Life Hack

Instant Color

So if you're like me you have spent plenty of time living in an apartment; one in college, one post college, one with the person you're dating, another with the first long term relationship and then eventually your spouse. (I'm not going to say that you would live with your family in an apartment cause that just reminds me of how bad the LA market can be and how I will die in a rent controlled apartment in a sketchy part of town)

And I am blame these guys for this LA housing market

                                                    Thanks for nothing Bravo--ugh

So when you're living in an apartment it can be hard to make it feel like home so you end up buying Ikea because it is cheap and it looks like every other apartment you're in for the next 5 years whether it is yours, yours friends, or that one bad night you went home with the bar back from the Power House.

                                                                  RIP Power House

And while you can't necessarily avoid Ikea furniture when you're starting out--what you can do is something to help out with your boring and neutral colored walls to give the illusion of paint/texture/wall paper. It's super easier to do--you take that simple bookshelf from Ikea, Target or Goodwill and place them on the focus wall in whatever room you'd like to spruce up.

Focus wall: the primary wall you see in a space either from the doorway entering the room or the wall you see the most of from your primary piece of furniture AKA bed, sofa or kitchen table

Once you have placed the bookshelf you have a couple different choices you can make--you can either use a solid paint color, reusable wallpaper or traditional wallpaper (though this is the most expensive and least easy to change down the road.) You then paint/paper/stencil the inside back of the bookshelf--sans shelves-with whatever you like before you place anything in them.

It goes from this:

                                                          Yes we own a lot of Simpsons

To this:

                                                           But we are still super gay

If you use more than one bookshelf and place posters or art around them in the same color scheme it helps to trick your eye into thinking you have a painted and more colorful space. It's the type of project that can take only a day or two to do but will have a big impact--making it more personal without effecting the security deposit down the road. It will also get you lots of compliments and adds a certain level of sophistication to your space. It's a win/win.

So try refreshing your rented space with this simple trick--I find that more time you spend making a truly personalized space the more relaxing, friendly and unique you will feel about your home. And it's really those little things that make life extra special.