9 Easy and Cheap Small Apartment DIY Decorating Ideas

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Looking for DIY decorating ideas for a smaller apartment? Smaller apartments have plenty of advantages – fuss-free maintenance, generally lower rent, and easy accessibility. Unfortunately, without the right décor, they can seem messy and unkempt. If you want a home that looks like it belongs in a magazine, don’t let an expensive price tag stop you. Instead, spruce up your apartment with these cheap and easy DIY décor ideas for smaller apartments.

1. Use Monochromatic Furniture Colors

Using too many colors makes smaller rooms feel busy and cluttered, while monochrome colors create harmony with one base color. That’s why monochromatic furniture can streamline the design and infuse a sense of space into your small apartment.

With monochromatic colors, you’re not restricted to a single shade. Instead, you can use different variations of the color to give the space a more dramatic look. You can even introduce texture and pattern to add more visual interest without muddling the space.

2. Rearrange Your Furniture

You can dramatically alter the look and feel of your room by rearranging the furniture – and it will cost you nothing.

For example, move a couch towards the wall instead of letting it block foot traffic in the middle of the room. Remove bulky pieces of furniture like large couches, oversized cabinets and big TV units that shrink floor space. If you want, swap furniture pieces between rooms to create visual appeal without shopping around for anything new.

3. Draw In Natural Light With Sheer Curtains

You can change the look of any window in your home with the right window treatments. Thick curtains and blinds often block natural light from entering your home – making it look dark and tinier. Replacing heavy or dark curtains with sheer curtains will instantly draw in natural light and give the space a light and airy feel.

4. Use Mirrors To Make The Space Feel Bigger And Brighter

Placed smartly, a mirror gives your home more texture while enlarging the space and drawing natural light inside. They can optimize and reflect light into darker corners to create textural illusions throughout the room.

Bigger mirrors appear to create more space when placed at careful angles. For instance, a mirror placed opposite a window brings both greenery and natural light into the room, which is perfect for diminutive spaces.

5. Add Brighter Lights To Illuminate The Space

floor lamps
There’s no point in having a well-decorated apartment if there isn’t enough light to see it. While you may not have the same lighting options in rentals, some fixes like adding brighter lights can give your home the perfect illumination – without costing you a fortune.

Floor and table lamps bring style and color while improving light distribution within the room. You also may want to consider replacing existing lights with higher-wattage bulbs to elevate the visual appeal of your home.

picture of medium size cabinet

6. Opt For Vertical Storage

If you need to find better ways to use your limited apartment space, opt for vertical storage. Vertical storage units allow you to make the most of unused spaces as optimally as possible.

Higher vertical storage can also draw the eye upwards, which gives the impression of more roominess in your apartment. The best part is, with certain models, you may not have to fix the unit to any wall – making this the ideal choice for rentals.

7. De-Clutter The Floors

Floor clutter can make any home look disorganized. Plus, it makes it hard for you to move around easily within the home. To de-clutter your floors, you have to be prepared to throw out unwanted items in your house.

Start by picking up things that don’t belong on the floor – like clothes from your closet or shoes from your shoe racks. Discard old items from your cabinets and shelves so you can make room for things you actually need. This reduces the clutter on your floor, making it easier to move around your apartment.

8. Add Potted Plants

Potted plants not only create a tranquil atmosphere, but they can also add stylish elegance to the entire apartment. They add a touch of softness and drama, along with creating visual interest. Potted plants are inexpensive purchases but they can give your home a plush feel – a win-win!

9. Choose Similar Photo Frames For A Cohesive Finish

Family photos are beautiful decorations for your home, but it’s ideal to use similar frames for a cohesive finish. Using different types of frames – plastic, wooden and metal – can look chaotic and distracts from the beauty of the photos themselves. Choosing the same material and finish for all your frames brings everything together with unified sophistication.

Living in smaller apartments doesn’t mean you sacrifice style for functionality. Strike a good balance between the two with these cheap and easy ideas to elevate the look of your space in a smaller apartment.

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