my new apartment... is boring.

I just got a sweet new apartment and everything is so boring and plain! I was wondering if anyone had any sweet ideas so I can make the place peaceful and beautiful and awesome? I already plan on tons of candles and incense, some posters and A LOT of art (my own work). I was thinking I could also buy some huge canvas (the type that comes in bulk, off of the stretcher board) and cover my walls then go crazy with paint... Just an idea as of now.

Does anyone have any other ideas I can do???

 

can't do much in a rental if you want your deposit back when you move out. I always decorated with lots of green houseplants when I was renting. People called my last apartment "the jungle"

 

your ideas are good, so are plants. you can also get a lot of crazy stuff at the thrift shop, i used to buy whacky lamps and the like...like i had one shaped like a tree

 

you could also paint the windows with tempera paint... washes off when you are done with it using soap and water.

 

What I did in my first apartment.....I bought alot of plain muslin. Cut it into panels slighty longer than the walls....hemmed top and bottom. Took them outside put them on a clothes line and painted them with fabric paint. Then tacked them to the walls. you can take them down when you move. My walls were really damaged...I was not allowed to paint them.

 

mamaboogie- Yeah, plants are a given. I can just imagine your "jungle"... Thats a good idea...

celtgrrl- Yeah, I religiously shop at thrift stores and I was actually there yesterday... I didn't find anything, but a ton of whacky lamps seems like a great idea.

Drumminmama- Thanks for the tip on having a lot of lamps with overlapping light... That is a good idea. Yes, I will need someplace to do my art. I am an art major and It will be my first year in college... my room mate and I don't have the apartment until august 3rd, but I am hoping I can have the larger bedroom because then there will be a lot more space for my art. The master bedroom is twice the size of the other bedroom. Thanks for the other tips too; chalk boards are a great idea.

Icedteapriestess-Great idea, I will have to look into that. That would make the apartment more welcoming.

kissya- I was thinking about something like canvas to cover the walls, but muslin is a good idea too. My apartment is very clean and white.. Its actually pretty scary... I have to do something with the walls.... how much does muslin normally run? I am on a pretty strict budget.. I mean, I am a college student.

 

man i wish i could do these things to my apartment but i don't think my boyfriend would like it too much. I've found a lot of really great things while thrift shopping though, which gives my apartment a really nice vibe. Could be nicer though...

 

Don't give in to Ikea.
Too many people I know got their parents to drive them to Ikea to buy everything in one of the model rooms. BORING...

Cover a wall with thick paper or posterboard and let your friends doodle on it.

Chinese lanterns - Cheap and funky

Coloured Masking tape - It is not sticky enough to wreck the walls (Be creative)

 

Lucyinthesky- thats too bad the bf wont allow it... But i bet your place is cool still. Thrift shopping is pretty groovy and you can never go wrong with a good bargian.

Drumminmama- Do you think that providing most of the furniture in the apartment would give me a better chance at having the bigger room? I am providing the TV, the couch, end tables, silverware, coffee cups, shower curtain and a few other things I plan on getting before the big move.... Yeah, gesso is a hassle at times... and I havent ever worked with muslin before... I will have to go compare prices...And what it would be overall for the gesso, muslin or canvas or whatever i end up getting.

Badwolf- Oh, don't worry, I won't give in to Ikea.... I want my room to be very artsy. I saw this awesome house one time while down in portland oregon, EVERY thing in the house was either bought at a thrift store or it was created with found objects... and painted murals EVERYWHERE. That is what i kind of want to go for, but I'm hoping my room mate digs it.... I don't really know her too well.
Chinese lanterns are pretty cute... I could also string xmas lights everywhere.. funky ones too. Thats a pretty creative idea about the coloured masking tape, I havent ever heard of anyone doing that before.

 

i don't think there's anything wrong with ikea as long as you don't do the whole thing in it. copying the whole room is boring, but i have some ikea stools and a chair.

 

What about some tapestries? Or trying to work with other peoples artwork? Maybe you got friends that have artwork that you might want to display. I know I always make something for one of my friends when they move into a new place. Hell you should throw a house warming party for urself even kick in on some burrr(beer) lol or whateva u like..........just a thought LOL

 

nice

groovy idea I was about to suggest doing the same thing but paint the walls with chalkboard paint instead of covering with paper... but then again, if you're renting, you'll likely won't get your deposit back, and that chalk board paint is a bitch to paint over....

A friend of mine, in her apartment, had some really great furniture from I don't know where, but the cool thing (I thought) she did was cover her ceiling with aluminum foil, which ended up looking great!

 

celtgrrl- Yeah, I agree... But I can't even afford probably a chair from Ikea. Haha. Plus, there isnt one within 200 miles of my house..

cerridwen- I never heard about covering a ceiling with foil.. but I bet it would look pretty sweet. Do you know if it would come off pretty easily? How would you fasten it? staples maybe?

drumminmama- Yeah, I will have to talk to my roomie about everything... She seems pretty laid back.... but i dont really know her... The apartment is fairly cheap, so maybe i will ask to have the bigger room... Im not very good at confronting people or asking of something... haha, i will see how it goes.
And about the party thing, I dont really want to have too many parties.. I just want a "chill" spot. I am like you, I like outdoor parties.

Here is a Diagram of my apartment.... I was bored

 

I always think it would look cool to hang some real branchy branches off some parts of the ceiling, maybe in the coorners or all along the edges, and then put things in them and hang things off them.
Also a friend of mine took a lot of sparkly and nonsparkly old scarfs (if you go to a thirft shop and buys a wad of dem you can maybe get a deal) and then took thumb tacks and pinned the fourcorners to the ceiling, not perfectly in the corners and not pulled tight mind you (the frindged ones looked really cool, need some of them for sure)then the whole ceiling was sparkley and colourful and made the room waaaay less like a box. She did it to her bedrrom and put one a those bug nets over the bed as the final touch, it looked so nice.

I just got a place too so this thread is way helpful thanks all!

 

a cheaper way instead of the canvas, you could buy poster board instead and then go all crazy with it. maybe you could even do them in different colors. get some cool stuff and hang it off the cieling. good luck with your apartment.

dannayelli

 

I can definantly relate to a boring apartment that is in severe need of jazzing up. I bought a table today from a sorta thrift furniture store that has a safari/african feel to it. It's black/dark dark brownish red and has a pattern on it. It's great, but I need so much other stuff. It was a really good find and only has a few messed up places on it, which isn't too bad because it kinda looks like it's supposed to be there.