This is just a little post to show the difference that a few textures and colours can make in a space.
I currently live in a basement apartment and although it is blessed with large windows and good sun exposure, it is still a basement apartment. Dim. Dark. Dank.
Slowly but surely, I am aiming to fix this.
This is the before:
I currently live in a basement apartment and although it is blessed with large windows and good sun exposure, it is still a basement apartment. Dim. Dark. Dank.
Slowly but surely, I am aiming to fix this.
This is the before:
Not bad, but still dim. (You can also see Version 1 of my spray-painted lamps sitting in the corner!)
Now here is my glorified angled after shot:
Now here is my glorified angled after shot:
When I moved in I basically just dumped everything that I had had in my old two-bedroom apartment into wherever it fit in this new smaller one-bedroom. And, of course, it had to look and feel enough like the old apartment to not make me jump out of my skin while wandering for a glass of water in the middle of the night for the first few months.
Now, it's not quite done, but I will show you what I did and try to explain why I did it.
First thing on my list was a shag (high-pile) rug in a light cream colour. Love. I have always had a thing with these rugs since I was young. They just seem so warm and welcoming and comfy.
I got mine from IKEA, (4ft x 6ft GÅSER Rug, high pile,) but there are other options available in other sizes, too!
The next order of business was getting white sheer curtains to frame the window. I had beige sheer curtains, also from IKEA, which I still like. But again, too dark. I layered two sheer curtains to give me additional privacy at night by simply closing the second set.
Add these items to moving around my furniture and creating a shelf from old wood boards and IKEA shelf brackets... and we get this sort of 'in progress' picture. Better, but still dim somehow...
Now, it's not quite done, but I will show you what I did and try to explain why I did it.
First thing on my list was a shag (high-pile) rug in a light cream colour. Love. I have always had a thing with these rugs since I was young. They just seem so warm and welcoming and comfy.
I got mine from IKEA, (4ft x 6ft GÅSER Rug, high pile,) but there are other options available in other sizes, too!
The next order of business was getting white sheer curtains to frame the window. I had beige sheer curtains, also from IKEA, which I still like. But again, too dark. I layered two sheer curtains to give me additional privacy at night by simply closing the second set.
Add these items to moving around my furniture and creating a shelf from old wood boards and IKEA shelf brackets... and we get this sort of 'in progress' picture. Better, but still dim somehow...
Next, I spray-painted my lamps in a bright white, as well as spray-painted the lamp shades in a complimentary brown. This helped to brighten up the space by providing relatively tall, bright focal points. You can see how I did it here.
This was followed up by making new pillow covers and organizing my own little table centre-piece, and ta-da!
* I also followed the above changes up with a quick spray paint makeover of an old laminated cabinet (you can see it in the corner of both the before and the after pictures if you really pay attention). *
This was followed up by making new pillow covers and organizing my own little table centre-piece, and ta-da!
* I also followed the above changes up with a quick spray paint makeover of an old laminated cabinet (you can see it in the corner of both the before and the after pictures if you really pay attention). *
Call it a minor improvement if you will, but I absolutely love the result. To me it feels like an entirely new space and I am very happy.
The largest cash dump was in the rug which cost me about $170 after taxes.
Other than that, it cost me $28 for four cans of spray paint, $17 for a painter's drop cloth which I used to create half of the pillow covers in the above picture and more pillow covers which I used in my bedroom mini-makeover, $4 for candles from my friendly neighbourhood dollar store, $15 for the outer layer of sheer white curtains as I had the inner layer on hand already, and $8 for the items necessary to create the shelf.
So, for a total of $242 I brightened up my basement apartment living area with permanent, transferrable items. I didn't need to get larger windows, I didn't need to paint the entire place, I didn't need to replace my worn and dark leather couches, and I didn't need to change the flooring. Simple, easy, and if you could live without the rug it would be super cheap. Or even better if you already have an area rug that you love!
Ideally I would repaint the TV stand and the bookcase in an off-white, but I've spent enough money to make myself happy for now. Maybe next month ;)
For now, I am only waiting on some oil paintings that I got from the Dominican Republic to be stretched onto their frames. I hope it adds to the space the way that I envision it!
The largest cash dump was in the rug which cost me about $170 after taxes.
Other than that, it cost me $28 for four cans of spray paint, $17 for a painter's drop cloth which I used to create half of the pillow covers in the above picture and more pillow covers which I used in my bedroom mini-makeover, $4 for candles from my friendly neighbourhood dollar store, $15 for the outer layer of sheer white curtains as I had the inner layer on hand already, and $8 for the items necessary to create the shelf.
So, for a total of $242 I brightened up my basement apartment living area with permanent, transferrable items. I didn't need to get larger windows, I didn't need to paint the entire place, I didn't need to replace my worn and dark leather couches, and I didn't need to change the flooring. Simple, easy, and if you could live without the rug it would be super cheap. Or even better if you already have an area rug that you love!
Ideally I would repaint the TV stand and the bookcase in an off-white, but I've spent enough money to make myself happy for now. Maybe next month ;)
For now, I am only waiting on some oil paintings that I got from the Dominican Republic to be stretched onto their frames. I hope it adds to the space the way that I envision it!