7 Tips On How To Decorate An Outdated Apartment

If you had this question “how to decorate an outdated apartment?” floating around your head, you are NOT alone! I’m here to help you with the best tips to help you achieve an apartment you don’t want to leave!

When we (my husband and I) had first moved into our apartment, this was the only question on my mind! I couldn’t decide how to make it cozy for anything!

I had wanted to make our apartment modern and white. White walls and light decor was the only thing I wanted! But our apartment had dark beige walls and carpet that was textured and for the most part, looked purple.

I researched the internet all over trying to find apartments similar to ours for ideas-with zero luck. It took me a couple of years but I finally completed (for the most part) our apartment decor.

I want to provide you with some of the tips that I found that were useful to me. I hope at least one of these tips will come in handy for you!

This post is all about the best tips on how to decorate an outdated apartment!

Best Tips On How To Decorate An Outdated Apartment

1) Embrace The Colors And Style

Rental Friendly Upgrades:

Embrace the wooden trim
Purchase furniture with the same style

When you move into an apartment with an outdated style, you have to learn to embrace what you can’t fix.

For example, most places that rent out, don’t allow wall repainting or any other remodeling for that matter. (For the most part very few are willing to remodel a space that isn’t theirs anyway)

If your window trim and baseboards are that old wooden style, there isn’t anything you can do to fix it, but you can purchase furniture with the same style!

Buy your furniture wooden to fit in the style of the trim. (don’t purchase a white Ikea furniture piece since it will give the space a tacky look)

2) Skip Out On The Modern Look

For the most part, it will be very difficult to try and achieve a modern look in an outdated apartment. Like I mentioned earlier, don’t purchase furniture pieces that will stand out instead of blending in with your entire home.

You will achieve a much cozier home by focusing on furniture pieces that will align with the style you already have!

Home Decor Styles That Will Match An Outdated Apartment:

Cozy Cottage
Industrial / Farmhouse

3) Use Neautral Colors/ Art

Gold
Black
Grey
Wooden
Very Little White Accents

These five colors will usually fit into an outdated apartment. Gold typically looks really good with beige and black goes beautifully with wooden. Use white for pops of brightness such as throw pillows or a rug.

Also, don’t forget your wall art! Adding art pieces to your dull wall will change the look right away!

4) Get Matching Furniture

How To Decorate Rented House

All Have Wood
Have pops of black
Gold accents

When having an outdated apartment, it’s important to make sure your furniture all has a similar style.

For example, if you have a wooden and black coffee table in front of your couch, it will probably make sense for you to have the same style console table.

Having furniture pieces that go well with each other will prevent your home from looking tacky all around.

5) Use Rug Over Carpet

The one thing we’ve learned from having an outdated carpet is that a rug can fix it all! I was very hesitant about putting a rug on a carpet but when I did it blew my mind!

A rug will enhance your space and all the decor with it! Bonus Tip: If you don’t have a rug or don’t have the finances, you can use a throw you already have, for a rug!

6) Choose A Cottage Theme For Your Kitchen

How To Decorate An Outdated Apartment Kitchen

What You Need

Wooden Cutting Boards
Warm Color Tones
Dried Lavendar Bouquet

Out of all the themes that match an outdated kitchen, I think this one fits the most! A cozy theme will make the brown kitchen cabinets seem a little less outdated and even begin to fit in!

Using warmer tones such as soft yellow/beige and dried bouquets will transform your kitchen into a cozy little space!

7) Use Plants To Complete Your style

The main thing I have learned when decorating (ANY place) is that plants do wonders! ( I mention this in so many previous posts!)

No matter which style you decide to go with, plants will help you complete your look. You can choose real or artificial but make sure you have a few around your home.