How to Decorate an Apartment Living Room

Decorating an apartment living room has special challenges. Apartment living rooms are usually limited in size and also have the challenge of having traffic patterns. The biggest problem with decorating an apartment living room is that residents are often prevented from painting and installing anything. For this reason, you must be extra creative when adding decorating touches.

Things You'll Need

• Fabric
• Fabric starch
• Large canvas
• Paint
• Curtains
• Small scale furniture

Instructions

1. Add splashes of color to your walls by painting large canvases or hanging curtains against the wall, even where there is no window. Adding curtain or canvas panels can help you add visual appeal to the room and to also cover up especially ugly areas of the walls.

2. Add temporary fabric "wallpaper" to your walls. You can apply fabric directly to the walls using a fabric starch. It will go up more easily than wall paper, and come down just as easily when you are ready to move. If you find the right sale, you can get fabric for a little as a dollar per yard. You can cover an entire room, or do a few accent walls in your home. Other temporary forms of wall coverings are vinyl stencils and murals that rub on and peel off easily.

3. Take advantage of vertical space. Since apartments are typically small, you will want to take advantage of every square inch of your wall space. Use extra tall bookshelves for item display and storage in your apartment living room. Consider filling a full wall or hallway with tall bookshelves.

4. Use small furniture for your apartment living room. Not only do apartment living rooms have small space, but the doors are also small. You must be very careful when purchasing furniture for an apartment. Consider buying modular furniture also, especially if you may live in another apartment after your current one as you never know how you may need to arrange your furniture. Instead of using a large living room coffee table, consider smaller cube shaped trunks or table units. Do not over fill the room with furniture. Stick to a sofa, chair and tables. If you regularly need extra seating consider stacking a pile of floor cushions in the corner.

5. Accessorize simply. Use mirrors to multiply your visual space. Tall standing mirrors cause minimal damage to walls and have a maximum effect. Also, hang family photography to personalize the apartment and make it more homey.