Creating a home you love doesn’t have to mean handing over your life savings to a contractor. Making your apartment feel like a reflection of your personal style is often as simple as redecorating and adding a few accent pieces to your current set-up. To spruce up your current space, follow these simple tips for creating an elegant home on a budget:
Upgrade your kitchen: You don’t need to hire an interior decorator to make you kitchen the sanctuary-like space you’ve always wanted. While splurging on new appliances or cabinetry may not be in your price range, that doesn’t mean you can’t create a kitchen that looks like a million bucks. Adding sophisticated touches, like chrome or hand-painted ceramic knobs and drawer pulls, can make even a pre-fab kitchen look like a custom build.
Open your sightlines: Not all home redecoration requires a trip to the store. Even if you don’t have loft-like space in your home, arranging your furniture in such a way that opens up sightlines will make your apartment feel larger. Take a page from ultra-luxury condos, like 21 East 12th Street, and create a space that has an open-concept feel.
Brighten up your color palette: Paint is the easiest ways to liven up your walls in no time at all. Keeping your color palette largely neutral — think off-white, gray, and buttercream hues — will make your home feel instantly more stylish. If you can’t stand the thought of an entirely monochromatic home, add an accent wall in your living room or bedroom, or paint your bathroom a vibrant hue for a pop of color.
Add some art: Bare walls can give even the nicest apartments a distinctly dorm-like feel. You don’t need a collection of Renoirs and Gaugins to make your walls look gallery worthy. Even if your collection is limited to posters and your children’s art, you can make your walls look put together with a few matching frames.
Invest in area rugs: While some apartments are home to beautiful hardwood floors, more often than not, they’re a mix of wood, laminate, and tile, that don’t always look cohesive. To make your apartment flow better and add some chic color to your rooms, invest in a few area rugs — they’ll not only reduce noise and keep your home warmer in the winter, they’ll also make your space look instantly more polished.
Sprucing up your apartment doesn’t have to take lots of time and effort; just a few finishing touches can create a space you’re proud to call home.
