Have you ever scrolled on Pinterest and saved *drool-worthy* home decor pictures? At the same time were you telling yourself how you could never afford to make your first apartment or rental house half as cute?
Maybe you think your place is way too small to do any real decorating OR you have a tight budget and can’t afford expensive brands.
Well I am here to tell you that you can absolutely decorate your small space regardless of your budget or square footage!
This post is all about small apartment decorating ideas on a budget!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosurehere.
How to Create a Decorating Budget (& Actually Stick to it!)
Don’t be down in the dumps if you don’t have much to spend on decorating to create your dream apartment. You’ll be surprised at how creative you become if you set a low budget and really stick to it. (hint: DIY will become your best friend!)
1) Decide how much you want to spend
Moving into a new place means you just had a lot of expenses!
Here a just a few:
- Paying the deposit + first month’s rent all at once
- Extra pet deposit
- Moving expenses (especially if you moved out of state!)
- Possibly not having income if you moved to a new city
So whether you have just moved or you have been in your place for a while and it’s just time to finally decorate, let’s see how we can be sure to stick to our budget!
2) Make a list of the top priority items
For example, you probably want to prioritize buying a dining room table before buying décor for the kitchen countertops. If you are starting from scratch, make a list of the most essential items to buy.
For example:
- Couch for the living room
- A TV stand
- Dining room table
- Mattress & bed frame
If you aren’t starting from scratch then don’t get rid of old furniture right away (more on that later)!
3) Decorate one room at a time
Rather than trying to decorate your entire place all at ounce. Use your budget to decorate the room you are most excited to spruce up. Then in a few months, move onto the next room.
My favorites to start at are the living room and bedroom. Maybe for you its the kitchen and bathroom! Wherever you want to start, just take it one room at a time!
4) Plan ahead
Okay, this is a big one to make sure you stick to your budget. Image going to Home Goods and seeing 3,476,918 things you love and just buying it all.
Well there goes your budget all in one trip!
Make a specific list of items you want for each room
Instead, make a detailed list of the items you want for each room! Let’s say your starting with the living room and the picture below is your inspiration.
You could write the following:
- Large mirror for above the couch
- Coffee table with drawers and space for storage underneath
- Large floor rug
- 6-7 decorative pillows (black, white & tan theme)
- Cute tray & fake flowers to for coffee table centerpiece
Now when you go to Home Goods, you put down the random pot holders and duvet covers that are super cute but not what you went for!
Ask for things for Christmas, birthday, and house (apartment) warming!
If you really like to plan ahead, you can start getting ideas and making your list of wants before you even move!
That way you can tell friends and family early on all the things you would like to have for the next upcoming holiday.
How to Save Tons of Money on Furniture
Furniture is the most expensive part of decorating a new place. I personally dreamed of the *perfect* light grey couch for our new rental house but my dream couch alone was over our budget!
But like I said, having a tight budget makes you creative so I found numerous ways to work with what I had!
Use a Couch Cover Instead of Buying a New Couch
People are always selling couches on places like OfferUp and Facebook Market! You could easily find a sofa for the living room for $100 or less (or free)! Granted, it may be butt ugly but that doesn’t matter because you can cover it up with a cover!
Need an even cheaper option? Check out this YouTube video where this person just uses a simple white sheet to cover her couch.
Handy with a sewing machine? Then you can make your own with some inexpensive fabric! Click HERE if you want to see a tutorial!
Use what you (or someone else) already has
Remember when I mentioned earlier not to get rid of your old furniture? Look at the amazing before and after below to see why!
All you need is some paint!
If you are starting from scratch, then once again you can hit up your local Goodwill, second hand furniture store, OfferUp, or Facebook Market.
We actually didn’t have any luck at our Goodwill, but down the street we happened upon a furniture thrift store and got an adorable coffee table for $25!
Shop the affordable brands
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that scrolling for hours on FB Market and doing a bunch of DIY projects might end up being quite the headache.
Especially if you did just move into a new place then you already have a lot going on. A good way to just go ahead and buy some new items is to shop for affordable brands!
Target
I’m not sure what I would even do without Target! Room Essentials is a really cheap Target brand and then there is Threshold and Hearth and Hand at Magnolia that are more but still affordable (and SO cute)!
Amazon
One thing that is annoyingly expensive IMO, but hard to decorate a room without is night stands! How can something so small be so expensive?!
I found these ones that I ADORE at Amazon after some serious searching!
And these ones are even cheaper yet!
*hint* you can also buy things that aren’t necessarily meant for what you are searching for to save more money. For example, you could use this 2 cube organizer (only 30 bucks at Target) and use it as a night stand!
