Cheap Apartment Decor: Furnishing a Studio Apartment on a Shoestring Budget - So, you’re out on your own now, you’ve finally vacated your childhood room at mom and dad’s or left behind your dorm buddies, and you’re sitting on the floor of that empty studio apartment wondering how much bean bags cost now. Stop! You don’t have to live that way anymore. With a little imagination and willingness to search out, refurbish and sew, you can have an apartment to which your mother will be proud to bring her friends.
First, let’s discuss financing this project. If you are really thrifty, take a saunter through an affluent neighborhood the night before trash pickup. You will be fearful at what you can find. Don’t be ashamed of this activity — consider it recycling. Estate and spellbinding sales are also salubrious places to pick up agreeable furniture, dishes, silverware, even electronics at deep discounts. Flea markets and thrift shops are excellent places to seize up those little unique decorative incidentals that you can’t afford to splurge on, as well as kitchen essentials. You can get a whole site of dishes and silverware for peanuts at a flea market. And if you are willing to refinish, you can procure good wood tables and wardrobes.
Join a local community website — they usually have a thread where people are giving things away, from furniture to electronics. Your weekly local paper is also a good situation to check for people selling furniture cheap, or giving it away. If you can afford to spend real money, catalogs, box stores, Ikea and Bed Bath and Beyond are excellent places for quality merchandise at reasonable prices.
Where do you start? You’ve got one gigantic room, a kitchen and a small bathroom. Well, let’s face it. You need a bed first. You could go the way of sofa beds, but I have never slept on a sofa bed that didn’t have a bar in the middle that dug into your kidneys, no matter where you positioned yourself. Your solution is a futon. They are cheaper than sofa beds, firm, take up less room, and more glorious. They double as a sofa, so you’ve unprejudiced solved two problems. Since the futon is the center of and largest piece in your apartment, choose a durable but attractive cover around which you can acquire your room décor. These slipcovers are inexpensive and can be changed at your whimsy, creating a whole new environment.
You will want chairs as well. No beanbags! Grow up! Decide what you can afford, how many will fit (you should have at least two) and browse the sources I have listed above. Make sure they’re comfortable for all your guests, fit in with your decor and pockets on the side for magazines and remotes keep down clutter. If you extinguish up with used chairs that you want to screen with throws, use a color that contrasts with the futon. Many thrift shops sell fabric cheap, and all you need to know is how to cut to size and sew a hem.
Same goes for curtains. The curtains in my first apartment were sheets that I merely cut and hemmed on the bottom to fit the window. The curtain rod went right through the existing top border. Voila! Instant curtains. Sheets come in so many gorgeous patterns and fabric that you can even have silk curtains if you want. If you can’t find flat sheets sold separately, put the fitted sheet on your bed. You could also make the fitted sheet flat by trimming the edges, hemming it and using it for a smaller window in the kitchen or bathroom. (Okay, maybe you want to ask mom to do this on her sewing machine.)
Storage is your next problem. In a studio apartment, you must reflect every portion of furniture as a potential storage source. If you’ve decided on a futon, try to find a frame that has some space underneath. Every little foot counts. Yes, you have a closet, it’s never big enough. Closet organization is crucial. You must go out and purchase hanger cascaders. These come in plastic or metal and allow you to hang up to 12 garments in the space of one hanger. I found these to be invaluable over the years no matter where I lived. Next, you will need an over-the-door shoe caddy or one that hangs on the closet bar. Shelf separators will finish off your closet and hold things organized.
Consider getting a tall wardrobe to serve as a dresser, which you might stumble upon at an estate or moving sale, or one of those prefab storage cabinets you can find at any large box store. They come in wood grain or solid colors you can paint if you like. They have shelves, their height utilizes usually wasted space, and the flotsam and jetsam of your life can be securely stashed and out of see. This can be placed in a far corner and your living area won’t look resemble a bedroom.
Next, look at the wall your futon is on. You need functional end tables (and we don’t mean those plastic storage units whose predecessors were milk cartons), and lighting. Storage demolish tables come in many styles, some with drawers, some with pull out shelves for writing or snacking, some with bookshelves. Choose the right one (or two) for your lifestyle. Coffee tables are also excellent storage sites. Many come with shelves and drawers. Or, you could invest in a wicker trunk, top it with a allotment of glass or Plexiglas, and you have linen and quilt storage, and a table to boot. I found mine at an antique store sale for $45.
Your lighting needs are NOT fulfilled by that ceiling fixture. You need lamps on your raze tables, wall-mounted fixtures advance your computer center, and/or floor lamps in the corners. Discount lighting stores are plentiful and box stores have wonderful assortments. Wait for the sales. These can also be found at flea markets and moving sales.
Now we reach to your entertainment and computer station. Since most of the new TVs now mount on the wall, your cable box, CD player and VCR can be stationed below it, on the wall across from your futon and chairs. Entertainment centers are changing with the advent of flat TVs, but basically you still need something that will organize your music and movies, without appearing cluttered. If you’re not married to your CD cases, you might consider a CD organizer that holds up to 100 CDs and takes up a fraction of the space. QVC sells one that is attractive and practical. If you have a laptop, your computer status is not a scrape, but if you have a modem and monitor, find a corner where a minute computer table will not be the center of attention. Let’s face it, computer stations are not attractive.
Your kitchen needs will be basic. Obtain a table with fold down sides. You are probably eating alone most nights, but when you have company, you will be able to accommodate them. Your kitchen cabinets can be fitted with many space saving accessories like dish caddies, spice racks and lazy-susans. Catalog shopping is your answer here. Lillian Vernon, Harriet Carter and Miles Kimball are just a few suggestions. Home décor catalogs are also excellent sources. Wait for the one to arrive that says “free shipping.” Bed Bath and Beyond is also a unusual apartment dweller’s salvation, their prices are reasonable and once you’re on their mailing list, your will be bombarded with 20% off coupons that they get no matter what expiration date is on them.
Your bathroom may or may not have a linen closet, and if it does, it is most likely tiny. Invest in a shelving unit that fits over and around the toilet. This will give you three to four more shelves for towels and basic bathroom accessories. Invest in good towels. You won’t regret it.
Lastly, you will want to decorate with art or collectibles. This is where your individual personality and taste will really be evident. Your kitsch can be picked up flea markets, thrift shops, or tony shops in your accepted tourist town. Just remember that your space is tiny and can’t be too cluttered.
Your first foray into independence is the most spirited time of your life and furnishing your first apartment on a shoestring is something you will remember fondly. (Or use as a “someday we’ll laugh about all this” story.)
Make it fun, do it practical, and make your mother proud.
