Five home decor bloggers feature the best ways to create your space.
Photo Credit: iStockphoto/EricVega
Apartments can be difficult spaces to decorate. Someone else owns the space, so certain décor basics may not be allowed, such as painting, and some units may be on the small side. And what fills the space must be balanced or delicate; no one wants to worry about how to lug an expensive, heavy piece of furniture up three flights of stairs.
Fortunately, a select group of bloggers exist who continually find creative, even genius ways to transform four white apartment walls into one extraordinary living area. With tastes ranging from the modern to the vintage to the eclectic, these bloggers focus specifically on what makes small spaces shine. Plus, some offer tips for green living, sharing your home with pets, decorating on a budget and more.
If you’ve ever moved into an apartment only to discover you don’t know how to make it your own, worry no more: We have chosen the top five apartment-decorating blogs. We guarantee you’ll find interior design inspiration on at least one – if not all – of these extremely useful sites:
Rental Decorating Digest
What It Is: Rental Decorating Digest, an online rental decorating magazine, began in January 2000 and provides extensive information on decorating an apartment, home, studio or dorm, sometimes with input from professional celebrity decorators.
Why We Love It: If you don’t know where to begin with decorating your new space, this site can easily help you get started. Divided into categories such as decorating by room, budget, furniture piece and color, Rental Decorating Digest keeps decorating tips simple and organized.
My Little Apartment
What It Is: My Little Apartment is a blog with eclectic decorating ideas (an entire post dedicated to antlers, anyone?), whimsical photographs and links to the blog creator’s vintage items for sale.
Why We Love It: The writer’s positive attitude is contagious, and her style is unique, with a tendency toward the 1970s decade. Plus, she has creative appreciation for items that others have thrown away, such as Moroccan birdcages, beat-up metal pieces and 1960s German dinnerware.
The Thrift Shop Romantic
What it is: The writer behind the Thrift Shop Romantic is self-professed “packrat descendant” Jenn Thorson, who advises how to find vintage, Victorian and romantic decor on the cheap. For those in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, the site suggests thrift shop, antique store and flea market resources.
Why We Love It: Jenn is an excellent do-it-yourselfer, but her oft-humorous accounts of the process are unabashedly human, which is inspirational to those hesitant to tackle a project themselves. And some of her thrift store finds are hilarious, such as Better Homes and Garden’s 1971 book on decorating ideas under $100. Three words: Victorian robot bathroom.
Making It Lovely
What It Is: New mom and stationary creator Nichole Balch has decorating tips for transforming older spaces into vintage-modern havens on Making It Lovely. She also suggests storage and fashion solutions, and encourages readers to appreciate all shades of pink.
Why We Love It: The Making It Yours category of the site is genius. Balch photographs a single piece of furniture and shows readers through mood boards – which include purchasing information – how to work the piece into five different rooms of the house.
Young House Love
What It Is: Young married couple Sherry and John Petersik blog through Young House Love about their home improvement projects that they tackle themselves. While most postings require major home renovations, which wouldn’t be allowed in apartments, the blog offers tips on transforming furniture pieces and discovering new art ideas.
Why We Love It: After nationally recognized interviews and appearances on HGTV and CNN, you might think these two don’t need any more exposure. Oh, but they do. Even the smallest, most drab spaces would benefit from the how-to’s found on the site, such as how to transform an ugly mirror, paint any piece of furniture, decorate in stages and upholster a headboard.
I love what you did with your space. I live in a tiny apartment too. GREAT IDEA!
nice blog which showed me new a way of thinking about my apartment
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Tiny apartments need to be jazzed up! I love what you wrote about, I myself have a few ideas about interior decoration
I just wrote about some crafty and super cheap ways to decorate (but look like your decorations are from Pier 1 and Crate & Barrel, the good stuff!)
Love this!
I myself just wrote about some decorating tips that are SUPER cheap and thrifty, but crafty!
Make your apartment look decorated from the best places (pier 1, crate and barrel), but you only really need to spend a few dollars and an hour!
if you want to see my interior decorating tips too, check out the site
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