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{Apartment Decorating Ideas} Our Living Room Tour

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We have a new space that I’ve been wanting to share with you.  I’ve finally finished decorating and taking pictures of a few of the rooms in our new apartment.  I looking forward to sharing the rooms with you and hearing your feedback.  If you’re asking what this has to do with party design, stay tuned!  Much of the decorating includes left over party props.  So, please don’t throw away your old party decor! You may find some inspiration on new ways to incorporate it in your home design! 
 
 
 
This post could have had many other titles. I considered Apartment Decorating on a Budget or even Decorating with Recycled Party Decor. I also thought about How I Decorated an Apartment without My Husband Freaking Out. I realized that last one wouldn’t work, though, because at one point my hubby did freak out about all the stuff we were bringing into the apartment. He may have had a come to Jesus meeting with me, reiterating everything I brought into the apartment was going to have to eventually be moved out. 
 

Many of you know that we are kind of living in an apartment, right now.  Actually, we still have our house and haven’t moved out, but we are doing a 6 month trial run in a city where we are considering moving.  The apartment choices in the school district we wanted to be were pretty limited.  Since we only planned to rent an apartment for 6 months, we first started at looking at furnished apartments.  Although they were fine, they just felt a little sparse.  Even though we are only going to be here for the short-term, I wanted something a little happier.  Something that felt a little more like us. 

This is what I cobbled together with left-over items at our house, thrift shop finds, and DIY projects.  The ideas here would not only work for an apartment, but also might be fun for a lake house, beach house or some other type of second home or even for a college dorm.  All of the ideas were on the cheap because I just couldn’t justify spending much money on something we would use for just 6 months. 

 
I chose turquoise and bright yellow as the color scheme.  They add some vibrant, fun color to an otherwise dull dingy white apartment.  Our apartment is now decorated for Easter.  For Easter, I typically hang a banner and set out a few ceramic bunnies I’ve collected.  Just a few little Easter touches is all I need. 
 
 
This is the view coming into the Living Room for the entry hall.  I used several recycled party decor items to decorate the apartment.  First, the disco ball hanging in the Living Room was left over from my daughter’s Groovy, Disco Birthday Party.  There was no overhead lighting in this room, so of course, a disco ball was the obvious choice!
 
 
 
One way I tried to cut costs was by the choices I made for artwork.  First, for the art work over the couch, I purchased cheap black frames from the local discount store.  By spray painting them turquoise, it added much more color to the wall.  I also chose items that had special meaning to us.  With all the upheaval the move has caused, I wanted art that would be comforting to my children.  I made the state artwork to give our kids a sense of history and security that we were still living close to home.  The bottom initial art was simply a canvas that I covered with fabric.  I then painted a cardboard initial and secured it to the canvas. 
 
 
My husband thought I was little a crazy when I asked him to hang the disco ball, but the room really needed that touch of sparkle!  I don’t have to explain that any further to you, right?!?!
 
 
 

The frames for these pictures were also very inexpensive.  The top frame was an unfinished wood frame that I found at Michael’s.  After a 40% off coupon, I believe it was less than $4.  The three bottom frames I found at a local discount store in the clearance section.  They were $1, each.  I spray painted all the frames for cohesive look.

Once I knew that the color scheme for the apartment, I scoured several stores for any items that fit that color scheme.  These two plates were purchased on clearance at Target.  You can also see a little bit of the mantle in the picture.  All of the mantle details will be included in a post later this week. 

 
I have a problem throwing away fabric remnants.  I’ve kept the remnants from pretty much every decorating project.  And, for this project, I’m so happy I did.  The chevron pillow was made from leftover fabric I had from pillows I made for our sun room at home.  The blue pillow is made from fabric left over from my son’s curtains and old bumper pad.  The fuzzy yellow fabric was left over from fuzzy fabric I used for my son’s ducky themed 1st birthday.  The blue striped fabric was also left over from my daughter’s curtains. 
 
 
You’ve probably seen the top picture quote on Pinterest.  That’s where I first saw it, painted on a beautiful reclaimed wood sign.  I decided a create a print for the quote that coordinated with our color scheme.  The bottom picture was made using spray glitter glue.  Don’t you just love a good can of spray glitter?
 
 
I love this bright yellow vase.  The fact that I purchased it for $3 makes me love it even more.  There are a couple of thrift stores near our new apartment. I stop in them about once a week, just to do a quick check for home items, like this vase.   The lamp shade was purchased on clearance at Hobby Lobby for just $4. 
 
 
The $4 Hobby Lobby lamp shade just happened to match the shade I already had for the standing lamp.  You might recognize that lamp from the Football Tailgating Party I hosted last year. 
 
 
 

 
I made the curtains from $5 twin flat sheets I purchased at Walmart.  I trimmed the inside seam of the sheet with turquoise, yellow, and pink plaid ribbon.  The ribbon was simply ironed on using no-sew hemming tape. 
 
 
In addition to trimming the sheets with the ribbon, I also added some hand sewn pinch pleats.  Although the sheets are not lined, the pleats just add a little more finished look to the curtains. 

As I was taking pictures, my sweet little guy snuck into the picture.  He was more than happy to strike a regal pose in one of his favorite spots.  I’ll be posting more about the Living Room Mantle and other rooms in the apartment in the upcoming weeks. 

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Comments

  1. You’ve managed to make an apartment look cozy. I honestly didn’t think that was possible! I love what you’ve done with the space. It’s so bright and cheery. You’ve certainly made the most of your temporary situation!

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