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This post is all about college apartment decor.
sourced from: @samashley32
You've lived in a dorm and now it's time to think bigger and better...college apartment decor!
By the time you're moving into your college apartment, you're ready for a space that feels more like an adult. You want it to look Pinterest perfect and perfectly designed while staying within your college student budget.
With such a larger space to decorate, it can get overwhelming. We've rounded up the best of the best to show you the apartment ideas you really need to see.
This post shows you the 32 best college apartment decor that will have your space looking professionally decorated.
COLLEGE APARTMENT DECOR:
1. Have a Coffee Bar
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This picture may be a little over the top for a first college apartment but you get the idea. I'm starting with what I think to be the most vital part of a college apartment, because it is also one of the easiest things to make into a college apartment decoration!
Create a coffee bar, whether it be on your kitchen counter, or you use another bar cart entirely. Fill it with mugs, creamers, sugar, coffee pods. This is one way to really decorate your apartment by making a special area for a necessity!
2. Use A Serving Tray To Organize Kitchen Utensils
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I absolutely love this entire picture and the decor in it. Use a serving tray in your kitchen and organize all your commonly used utensils and salt and pepper. You can add a plant or candle to this to take your commonly used kitchen items and turn it straight into decor!
3. Use Over The Toilet Storage
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One of my main tips for decorating your college apartment is to utilize wall space. This idea is a PERFECT example of that!
Get wall decor like these from Amazon for the room that they will hang in. It's a super cute decoration idea that all your friends and family will love to admire when they visit!
{RELATED POST: 40 Genius Dorm Essentials Every Freshman Needs To See}
4. Use Key Holders
If there is anything that I've learned from living in an apartment for two years, it is that storage space is limited. So you will definitely have to make some, make it cute in the process!
My mom is the one that suggested buying something like this for my front door, and I cannot tell you how much of a LIFESAVER it has been!
Just arrange these products in a cute way and you have more storage and a great college apartment decoration!
5. Use Wall Baskets For Storage
Wall baskets saved my life in both my college dorm room and my first college apartment. I found I was running out of storage space really quickly and this was a super easily solution that worked great as decor too! I used my baskets over by my desk to store my extra makeup pallets in and it worked great.
6. Use Nightstands and Side Tables As Storage
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This is such a creative college apartment decoration idea that I just HAD to share!!
If your apartment doesn't come fully furnished, nightstands and side tables are definitely something you need to buy. So, why not double their use to store blankets in them! This keeps everything in one place and saves space! Just go to your local home store and pick out some cute matching blankets to store in theme!
7. Use Baskets To Store Blankets
If you would prefer to keep your blankets more out of sight, baskets are a great storage option! Blankets were a must in the dorm, and they're still a must in a college apartment.
Just roll up your blankets and put them in a bin like the picture above! You can't go wrong with this decoration idea.
{RELATED POST: 68 Best College Care Package Ideas All Students Will Love}
8. Hang Blankets On A Ladder in the Corner
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If rolling and storing isn't your thing, try this decoration idea instead!
Buy a wooden ladder and fold your blankets over each of the steps. It's a unique way to store blankets that becomes a decoration as well.
9. Get A Bath Tray
So I could not find a picture of my exact bath tray, but this is the one I have and use all the time!
If you have a bath tub (and I'm so sorry if you only have a shower) I highly suggest getting a bath tray. Even if you don't take baths a lot, still buy one because most apartments suck when it comes to in shower storage spots. Having a bath tray allows you to store your everyday shower essentials in one place, and it looks SUPER aesthetically pleasing too!
10. Small Storage Baskets
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In general this college apartment bathroom is just too cute so I had to include it. It is seriously such a good use of space in a small bathroom which you will most likely be getting in your first college apartment! But, they also used little woven baskets above their toilet which I thought was such a cute and fun idea.
We all know we have those small things we grab for frequently but don't necessarily want to keep it on the counter or want it out of sight. These small baskets are perfect to keep on top of your toilet so that you can easily reach for them but still keep things stored out of sight.
11. Decorate The Laundry Room
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This is an EXTREMELY nice laundry room and if yours looks like this in college, you're SO lucky!! Honestly, I never had my own laundry in college but I am here to help everyone so I'm going to give you my advice when it comes to this space.
Now, I say "decorate" your laundry room I'm not suggesting you put as much effort into it as your living room; what I'm saying is you can make your laundry room (or closet) look a thousand times better if you decorate with a few baskets, etc! Seriously, will change the way your laundry room closet looks!!
12. Add Storage To The Inside Of Cabinet Doors
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Ok I am on the way to go buy things that help me create this exact picture above because WOW is it smart?
Like I said earlier, storage in college apartments is usually limited. Making this idea literal genius! Just find some small storage containers and bind them to the inside of a cabinet for even more storage space!
13. Keep Desk Decor Simple
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When you are decorating your desk, try and keep it simple and clutter free. You want your desk to be pretty plain so that it allows you to work freely without knocking things over or getting overwhelmed without space to work. Try to decorate around your desk such as on the walls or by adding pillows and chairs to make it more comfy.
14. Hang Fairy Lights On Walls
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Hanging fairy lights not only looks cute, but creates a super peaceful and aesthetically pleasing environment.
These lights are the perfect option to have in your college apartment for the times where you want a little bit of extra light without having to turn on the big overhead fan lights or a lamp.
15. Fill Wall Space With A Mirror
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I always say mirrors are one of the best decor pieces you can buy for literally any room. They keep a room simple but still look so beautiful. Using a mirror facing a window will instantly brighten up the room and make it look bigger when it reflects sunlight. Just make sure you are able to drill holes pick enough to properly hang it up so you don't have to worry about it falling!
