How to Make Your Apartment More Homey - Part 4

Welcome to part 4 of my mini series "How to Make Your Apartment More Homey". Today we will be focusing one of the most challenging things apartment dwellers come up against. Walls.

Today's topic - No Paint, No Nails!
The white wall epidemic is a hard one to beat unless you have a very specific decorating style. And many times we wish we could paint just because the walls are so bad. Really, apartment walls are the worst. Think of all the abuse those poor walls have gone through. Every personality, age, and gender has probably made an impression on those walls, and I'm not just talking about a mental impression either. You can only fix holes so many times. We look at nail pops, sheetrock seams and opposing textures. A bold paint color could fix a lot! But for the thousands of people who can't paint that bold color or any color at all here are a few tips on how to get past the white wall epidemic.

First you have to start with 100% your flavor, style and likes. You will never love your space if it's not you. Do you like calm colors? Make the white wall work for you; try a monochromatic look. Do you love color? Then spread it like spray paint and no one will even think about your walls.

Sometimes the hardest thing about not painting is the fact that we count on wall color being a focal point. To counteract that problem you need to find a new focal point. Spread the desired color into your drapes, couch cushions, rugs, etc... If you are feeling really bold make a bright couch, chair, or bedspread the focal point that carries the primary color. Don't be afraid to have one amazing piece. The problem comes when you try to make to many Wow pieces or too many matching wow pieces.

My favorite color is brown (boring I know) and so most of my home is neutral and brown. But to make up for it I hung cinnamon (burnt orange) curtains to make a statement and beautiful focal point. 

Let's talk about nails. Thankfully this not as big of a problem as no paint. Most apartments will allow at least a few nails. But for those of you who can't hang anything or with only very small nails here are a few options. 

1) Large framed artwork, just frames, or large mirrors propped up from the floor or furniture.

2) sticky velcro, sticky tack (or is it ticky tack?) or those 3M sticky wall hooks.

These curtains are just panels of material sewn onto sticky velcro and then stuck to the bifold door. Simple but makes a great statement. You see how little room I had to add color to this side of the room. It's full of brown doors. Something had to be done!

3) Depending on what kind of ceiling you have, you might get away with hanging things from the ceiling. Popcorn ceilings can hide a multitude of sins...and nail holes. Consider hanging a picture from the ceiling, sprucing it up with ribbon or making an industrial look with wire.