So….some of you noticed that I was MIA for the month of July. I was supposed to be on vacation in Ohio. But I did do a bit of research on three easy apartment decorating secrets for you apartment dwellers . Let’s just say a wedding, a funeral and surgery for one of my daughters wiped out most of the month. What should have been a fun time with family, turned into a longer, less relaxing vacay.

The wedding of hubby’s nephew -wonderful.  An unexpected funeral made for somber family time in my hometown.  That visit was cut short by an unplanned trip to Atlanta.  Our youngest daughter had a long overdue, poorly timed (for me), tonsillectomy.  Let’s just say, as an adult, that surgery is not the fun, popsicle and ice-cream-eating time off from work that you’d expect.  It’s rough and you need a nursemaid.  Mom to the rescue.

Ten days in her apartment, staring at neutral walls, had me dreaming of what I could do if only I could get my hands on paint, accessories, and a day to shop for something other than mashed potatoes, popsicles, and soup.

What would I have done, design-wise, in my young twenty something’s apartment?  Well to start, I would have attacked the walls to give her place some interest, movement and and express her individuality.

Wallpaper for Renters.  A friend who lives in an apartment told me about this and I am a fan.  You can make a statement with wallpaper in an entry or on a feature wall without worrying about how you will take it down.  Companies like Sherwin Williams have washable, eco-friendly Easy Change Wallpaper.  Who knew?

Found on ApartmentTherapy.com

Take it outside.  And then, her “outdoor space” would have been next on the list.  Don’t tell me you have an itty bitty balcony.  Fresh air can be had for the price of that extra dining chair and a piece of fluffy sheepskin.  Plop down a small woven rug and side table and you can sip Starbucks all day Saturday without the “cell yell” environment.

Chalk it Up.   An organized space gives big returns in small spaces.  Maximize a small wall the way that Jenna Burger of SAS Interiors did so well here with her family’s chalk painted wall.  Enhanced with  calendars, file holders, and clipboards, it can prove to be  the hardest working spot in the home.

Source BHG’s Jenna Burger

I’m happy to say that my daughter is doing much better, is back to work, and even managed to move to another apartment since I left mid-July.  It’s a good thing that I didn’t act on any of these fun projects.  But now she has a new place for me to help design.  Sounds like I need a road trip.  Atlanta in the fall?