It is also pretty small width wise so if you are tight on space, but determined to have some night stands to decorate then this is the perfect option!
Walmart
While you may not always find the cutest décor at Walmart, definitely don’t count them out! They have some great finds at amazing prices!
Compare prices & wait for great deals
Shopping around the holidays definitely allows for some serious deals to take advantage of! And I’m not talking stand in line for 5 hours to shop on Black Friday.
There are online sales all throughout November and December. If you have your eye on something that is out of your budget, keep it saved and look back in a month or two!
You’ll be surprised how often you can get good deals just by waiting!
Secondly, just because you are at Target and looking at décor from cheaper brands don’t assume it’s a good deal! ALWAYS compare prices, especially to Amazon because it’s so easy to search on your phone while you are out shopping to compare!
Inexpensive Ways to Make Your Small Apartment Extremely Pinterest Worthy
Alright, now that you know how to create your decorating budget, where to shop, and how to plan, let’s get some serious decorating inspiration!
I highly suggest 1) saving the pin at the beginning of this post so you can always refer back to this page and 2) following all these talented ladies on Instagram for constant inspiration!
String Lights, Plants & Macramé
There is nothing cuter AND cheaper than getting some string lights! I still use the same ones I have had since college in our apartment and I absolutely love how cozy they make any space.
Get the look
Cozy Throw, Decorative Mirror & Boho Pillows
Add Removable Wallpaper
This is such a fun way to spruce up any drab room! Fun tip – you can also use peel and stick wall paper to makeover furniture (desks, tables, bookcases) and it looks so cute!
Use free printables to create a DIY gallery wall
No need to spend tons of $$$ on fancy wall art. There are plenty of crafty bloggers who offer free printables! Check some of these out below:
All you have to do is print them and find some cheap frames. You could easily create a gorgeous gallery wall for under $50 this way!
Decorative trays
I see these everywhere these days! If you budget doesn’t allow for decorating and entire room, then adding a decorative tray and a few other pieces is a cheap way to spruce up any room!
Get The Look
Gold accents
You can really make your apartment look expensive with gold accents! And better yet, you can find cheap items (picture frames, lamps, etc) at places like Goodwill and then use gold rub n’ buff to make it look gorgeous!
Check out this post HERE on how to do it!
Clever Ways to Make Your Small Space Seem Bigger
So you have a really really small space ehh? No problem! These tips will help it feel way bigger!
Add Mirrors
Utilize Every Nook and Cranny
Add Cute Storage
Make Sure Everything is Functional!
Cubicles and baskets will be your best friend! If you have a small apartment, then you don’t want to get a bench to sit on AND a clunky shoe rack.
You can use a cubicle with storage baskets to double as seating and shoe storage! Talk about space saving, functional, AND cheap!
Under the Bed Storage
Another super effective way to save space is to splurge on a bed frame that allows room to stuff tons of clothes and storage under the bed! There is a range of prices and if you have a twin or full bed you can easily find a frame for under $100!
A TV Stand That Doubles as Storage
You might have noticed by now, I’m a bit obsessed with these cubicle organizers. That’s because I have a small rental house myself! They come in hand in SO many ways, and they are seriously the ultimate buy if you are on a budget.
Things to Watch Out for When Decorating a Rental (Don’t Make a Costly Mistake!)
There are definitely some things to keep in mind when you are decorating a rental. Saving money now doesn’t really help you in the long run if putting up your decorations caused any damage! The goal is to decorate to our heart’s desire AND get the full deposit back when you end up moving out!
Drilling holes to put things up
Shelves are great, but if you have to drill holes maybe think of an alternative.
For example, you can get tall standing shelves from Amazon! It will save slightly less space since it needs to take up some floor space, but you can avoid drilling holes this way AND add some storage!
Already made some holes? No worries! You can use some putty to fill them up and buy matched paint to cover it up. Doing this yourself will probably cost less than what your landlord would take out to fix it himself.
Scratches on the floor from furniture
Have nice hardwood floors in your apartment? Be careful not to scratch them by sliding couches and tables around! Luckily, there is an easy (and super cheap fix) so you don’t have to worry about this!
Put them on ALL your furniture just to be safe!
Document any issues when you first move in
Hopefully your landlord already tells you to do this. If not, make sure to go through your apartment and document (take pictures of) any damages that are already there.
You definitely don’t want your landlord trying to charge you two years down the road for something you didn’t even do! Keeping records of how the place was when you moved in will prevent anything like that happening!
Thanks for Reading!
I hope that theses small apartment decorating ideas on a budget was incredibly helpful to you! Happy decorating!
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