Apartment Interior Design

Apartments can be challenging to design. You immediately may think of the restrictions that are placed on from your landlord. Think not about what you can’t do. Find out what you can do to make your living space beautiful. First look carefully over your lease agreement. See exactly what is stated that can or can not be changed. Look specifically for statements about wall color. Changing the wall color is an inexpensive, yet effective way to completely change the look of your apartment.

Perhaps wall colors need to be approved before you are allowed to paint. If you are allowed to paint light colors only, get a light neutral color that has some depth to it. Think cafe au laite, butterscotch yellow, and other shades that show a hint of a much richer color. Your landlord may be more open to modern light shades, than brass dark tones. If your landlord is concerned about the quality of your painting, offer to sign a document that states you will paint it back white when your lease is up. Or you may agree to pay a professional painter to paint everything back to white. If that does not work, you could agree to find a tenant that is accepting of your painting choices, upon move out. Another tenant may jump at the change to move into an apartment with a nice neutral paint color.

Another wall option is to add fabric to the walls. Fabric can be attached to the walls with spray starch. The best fabrics to try are gingham, cotton, or chintz. directions on how to can be found here.

Updating one room at a time, is the best way to truly keep your projects under control. Think of the walls as the pallet you are getting ready to paint.
(Part 2)

Kitchen
Many older apartment homes have fashion mistakes in the kitchen. Have you inherited avocado green stoves or dishwashers? You can cover them with black or stainless steel contact paper.

Hardware

Changing the knobs on your kitchen and bathroom sinks and cabinets can update them. Try to find a modern update for your cabinets. Stick with a tone that works well with the room. If the cabinets are extremely hideous, see what you can do about that. Perhaps you can stain the cabinets. Maybe they are just in need of another coat of paint. check your lease to see what you can do.

Tile
If your time is obviously from the 1960’s or 1970’s the pattern may seem to always be saying something to you. Maybe it never looks clean, due to the weird pattern. You can apply inexpensive tile over your current tile. If your landlord does not permit that, see if you can add carpets, that fit the length of your kitchen.  Your local home store can order you a piece of carpet that will fit the dimensions of your dining area. Then the area by the sink may become more bearable. You can hide the pattern with smaller washable rugs made for kitchen use.

Be open to try different design techniques. Living with white walls, ugly tile, and hideous wall paper does not have to be your reality.