Does your apartment lack style?

Moving into a new space can seem over whelming. Embrace the experience by decorating your new living space whether it's an apartment, home, studio or dorm! It's not just an apartment; it’s your home. Allow yourself to open up to new ideas and think "outside the box".

Creating a theme or mood is the key to decorating. What kind of space do you want to create: formal and sophisticated? Modern and contemporary? How about a funky and retro? Inspiration is found everywhere and in everything. Look to your favorite activities for inspiration in creating a theme. If you love movies, you might want your living room theme to be classic movie posters. Love to travel? How about a Neapolitan inspired bathroom? Whatever you choose, commit to a look and go for it. When you pick accessories and furniture for your apartment, let your theme guide the way.

Make a Bold statement with Color! Don’t be afraid to use color. Standard white apartment walls can be a drag. Adding some color to your place makes a big difference. The key to using color in home decorating is to pick a color that sets the right mood. Research shows that color plays a big part in influencing mood:

• Red is a highly stimulating color that makes heart rate and breathing increase. It’s a good color for rooms that need to have energy. Try it in your dining room or living room to stimulate conversation.
• Orange creates excitement and enthusiasm. It’s a good choice for your workout room.
• Blue is a calming color that aids relaxation, making it a popular choice for bedrooms.
• Green is a very pleasing color for the human eye, creating warmth and promoting calm. It’s a good choice for nearly any room.
• Violets can improve creativity and mediation. Dark violets create dramatic feelings while light violets can promote rest.

Remember that even though you may like a certain color, using too much of it in a room can be overwhelming. It’s best to strike a balance between colors. If you’re not sure how to do that, use fabric or artwork as a color pallet to help you gain that balance. If you can’t paint your apartment, don’t fret: you can still infuse color into your rooms in other ways. Even with plain white walls, displaying an abundance of colorful artwork, accessories, fabrics, and furniture can make your place seem vibrant.

Lighting is very important in all decorating projects. Even the most visually pleasing space can turn into a cave if you don’t have enough wattage to light it up. Use soft bulbs for relaxing spaces and brighter, clear bulbs in work areas. Take in consideration where you place your lighting as well: eye-level lighting tends to be more relaxing while overhead lighting can be a bit harsh.

One of the basic beliefs of home decorating is to pay attention to scale. When you decorate an apartment, consider the size of your rooms and the size of the furniture you plan to use in the spaces. Filling a small room full of oversized furniture will make your space seem small. Also, putting a lot of short items in a room with high-ceilings will look awkward. Once again the key is balance: mix up items of different heights and sizes in a room to create fusion.

Make sure you can live with your choices. At the end of the day, decorating has to be all about functionality. However you decide to decorate your apartment, make sure your décor compliments your style and lifestyle.

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If you have information about interior design/décor, upcoming design events or other related items that you would like to share, email me at shandraward@att.net. Place “Interior Design Examiner” in the subject line.