the wood, though. Instead, use adhesive strips to display your pictures.
To do this, first, clean the wall where you want to put the picture. Remove any of the pre-installed hardware on your frame, like metal hooks. Then apply the adhesive backing to your frame, peel off the back strip, and adhere it solidly to the wall.
Or forget a gallery wall. You can display your pictures and knick-knacks on corner shelving units in those oft-neglected edges of the room, too!
Install a few decorative shelves at your preferred angles or buy a standalone unit to maximize on your corner spaces.
2. Your Ceiling
Often called the “fifth wall,” your ceiling makes up a considerable section of each room. While most people ignore it unless there is a problem, you can decorate the entire flat surface to change the mood in a space completely.
Since you live in an apartment, you probably can’t change the tile that’s already there. However, you can cover it up with a fabric that creates the look you’re trying to portray.
Instead of a straight side-to-side layout, find multiple pieces of linen you love. Then drape them across the ceiling as you would crepe paper streamers for a party or Christmas garland.
With barely any effort, you now have a totally different ambiance.
Note: Use lamps instead of ceiling lighting to prevent fire hazards.
If flowing linen isn’t your style, you can opt for removable wallpaper instead. Avoid using the same wallpaper that you have on your four sidewalls and find one that complements that pattern instead.
For example, use removable wallpaper with vertical stripes on your main walls and then a solid color that enhances those lines for your ceiling.
Removable wallpaper is an apartment renovator’s dream come true. You can choose from a vast assortment of patterns and change them up as much as you’d like.
Then, when it’s time to move, peel the paper off and leave behind the original wall with no impact on your security deposit!
3. Behind Closed Doors
When a door closes, that wall space is bare and blah. It’s also highly visible when you’re in the room, creating a jarring blank space. This essential spot can irritate if you’ve worked hard to decorate the rest of the room.
Don’t leave it empty just because the door is in the way. Though, you have to be careful what you put behind it so that the open door doesn’t hit your decor. But you can still spruce it up!
First, measure the narrowest space between the wall and the door when it’s fully opened. That will tell you how much depth you have to work with.
It might only be a few inches, but it’s probably enough to decorate with something like:
- Narrow shelves
- Pictures or artwork
- A potted plant in the corner
- Flowers
- Your record collection or other memorabilia
As a general rule, you don’t want to use anything breakable here unless it’s stable. If the door slams open or shut, that wall shakes, knocking things loose.
4. Flat Spaces in the Kitchen
The kitchen is usually full of flat surfaces that we overlook. Adding a little thematic decor to these spots is fun and adds flair to a mainly functional room.
Check for neglected surfaces on top of your refrigerator. This area is a huge dust collector, but you can use it to brighten up the room instead.
In an apartment, kitchens are usually compact. You can use the extra few inches on top of the fridge for the strategic storing of your spices and other supplies in a decorative basket.
The same idea goes for flat spaces on top of cupboards and windowsills. They are the perfect place to slide some narrow potted plants, framed pictures, and your flour jars.
As you decide what to store and what to display, think about your color scheme and what you use frequently. Try to use the flat surfaces to show off decorative jars and use the cupboards to put away everything else.
If an item doesn’t see much use, it can go up high, out of reach. But if you use it daily, make sure it’s stored in an easy to access spot.
5. Your Baker’s Rack
Even the smallest apartment can benefit from Baker’s Rack. This practical piece of furniture adds storage space to any kitchen or dining room. However, you can also use it as a form of decoration!
Use your elegant dishware to decorate the baker’s rack with the help of some plate display easels. You don’t use the fancy dishes often, but they’re too lovely to store away. The baker’s rack is the perfect place to show them off between uses.
If you don’t have fine china, you can use the rack to hang your mugs, pots, and pans. Install a few hooks to the edges of the upper shelf and get these awkwardly shaped supplies out of your limited cupboards!
Once you’ve finished setting up your necessities on the shelves, polish the look off by adding a vase with faux flower arrangements. You can’t go wrong with color, decor you love, and strategic storage in the baker’s rack!
Conclusion
Moving into your apartment gives you lots of opportunities to personalize every room to your taste. As you go, make sure you take advantage of these essential but frequently forgotten spots!
Author Bio:
Dominique Daniels is the Business Manager at The Pointe. With over five years of property management experience, she begins and ends each day loving what she does. She finds joy in helping current and future residents and makes The Pointe a place everyone loves to call home.
