Apartment Blog

Continuing our weekly trend, here is an article with some fantastic tips on how to refresh your home using the color blue! Bring the outdoors inside with a splash of sophisticated and refreshing blue!

Make a bold statement by using deep blue. If you can’t paint, curtains are a great effect for your walls (especially if they are floor to ceiling length).

For added excitement in a bathroom, replace the knobs on your vanity and/or medicine cabinet with blue ones (just make sure you keep all the screws and original knobs when it’s time to move out). White and blue bath accessories, artwork and towels would really complete the look.

Blue checkered details really add a lot of fun as well as a retro twist to any space. You can use this idea for pillows on a bench in your apartment or for cushions around your dinning room table.

Silvery gray and pale aqua is a perfectly glamorous combination for a vanity table. An ornate mirror makes an elegant topper, however if you can’t take down your mirror, removable stickers to adjourn your mirror will work.

For a beach themed apartment, you can use removable cushion covers from an outdoor patio set. A blue stripped rug and an antiqued painted coffee table add dimension to the space; as would blue stripes and fun accents like a nautical star or chandelier.

Also, don’t be afraid to mix a variety of patterns - just stick within the same color palette. A delicate blue-and-white curtain blends beautifully with a shag rug, toile quilt, and boldly striped cushions. My favorite pattern, besides the classic stripes, is damask. Having a piece in the room using blue damask instantly makes it trendy and chic.

Paint and furniture aren’t the only ways to bring color into a room; fun knickknacks in the same hue will do the trick also!

What’s the next color on the menu? Yellow! Soon we will post ideas for decorating in the powerful color of the sun!

Source: Country Living and Better Homes & Gardens

I read some amazing tips from the Country Living website that will instantly refresh your decor by trying out a few new color shades.  Given that most of our readers are apartment renters, these tips will accommodate those with limitations!

I will be splitting up these ideas into five blog postings, one blog for each color. These will provide specific details with each color palette for creative decorating tips. What’s on today’s agenda? The color green!

Pair pale green with other pastel shades for a retro look.  Fun details like a trendy lampshade and a wall display of plates add character and charm!

A neutral couch can be given a tropical feel with botanical-print pillows and broad-leaf potted plants.

Apple green paired with white makes for a cheery and inviting room.  It also happens to be a very big trend in home decorating!

Don’t forget to include nature! You can add beautiful potted plants to complement any space (see photo)!

In a white, airy dining room, a green tile area rug will help ground the space. Dark wood furniture would also balance the bright white elements.

Another great color combination is green with aqua! A green furniture item, such as a couch or chair, partnered with cool aqua creates a fun but relaxing room. A geometric area rug with those colors can help bring the combination together.

Kelly green linen curtains enhance the elegance of old world furniture and provide a touch of color. White pillows with green patterns would also dress up a room as well as add flair for the otherwise traditional space.

Green sofas give a garden air to a space filled with pale neutrals. Light, bright colors are good candidates for airy spaces with tall ceilings and ample windows. This is actually how I’ve decorated my place; paired with beach accents it’s a very calming environment.

The same feeling can be accomplished in your kitchen! Vintage dishware in icy blue, watery aqua and shades of green throughout a space creates an environment that is inviting to guests and calming for the cook. Place those dishes and other décor items inside a green hutch, shown on the left, and you’ve created a fabulous focal point!

Source: Country Living and Better Homes & Gardens

It’s time to get creative! If you’re decorating style is stuck in a rut but you have little to no money to do anything about it, check out these great ideas. Most don’t require you to purchase anything, just using things you already have in your house. But boy will these ideas do the trick!

• Turn a quilt into a headboard. Drape it over your existing headboard or nail it on the wall to frame your bed.
• Prop up art to conceal cords. No one likes to see them all the time, use random frames to conceal them.
• Repurpose bracelets as napkin rings. This serves as a trendy and funky way to decorate your table.
• Dress up a dresser with ribbons, different colored ribbons would make a big impact.
• Paint legs of old chairs, or paint a different color on all the chairs at your dinning room table. This can be a great conversation piece.
• Wrap boxes with wrapping paper for a decorative & functional piece. Can be used all over the apartment.
• Unused wine glasses as candle holders. Simple and classy.
• Use clips from the office to hold photos or post cards around the house.
• Upgrade a lamp shade w/ribbon or paint it a color you’d never find in a store.
• Use a planter as a side table for the bedroom or the living room. All you need to do is add a glass top. This is very cheap compared to purchasing a new table all together.
• Rearrange furniture-like on an angle. It’ll make the room feel refreshed!
• Find any magazines or books that have photos in them that you like. Cut out the photos and frame them around the house.
• If you have a full bookcase, remove one shelf of books and treat it like a shadow box.
• Gather all your accessories that are the same color from every room in your house. Don’t worry how they relate or what you bought to go with what. Now…group all of them together on a tabletop.
• Remove all the pictures scattered around one room and rehang them on one wall, together - “salon style.”
• Instead of centering one big piece of art over your bed, hang one really small piece of art. It will have even more of an impact.

Check out your apartment and see how you can incorporate our suggestions. Or if you have any ideas that you have used before, please share! These tips were collected from Real Simple Magazine and House Beautiful.

Finally, our last bit of tips in our Part III Make Your Apartment Energy Efficient blog. As promised, ways to conserve energy using your appliances!
Appliances:

• Okay, so this tip is actually REALLY COOL! Did you know that if you thaw frozen food in the refrigerator (instead of the countertop-which I am ashamed to say I do all the time) that you actually help the refrigerator cut down the energy it uses to control the cool temperature? The frozen food helps with that while it’s defrosting. All you have to do is think about it the night before.
• And if you’ve been paying attention to any of our posts regarding energy efficiency, you know that you need to turn off and/or unplug appliances when you are not using them (this includes computers, cell phone chargers and small appliances in the kitchen)
• Whenever possible use the range top instead of the oven as it uses far less energy.
• When cooking or baking make sure you also don’t open the door any more than absolutely necessary. The oven loses about 20% of its heat every time you open the door! Every time! WOW!! So if you need to peek in and see how that turkey is doing, just flip on the light.

Well that’s pretty much what I retained from the article called ‘Tips for an Energy-Efficient Apartment’ located at Healthgoods.com. I hope you have learned as much as I did. Being energy efficient is very important; not only for the environment, but it will also save you a bundle in the long run! You can always check out our other tips on our Apartments Going Green section of our blog as we strive to put more information out there for everyone. Also, feel free to add any thing that we haven’t yet spoken about. The more information the better!