Using Removable Wallpaper for Your Apartments

If you're ever at a dinner party and the conversation lags, simply turn the subject to tiny apartments and you'll probably usher in a few interesting stories starring the legendary studio. The studio has long held its place between the dorm room and more permanent (albeit rented) residences, and rightfully so - a stylishly decorated studio has all the appeal of a cozy cabin in the woods or swanky city loft, only without the high monthly payments and easily overlooked cobwebs.

Sharing a dorm room might be the gateway to independence, but renting a studio apartment is the best way to sharpen your clever design skills. Once you've signed the contract for your snug little shelter, start your decorating engine with these five ways to make the best of small spaces with removable wallpaper for apartments:

1. Turn that tiny bathroom into a sanctuary of style. Good news - the smaller your bathroom, the less removable wallpaper it'll take to transform into the most cheerful water closet you've ever brushed your teeth in. Cover all the walls with removable wallpaper and complete the look with towels, rugs, and trinkets. For an even better bathroom, replace fluorescent light bulbs with buttery ones that bounce off the colors to give your skin that just-received-an-Oscar look.

2. Shine a serious spotlight on the bookcase in your living room. It's easy to turn a bookshelf into a visible storage space, but it's equally as easy to make use of all those colorful dust jackets and cover art. Use removable wallpaper to cover the backs or bottoms of shelves and play with arranging and displaying your collection of books, photos, and curios. Use plastic or makeshift stands to show off the covers that look cool against your chic wallpaper background.

3. Redesign your bed, starting at the top. Whether you're the proud owner of a bed frame with a headboard or working with a minimal mattress on the floor, adding a removable wallpaper headboard can do wonders to spruce up the wall at the top of your bunk. To create your stick on headboard, measure the width of the top of your mattress and decide how much wallpaper you'll need to make either a full headboard or emphasize the space behind an existing one. Use scissors to shape your wallpaper and position it where it works best to accentuate your bedding.

4. Award your living room with stripes. To design a stare-worthy focal wall, cover the largest or most prevalent wall in your apartment's common area with striped removable wallpaper. If you happen to like the existing paint color and can find a wallpaper pattern to complement it, carefully trim each wallpaper sheet into even strips and apply it in equidistant bands across the wall.

5. Break up that blank space between kitchen cabinets and counters. Choose a patterned removable wallpaper and use a measuring tape and scissors to snip out spaces for electrical sockets to show through. Make decorative use of the blank space behind your toaster and you'll instantly recreate a room to be perfectly suited for entertaining hungry guests.

One of the best things about removable wallpaper is its portability. Once it's time to move out, peel it away from the wall to reveal the landlord's original paint job. Before picking your wallpaper, make sure it won't damage the wall surfaces beneath it - you wouldn't want to spend extra time and money on spackle and touch-up paint. If you've chosen a reusable brand of removable wallpaper, simply save the original backing and reattach it for transporting to your next decorating project.

Decorating Your Rented Apartment

Many landlords want to rent their apartments. Renting is not a bad idea. The owner can have numerous motive behind not living himself in his apartment and renting it to others.

The feel and appearance of the rented apartments is not what the tenants wish to have in their homes. The following tips are for such people to make the impersonal home a more familiar and personal place, full of affection to live in.

You can change the exterior of the rented apartment altogether in a new style. If your apartment has a large hall, make sections in it. For this sectioning, folding papers of different color and design are used. Buy old and inexpensive doors, decorate them with fabrics, simple paint or attractive wall papers and put them in place.

Placing the doors and separators in the place of your choice gives the feeling to a more personalized house than it previously was. A single room can also be made sections of with the help of sofas like sitting area and a dining area in the same room.

One done with the sections, it's now the cabinets that need your attention. If they are detachable, place them anywhere you think looks good. For the fixed cupboards, try to repaint them and change their handles for make them more tailored.

When decided to place new knobs and handles, don't forget to keep the original one for you will have to return them to the owner when time comes for your check out from the apartment.

It is also good if you want to make some alteration in the walls and floor of the rented apartment.

Owners usually do not allow repainting on the original walls of the apartment. Similarly if the rooms are carpeted, removing them is not possible. But rags and mats can be bought for the floor and removable sheets of different designs for the walls.

Decorating Apartment without Paint

When moving into a new apartment or just trying to freshen up the look of a current apartment, one of the first things most renters want to change is the wall paint. Usually, painting is acceptable to the owner as long as you return it to the neutral when you move out.

If all of that painting and re-painting is not quite what you had in mind for jazzing up your place, just consider all other decorating options to make your home warm and inviting because it is your home, not just the space you rent.

