One of the most exciting times in anyone's life is the day when they move out of the family home into their first place. Finally, your own style can prevail! But sticker shock from a single trip to Crate & Barrel can bring dreams of a fabulous home to a screeching halt. Luckily with sites like Pinterest and plenty of information to be found on design blogs there is oodles of design inspiration for molding a first apartment into a place to be proud to call home-evidence below.
Inexpensive folding chairs painted white are a budget-friendly option while you're saving your pennies.
Thrift store dresser + Paint = Chic for less
Clearance bin tablecloths today, curtain panels tomorrow
see story here
Tables don't have to be made of wood.
Via In the Country
Real Simple
Real Simple
Affordable and good looking aren't mutually exclusive-You just need to know where to shop. Target baby ($199 for a 5 X 7!)
HomeGoods is an amazing resource for high quality accessories to fill your first place.
Your own photos (and cast off cd cases) are better than mass produced art from a big box store.
Put it in a frame and it becomes art.
Real Simple
If you're just starting out check out this post about all of the things I wish someone would have told me before I wasted a lot of money decorating my first place.
Tell me about your first decorating experience.
Great tips!! I've been making hand-me-downs work for ages while I saved up for better pieces. But found that now I actively chose to remake a vintage/second-hand piece as a nice way to mix up my decor.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas and inspiration Karen! Ikea is a great place to pick up some inexpensive items, as well, if there's one nearby. Ikea is also a great place to get inspiration for a small space.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! Hmmm... the first time I remember being obsessed about something decor related I was about 12 and saw a sunflower comforter in a Domestications magazine. I saved and saved for that thing and my mom pitched in what she would have spent on my birthday gift. I had sunflower shams, dust ruffle and wallpaper border to match. :) Good times. Sometime in highschool I pulled a Pottery Barn magazine out of the trash bin at work and that started my next obsession with red and white. Eventually I ended up with red and white gingham sheets, a red and white quilt, red curtains (that I made and was sooo proud of), and red velvet throw pillows (with boxed corners that I was also very proud of:). I remember spraypainting candle sconces for my bedroom wall red and hanging some shells up with red ribbon. And that was all before I moved out of my parents house. I better stop before this becomes a novel. ;)
ReplyDeleteSo encouraging...I am sending this to my daughter.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! I moved out with a hand me down wing back, mattress and a tv and we lived that way for months every so often picking up something from the side of the road in LA! Then I found ikea! But, when we first got married I was so into design books about creating your first home. Funny to look back :)
ReplyDeleteOh god, if I could do it all over again, I would! And I'd put that gorgeous Target run in there ASAP. My bedroom in my first apartment had fake flower vines above the closet door. I wish I could say that I didn't put them there. One great purchase was a tiny little loveseat that I bought for $50 from an elderly neighbor. I wish I still had it - I'd totally reupholster the heck out of that thing with nailhead trim instead of covering it with a bulky slipcover.
ReplyDeleteMy apartment was the top floor of an old house in Richmond, VA. I told the management company I would paint if they would buy the paint. One bedroom would be blue, one green, yellow in the living room and orange in the kitchen. They said OK. What I didn't say was the blue was royal blue, the green was kelly green, bright yellow for the living room and tangerine orange in the kitchen. All set off with stark white trim on the doors and windows. I loved that place! And I did have to take down several layers of rose wallpaper before we could even start.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, welcome back Karen! :) I enjoyed this post and the ideas your shared, the stacked books as a side table and stacked suitcases are so cute!
ReplyDeleteMy decorating style has changed somewhat since first moving out but I've always appreciated classic style and clean lines. The only thing I really disliked was a metal media stand that I had in my first condo. One thing I wish I had done more of but never did was visit flea markets and yard sales and take the time to create custom pieces that were really "ME". Thankfully I'm doing that now that I'm older and wiser. It's so much more fun to be creative than purchase everything from a store as-is.
Great ideas! I have a set of suitcases I should get out of the closet and use as a table! In my first apartment, we couldn't paint, so used pictures on the walls to add some personality and colour.
ReplyDeletehaha "Early Marriage" style...so true. I think the first thing I bought to decorate on purpose was a bunch of matching fabric to make pillows and curtains for our living room. Eeeeeek.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I only wish things were so easy to come by back in the day! Luckily my first place was near the city so Ikea came to the rescue. There weren't many good discount stores back then :)
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts here, Karen, and you're right so many things that I think could go wrong with a first place. I know people that make a big trip to IKEA to stock up, which IKEA can be inexpensive and have a lot of different things that are needed for a first place - but walking into a place that looks like IKEA lacks personality - so I like your ideas of getting creative with nightstands and using folding chairs. Garage sales and Craigs List are great places to look as well for unique pieces to inject your own personality into a space.
ReplyDeleteI loved decorating my first place. I worked as a social worker then, making only $8 an hour, so I had to be creative!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas here.
This is such a fun post! My very first furniture purchase was a brass bed that I still have today. The rest of the things were hand-me-downs from my mom and discount store furnishings. So fun to think back on where I started and where I am today - but I still practice a lot of the same principles!
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You always have such great posts where you round-up fabulous ideas!
ReplyDeleteI used to hang fabric to cover walls we weren't allowed to paint. Wish we had wall decals back then!
ReplyDeleteKaren - these are some awesome ideas. As far as finding inexpensive rugs goes, I've also seen several DIY posts on how to find a cheap, not very pretty, burlap rug, and paint a design on it! That way you can incorporate exactly what colors/design you want. These are great ideas for couples just starting out :) Keep up the awesome ideas!
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How beautiful! I'm loving those gallery walls and the lovely dresser. Enjoy the fabulous week ahead, Kellie xx
ReplyDeleteI love those framed miitens! Great advice Karen for everyone, not just first timers.
ReplyDeleteI've had my own home for 30 years now and still love these ideas and I have been "pinning" away �� thanks for the inspiration
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Love all these ideas! I've have found high end furniture for pennies on the dollar on CraigsList. Folks are downsizing like crazy and just want to get rid of their overflow furniture.
ReplyDeletewow superb ! love all these
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