The Do's & Don'ts Of Decorating

By Elana Goodwin on May 27, 2016

This article is brought to you by CORT Furniture Rental. We take the hassle out of furnishing your new place so you can do more important things like read this article. Learn more about why furniture rental is the best way to get a great looking apartment.

Decorating your room, apartment, or house at college can be a fun experience for you to enjoy, but there are some things you may want to remember when you’re picking out decor.

Here are a few decorating do’s and don’ts to consider when it comes to your home.

Photo Credit: uhadewallo.com

Do make decorating personal. You’ll be seeing your walls and home each day so when you’re decorating, choose things that will make you happy. Obviously, if you’re going to live with roommates, it’s important that you all like where you’re living and feel comfortable and happy there, so you should each have a say when it comes to decorating.

One of the best ways to put your stamp on the place is to put personal touches on it; hang up pictures of you and your family, even if it’s just in your room, so your space seems more personalized. Bring a throw blanket your grandma knit for you or a decorative bowl that you found traveling to help decorate your home. Whatever decorating you end up doing to your apartment or house, make sure the end result will bring you that much more joy every day when you see it.

Don’t overcrowd a room. When furnishing an apartment or house, you need to consider room traffic when you’re picking out and arranging furniture. You want it to be easy to move around a room and not cumbersome to maneuver around whatever furniture you have placed in it, so be sure to pick furniture that will fit your space and allow you a clear path around the room and from one room to another. Even if you have a few roommates and know that you’ll be having a lot of people over, you don’t want your living room or other area to be so crowded with furniture so everyone will have a place to sit when they’re over.

If you’ll be entertaining a lot, consider investing in some folding chairs you can store in a closet or some big floor pillows you can use to make the floor a more inviting place to sit. Your space will feel a lot bigger if the room isn’t cramped with stuff and if you have appropriately-sized furniture for each space, your home will seem roomier and not overcrowded.

Do use colors and patterns. Bright colors and patterns will enhance your mood and make your apartment or house seem more cheerful and lived-in. If you’re decorating with a roommate and you’ve got different ideas when it comes to decor, mix and match patterns and colors. If they’re a fan of paisley or flowers and you favor stripes or camouflage, each of you should pick a few things you really like in your style and then figure out how to blend them with the other person’s. Maybe your couches have paisley throw pillows on them with a camouflage blanket draped over the back.

Perhaps you put up some adhesive striped wallpaper and hang up flower photographs on top. Whatever your decor tastes, if you can’t come to an agreement on how decorating should go, mix and match so your decor doesn’t clash but rather sort of complements each other’s. If you’re on a more fixed budget, you can also easily decorate by bringing in some new accessories to spruce up a couch, chair, etc., and make the room more colorful.

Don’t go pillow-overboard. Everyone loves a good throw pillow but don’t go pillow overboard when you’re buying pillows for the couch, your bed, and other furniture around your apartment or house. It can get annoying to have to constantly push all the pillows over or shove them onto the floor simply so there’s a place to sit or lie down. Choose a few cute throw pillows where needed, and leave the rest at the store.

Do check with your landlord. Before making holes in walls or painting a room, you’ll definitely want to check with your landlord or reread your lease so you’re aware of what’s allowed and not allowed as far as decorating your home. Most landlords permit you to put some nails in your walls so you can hang stuff, as long as the amount of nails being hammered in aren’t excessive, but many property managers won’t allow you to paint rooms, so it’s better to check before you start. If you’re not allowed to paint, you can still add color and warmth to any room with artwork, hanging rugs, and other bright touches.

Don’t be afraid to splurge. When it comes to decorating and outfitting your apartment or house with furniture, sometimes you have to not be afraid to splurge. Presumably, you’ll be living in your home for at least a few years and in that time, you don’t want to feel like you’re living slumming it in a not-very-nice place.

Buying things used can be great and result in some amazing finds and deals, but you may want to splurge on a new, decent couch or other furniture, rather than settling for a ripped or stained piece simply because it was cheap. If you buy a piece of furniture new, you can always sell it after college or if you move and don’t want to take it with you, or you can rent furniture and simply use it for the duration of school.

While these are a few do’s and don’ts to consider, there aren’t a lot of rules when it comes to decorating; the only real decorating “do” to keep in mind is to pick out decor and furniture that makes you happy.

Looking for an easy way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Renting furniture from CORT saves you time and money. See how easy it is to get great looking furniture without breaking the bank.

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