10 Super-Easy DIY Ideas to Make Your Apartment Look Nicer

By Allison Halliday | February 17, 2017

Sometimes, rearranging things in an apartment can make you feel like you live in a different, better place and that reason is enough for some people to move the furniture around periodically.

Calling in a strong friend – to carry couches, shelves, TV sets and whatever big pieces you want to place on a different side of the room – can be a great idea but not always at hand.

And though moving your furniture may be the best free instant make-over for your apartment, you’ll most probably depend on somebody else to help and assist you. So read the next ten ideas on our list to do a genuine DIY project in your home, 100% assistance free.

1. Change Finishes

You don’t have to recondition furniture to make it look polished and new. Upholstering a chair or the couch can sure make an impression, but unless you’re a gifted tailor, it’s better to leave that to the experts. But what you can easily do is buy contact paper in marble, granite, or solid color to cover outdated kitchen and bathroom countertops. It’s cheaper and visually effective.

2. Refresh Baseboards

The trim at the bottom of the walls eventually gets dirty from shoe marks and furniture legs that you decided to move a few inches left or right. You and your guests may overlook that, but getting this particular portion fresh and clean will definitely brighten the room. Give the area a good scrub, tape off the wall with painter’s tape, apply a fine coat of white (or any paint from the previous color scheme) and it’s done.

3. Get Extra Storage Space

You might argue that what goes beyond your closet doors stays private and unseen, and a messy dress has nothing to do with how your apartment looks overall. However, making more room inside the closet gives a different sense of space to the eye that wanders around. Use S hooks and utility chains in your closet, allowing you to hang six times more shirts, and the outside room will consequently be more spacious and airy without your clothes on display.

4. Organize in Containers

Getting many small containers in the bathroom, to place all your small personal items in, from combs to blow-dryers to Q-tips to endless care products just laying around, is sure to make the room look nice and tidy. Kitchen containers do the same trick!

5. Paint the Wall

Now, this is going to be fun! If you have a small window with faux wood blinds and an empty wall in your apartment is like a blank canvas invitation. If you like colors and patterns, really bold or pleasantly discreet, here is your chance to express yourself while upgrading your interior design.

6. Install a High Shelf

If you happen to be the lucky tenant/owner of a tiny, busy urban apartment, chances are you and your things live inconveniently at arm’s length from each other. Installing higher shelves – out of wood or a thick carton board – to place books, pans, plates, etc., means better surviving in the midst of everything.

7. Recycle and Accessorize

This will cost you literally nothing, except some priceless creativity and imagination. So why waste glass bottles that go in the garbage bin after you empty them, especially if they come in funny shapes and sizes? Use them as flower vases instead. Want to throw away cracked plates and glasses? Paint them in color and use them as cool trays and holders for the candles.

8. Create a Special Corner

A bowl full of wine corks, Elite shungite stones and crystals, old books and pictures – there is no limit to what you might collect and showcase in your apartment. The whole idea is to gather them neatly in the same place and make up a sanctuary that says a lot to you.

9. Repot the Plants

Placing your green plants in new pots can add instant cheer to your place. Try funky colors, dots, and stripes that match your style, and show them off in the most visible corners of the apartment.

10. Frame Your Pictures

Take DIY to a whole fun new level by doing your own frames, either repainting an old one or simply hand-making your own. It’s a nice signature for the precious moments and the people who deserve to be the center of attention in your freshly upgraded apartment.

Whether your budget for remodeling is non-existent, or your creative side is urging to come out, improving your home décor by yourself will give you just the right amount of satisfaction.