16. Use A Bench At The End Of Your Bed
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I know this is clearly much larger than a college apartment bedroom but it still can give you an idea of what kind of decor to use in your college apartment. If you have room, using a bench at the end of your bed is super cute decor but also serves as a great place to get ready in the morning or even place folded clothes while doing laundry. If I had room in my college apartment right now I would totally be doing this!
17. Fill And Label Glass Jars With Common Ingredients
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This is such a cute idea that you can put on your kitchen counter!
Get some glass jars and fill them with sugar, flour, creamer, whatever else you can think of! Label them and then set them on your counters for easy access as well as cute apartment decor! This easily take your essential items and turns it into something so aesthetically pleasing.
18. Don't Forget To Decorate The Patio
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Many college apartments come with a small patio. Don't forget to decorate it because it such a great area that you can easily decorate!
Get some these comfy chair or even plastic lawn chairs and a couple outside mats, finish off by draping lights around the rails and you have a super cute patio to drink coffee on and watch the sunrise when the weather is nice!
19. Bar Cart
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This is ONLY if you're 21 and older ok? Ok! If you are, a highly suggest a bar cart! It's super functional as well as super cute. Add some fun wine or moscow mule glasses and arrange all your mixers and alcohol in a fun way to make it a fun and cute area in your apartment!
20. Floor Mirrors
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Floor mirrors can run on the pricey side but in my mind they are so worth it. They not only give you a great place to get ready and take all your OOTD selfies, but also make your space look bigger especially if it is placed to reflect light by facing a window.
Interested in purchasing items you saw in the video? Click here to see where I bought everything in my first apartment.
21. Use Floor Poofs
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Floor poofs are of course great decor but they also add so much extra seating that is easily movable and much less expensive than buying extra chairs. Plus, they can be used as footrests if you want to put your feet up on the couch!
22. Use An Over The Door Mirror With Storage
This may not seem like decor at first but with the amount of storage this mirror provides, it will keep your other space looking much less cluttered and clean! I cannot recommend having an over the door mirror enough so one that has extra storage can't be beat!
23. Make An Accent Wall With Peel And Stick Wall Paper
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Creating an accent wall is such a good way to create a focal point in your room and this peel and stick wall paper is a renter friendly way to do that! I have seen so many girls recently use this exact wall paper to transform their room and it looks absolutely amazing.
24. Make a Mood Board
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This idea allows you to be creative and really express yourself in your college apartment decor!
ALSO, the wall grids are surprisingly cheap! This is our favorite wall grid.
25. Mount Your TV
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This doesn't sound like a decoration, I know. But I have learned that whenever I'm looking at apartments or houses for inspiration, I always like it a lot better when the TV is mounted.
Sometimes that isn't possible, but if your landlord lets you I highly suggest thinking about it. It looks really good and clean and also gives you more room for storage or to just make the area in general feel a lot bigger than it actually is.
26. Use A Bar Cart As A Storage Side Table
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These 3-tier rolling carts are the perfect way to create a side table that is cheap and has tons of storage. You can use these literally anywhere as storage by your desk, bed, or even in the living room. I used one my freshman year beside my makeup table for extra storage since my desk didn't have drawers.
{RELATED POST: 12 Brilliant Dorm Room Storage Ideas}
27. Use Contact Paper To Cover Furniture
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Okay, this is one of my best ideas that I used in my first college apartment. Having an apartment that comes fully furnished definitely has it pros and cons. You definitely save money initially but this also means you could be moving in to an apartment where the furniture is just not your style.
I found that contact paper was the cheapest and easiest way to give your furniture a makeover that is completely renter friendly. I covered my desks, side tables, and coffee tables with contact paper to make the furniture match the decor in my apartment and it ended up making such a huge difference. Even our landlord asked us how we did it so she could do it to hers too!
28. Over The Toilet Floating Shelves
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Now that your'e out of your college dorm room, you have lots more options when it comes to decorating since you can drill holes. This means you can finally use floating shelves which not only looks so cute but also saves tons of space by using areas you already have that are just going to waste before!
Floating shelves are the best way to optimize your wall space as storage and they look so so cute.
29. Add a Center Piece and a Placemat
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One of the best and easiest way to instantly change the look of your dining room table, coffee table, or bar area, is to add a decorations. This will make any table look so much more put together and give it more of a "home" feel instead of a cheap college apartment.
30. Fill Wall Space With Aesthetic Photo Collage
If you want to fill lots of wall space but don't want to plan and spend the money to buy all kinds of different decor, a photo collage is the best way to do this. These have become really popular to decorate with in recent years and works perfectly in any college apartment or bedroom. This way, you can fill tons of wall space for only around $20 or less.
Keep in mind this product from Etsy is only the digital version so you will need to print them out at your local store separately. To save money, you can always find the photos on your own from google or Pinterest!
31. Decorate With Frames And Plants
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If you are looking to decorate your college apartment in a neutral boho theme, this is a perfect example of how you can do it! I always recommend adding plants to a room, especially if it is neutral colored, to add a pop of green.
To recreate a gallery wall like this one, buy some different sized and colored frames off Amazon. Or, you can go to your local thrift store and find a few you like. This is a great option if you want to stay on a budget.
32. Use A Wine Rack As A Towel Holder
This last college apartment decor idea is so clever!
Instead of using a wine rack for its intended purpose, put towels on it instead! It's a unique and fun way to decorate your bathroom while also storing one of its absolute necessities!
This post was all about the best college apartment decor.
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