4 Tips for Decorating and Organizing an Apartment on a Budget

Your young adult has decided to move out. They're in the apartment of their dreams. But there's a catch: they've spent the majority of their budgeted money on securing the apartment, first month's rent, kitchenware, and basic furniture, such as a bed and dresser. Now they're stuck decorating and organizing an entire apartment without as much money as they thought they'd have.

There are plenty of ways to go about setting up an apartment with little financial flexibility. Here are four tips for decorating and organizing an apartment on a budget.

Look to Thrift Stores and Flea Markets

In the third quarter of 2017, the average sales price in Manhattan was $1.9 million for condos in existing buildings. With this number in mind, apartments in New York City and similar cities across the United States are also expensive to rent. Consequently, your young adult's biggest worry is likely being able to pay rent in full and on time. However, think about the fact that what your young adult is paying for is more than just the apartment; it's the experience of living in it, too!

Help your young adult start the decoration process by choosing a color scheme. Perhaps they'd like maroon and white in the living room and blue and grey in the bedroom. Perhaps black and white is your young adult's style. Whatever is chosen, stick to it so the apartment looks cohesive. Then, find some local thrift stores and flea markets to check out. These kinds of stores offer a variety of products. You could find a bookshelf as well as some books and CDs to adorn it. You could find decorative wall hangings. You could find unique as well as antique pieces of furniture. The best part about second-hand stores is that their products are cheap. You can also find kitchenware, mugs, glassware, lamps, and more. Think about how older pieces can be restored with paint or a new lampshade.

Organize Optimally

In order to make your young adult's apartment feel spacious and clean, organization is key. Utilize a dresser, a closet, and perhaps another piece of furniture to store all of your young adult's clothing. Clothes spilling out of the bedroom will make it feel messy. Instead, be sure your young adult keeps their personal belongings neatly organized in the bedroom. Utilize wall hooks for purses, coats, and keys. Clean all purchased furniture and keep decorations to a limit in the bedroom. Especially if it's small, your young adult won't want to feel like their bedroom exploded. Thankfully, the organization of the bedroom isn't something to necessarily spend money on.

When it comes to the living space, decorate wisely. One hundred pieces of decoration will take up the entire room. Help your young adult find cheap pieces of furniture that'll make the room feel bigger, such as a decorative mirror or two, as well as floor-to-ceiling curtains for the windows. Set up a few smaller lamps instead of using one glaring overhead light. Use multifunctional furniture and hidden storage to keep the living space organized and extra items hidden. For example, use an ottoman to store blankets instead of leaving them all hanging on the couch. Keep a few decorative pieces on the coffee table to avoid leaving dishes and other unnecessary items on it. Staying clean and organized is a cheap and easy way to make any apartment feel bigger and better.

Think About the Bathroom, Too

Did you know that 35% of adults have well-aligned front teeth? This leaves a great percentage of adults without "perfect" teeth, and many find ways to fix that. Perhaps your young adult has braces or Invisalign. Either way, bathroom organization is important because the bathroom can hold some expensive and important items that no one wants to lose. With this in mind, help your child find ways to organize the bathroom optimally as well.

If the bathroom is small and has little space for toiletry items, consider finding used shelves or a tall and skinny storage cabinet to set up in the bathroom. You can help your young adult find these items cheaply at a thrift store or even at a small local business. Help organize the bathroom so that personal and intimate items won't be lost nor visible to guests using it.

Use Paint as a Decoration

A final project you can help your young adult tackle in their new apartment is painting. Before starting, be sure the landlord is checked in with first. Once you get the go-ahead, help your young adult choose colors that match the scheme of their apartment. Paint can certainly be used as a decorative piece. If you or your young adult are artistically talented, perhaps creating a small mural or other decorations with the paint would be a great way to add some personality to the apartment.

If your young adult plans on staying in the apartment for some time, it's a good thing that residential interior paint lasts about three years. Assist your young adult with the process of painting. This may be something they've never tackled before. Once this project is completed, you can search for small decorative pieces and trinkets to match the paint colors or theme your young adult has created for their apartment.

By helping your young adult decorate and organize on a budget in these creative ways, you're helping them become independent and financially responsible -- even though you are offering help every step of the way. With some creativity and a flexible imagination, your young adult's apartment can be decorated and organized uniquely and thoughtfully while sticking to a stricter budget.