Moving from a house, to a college dorm, to a real apartment can be quite a transition. For me, I love the transition because it allows me to express my personality and turn my living space into a cozy home. There isn't a whole lot of wiggle room to make a dorm feel like home, but there are ways. Creating picture colleges, quote walls and going nuts at IKEA are all part of the imagination. It's like a kid being introduced to a new candy in the largest candy store ever. Overwhelming.
My Freshman year at college I went to YSU in Ohio. On the left is how I liked to relax; with the lights off on the bunk with my shining stars. On the right is the best I could do with the space we all had. My roomate and I both got Victoria Secret bedsets and the rest was do what you want with it. I had flowers, lamps, quote walls, and lots of organization. I hated the dorms, but made the most of it.
Then, I grew up ;) decided to move to Florida to follow my dreams and get my own place. That's when the fun began and I had a whole apartment to make my own at age 19 ! The best way to go is to start with the basics and choose simple things like the color scheme. Then just focus on buying the big things like a sofa and chair, TV stand, bed set, and a desk. Get settled before doing anything crazy! Live in your place for a couple of weeks before you pick a theme and make it your home. This way, you already have a good feel of your apartment and what areas you will be spending most of your time in.
As you can see, I thought it was appropriate to go with a tropical theme. I WILL live on the beach one day so until then, I might as well make it feel like the beach! I special ordered the palm tree wall decal that I star at while watching TV. I also went to the beach and took home sand and sea shells to use as decorations. The shells landed on the edges of nearly all of my tables. The top left pictures shows my favorite wall. I found the black empty frames for $10 at a liquidation store and put starfish on top and everything from shot glasses, to sandal souvenirs in the frames; it looks awesome.
I was never an artsy person, but that was probably because my art was always being judged by a teacher and I did not enjoy doing it. So I decided to give a Pinterest DIY and it turned out awesome! Super easy and super cheap. Just clean off an empty wine bottle, spray it with paint from an art store and quickly sprinkle on sparkles :) The right picture I came up with after going to the beach to collect sand and shells.
The rest of these images just show some more ways to get created in a cheap and easy way. Wall decals are your best friend people. We all know how obsessed I am with coffee so coffee decals ended up along my kitchen walls. Umbrella picks, a cute lamp, and fun signs add the finishing touches.
All of these adorable decorations that turned my apartment into my home were very affordable and did not take up my whole schedule. It took about a week and $150 to complete my place with decorations. For what I got out of it, that is a great deal :)
All of these adorable decorations that turned my apartment into my home were very affordable and did not take up my whole schedule. It took about a week and $150 to complete my place with decorations. For what I got out of it, that is a great deal :)