How to Decorate White Apartment Walls

Hanging Quilt

Moving into a new apartment is both challenging and exciting. Most landlords do not allow painting, but how are you to live with white walls if your personal style demands color? There are a few simple solutions for decorating those white apartment walls without losing your security deposit or your sense of style.

Things You'll Need

• Canvas
• Acrylic craft paint
• Large paintbrushes
• Painter's tape
• Removable picture hangers
• Artwork
• Colorful fabric
• Large framed mirror

Instructions

Your Own Artwork

1. Purchase an over-sized canvas and acrylic paint in colors to match your room's décor from your local craft store. Lay the canvas flat and apply painter's tape randomly for a Jackson Pollack-type painting, or section the canvas into squares for a color block approach.

2. Apply the paint to the canvas in colored squares or randomly, depending on your personal style. You are creating a budget-friendly contemporary work of art to hang or prop against your white walls.

3. Let the paint dry and carefully remove the painter's tape. You will have white lines where the tape has been but color over the remaining canvas.

Alternatives

1. Purchase artwork that fits your personal style. Even if you are prohibited from inserting nails in your walls, you can purchase Velcro-like picture hangers that remove easily from the walls. These picture hangers leave no marks of any kind and come in a variety of sizes for different picture weights.

2. Connect two sections of the picture hanger together, face to face. Place the connected Velcro strip onto the back of the picture.

3. Remove the protective covering from the sticky back of the strip not attached to the picture. Press the picture in place on your wall and hold it for one minute. The picture should remain in place.

4. Find a large quilt, shawl, afghan or other fabric that matches your room's décor.

5. Hang the piece on your white apartment wall with the Velcro-type strips described above.

6. Purchase a large mirror in a decorative frame. Intricate metal frames will work, but black or stained wooden frames will contrast better with your white wall. Prop the mirror against the wall for a dramatic decorative effect.

Tips & Warnings

• Paint your walls any color that suits you and then repaint them white before you move out of the apartment.

• Use more than one picture hanger for heavy, framed artwork or mirrors.

Resources

• Removable Command Strips for Hanging