Apartment living can be exciting, and fun. If it’s your first or you twentieth, apartment dwellers enjoy the freedom of mobility, and living with roommates and friends. While others don’t enjoy living in an apartment because they feel like they are restricted and tied into the appearance of an apartment. Before you get too upset, check with your landlord or apartment management company to find out what the decorating guidelines are for your place.  Once you know, follow these tips on how to make your lifeless apartment feel like home.

ANALYZE: Take a look at your apartment room by room, and analyze its good and bad points. Make a list of what areas you’d like to accentuate and what areas you want to minimize.  If you don’t have any windows in a room, note that you want to bring light colors, and more lighting into the space. If you love the view out of the living room, note that you want the couch to face in that direction.  Analyzing the space will give you a plan to move forward in making the space your own.  Visualize how it WILL be one day.

BUDGET: Determine how much you have to spend before you hit IKEA! It’s easy to say you only need a few items, and then 3 stores later you are $500.00 over budget. Have a small budget? Buy key items that will go a long way. Area rugs, window treatments, bedding, and towels are all items that are relatively inexpensive, but can add color and warmth to your apartment immediately. If you have a larger budget, purchase furniture pieces that are necessities first. A bed, sofa, and dining room table/chairs may be important for entertaining. If you have multiple roommates, ask them to split the cost of large ticket items.

THE PAINT TECHNIQUES
Here are some of the effects of the paints that one can create apart from the flat surface, but one should be aware of the effect, one desire to create.

COLORWASHING: Color washing is among the group of finishes that have their beginnings in fine are, they are often known as broken-color technique. Specifically, it involves the application of thin washes of glaze in which the brush marks are left apparent to give the finish texture and depth. It provides an interesting alternative to flat color and can be used to decorate period or modern, town or country interiors.

SPONGING: Sponging is a modern broken-color technique. Natural sponge, moistened with water or soaked in glaze and used over the opaque base coat to produce a softly mottled effect-either by removing or adding color. Usage of sea sponge creates more interesting textures that normal household sponge.