Create a Beautiful Apartment Interior without Paint

To add in some color without picking up a brush, the choices are endless. You should start with a temperature: warm or cool. Then consider all your room has to contribute. Every spot of color should be in the same temperature. You don't have to have everything the same color. The trick is to blend and combine shades of the same richness and tone.

Warm Temperature

Warm temperatures would mean everything that is contributing interest in your room would be reds, oranges, and some darker yellows. Reds and yellows are energizing and are said to stimulate conversation. These are great for entertaining areas in the living & dining rooms and kitchen.

Vibrant throw pillows, artwork, lamps, and rugs all in the same warm family can create a unified and interesting room, drawing the eye from piece to piece.

Cool Temperature

Blues, greens, teals, and some purples are cool colors. Varying shades of these in a room brings down the energy and tend to be calming and relaxing. Depending on the shade intensity, these can also be refreshing and cheery.

Bringing cool into a bedroom or a bathroom are great ways to inject a cohesive palette and liven up the neutral walls and floors. In a bedroom, a bedspread and artwork with a similar toned lamp can create a soothing environment. In a bathroom, a beautiful shower curtain with artwork bath mats in the same color family will create a unified and relaxing bath.

Remember! Everything doesn't have to match exactly - just should be in the same family.

Lighting Brightens

Lighting effects mood and with limited ability to change the permanent fixtures in an apartment, a renter must think creatively with lamps. The first step is to supplement the permanent overhead fictures with more ambient background lighting. A big floor lamp in the corner over your reading chair creates big impact.

Accent is the next to consider. If you have a favorite picture or plant, highlight it with a small accent. A clip on spotlight works great for art on the wall. Small uplights are easily found to place on the floor next to a big plant.

You should also consider reflecting where you can. Mirrors are great. Reflective or shiny surfaces help a great deal. A glass table lamp provides sparkle, reflects and generates ambient light. A 3 for 1!

Silver picture frames and glass elements go a long way for reflecting what you have and bringing the eye around the room.

There are so many ways to create interest and vibrant living in an apartment with neutral walls and floors. Just consider it your blank canvas!

The Power of Three in Apartment Decorating

When decorating your apartment, it is important to keep in mind that there are certain techniques that can be used to create a more visually appealing end result. One of these tricks is to use decorating accessories in multiples of three. Using groupings instead of singular items can add a decorator look to your apartment, while adding a lot of visual interest.

Artwork and Accessories in Multiple of Threes

One way of using multiples of three is with wall art. Instead of hanging just one large piece of art on a long wall, try hanging three framed prints or paintings that are the same size in a row. Or, use one large piece of wall art beside two smaller ones stacked one over the other. This method of hanging wall art can be much more interesting than a single framed piece. Keep in mind that when using the "power of three," all three items do not need to be the same. For example, hanging a candle sconce on both sides of a framed print can add a nice effect. Plants arranged in multiples of three also work well, especially if you choose plants that vary according to height, placing the taller plant in the back.

Pillow Power in Threes

You can also use multiples of three when placing throw pillows and blankets. For example, draping a tapestry throw over one end of the sofa along with a large and small throw pillow can be very attractive. Or, group throw pillows in multiples of three for a contemporary look. Remember when arranging throw pillows that pillows in even numbers placed symmetrically such as one or two pillows placed on either end of a sofa adds a traditional look, while an odd number of pillows place asymmetrically generally adds a more modern and contemporary look.

Using Three in the Kitchen

You can also use multiples of three very effectively in the kitchen. Three kitchen canisters of varying or similar height can look nice arranged in a row on the countertop. Or, place a salt grinder, pepper grinder and one container of another cooking spice close to your store for an attractive display that is also handy and useful. Even something as simple as three beautiful apples arranged in a basket can add a touch of beauty to the kitchen.

Decorating the Bedroom

In the bedroom, three throw pillows placed on the bed can add a nice touch. When arranging items on your vanity, lining up a hair brush, comb and hand mirror can add a very traditional look. You can even use your everyday toiletries in a decorative fashion by arranging them in groups of three, such as a beautiful bottle of perfume, a bottle of body lotion, and a container of talcum powder on one corner of the vanity, which are useful as well as attractive.

Using the Technique in the Bath

In the bathroom, try adding three small mirrors vertically on a narrow wall, or arrange three tall, narrow mirrors over the vanity instead of using one large mirror. A basket of towels combined with a vase of flowers and a knick knack or natural accent such as a sea shell can also add a bit of "triple beauty" to the bathroom.