How to Make Your Living Room Fancier

By Victoria Robertson on March 28, 2018

This article is brought to you by CORT Furniture Rental. We take the hassle out of furnishing your new place so you can do more important things like read this article. Learn more about why furniture rental is the best way to get a great looking apartment.

When it comes to living in a college apartment, “fancy” probably isn’t the first word to come to mind. In fact, more often than not, your living room décor is haphazard at best: a disorganized collection of several roommate styles.

So how do you take that disorganization and make your living room fancier?

Here are six tips to help you create a fancier, more inviting living room space for your roommates and guests in your college apartment.

Photo Via: Pixabay.com

1. Skip the Clutter

One of the most common errors when decorating living space is to create too much clutter. As a general rule of thumb, fancier living rooms typically require the “less is more” mantra. Having more “things” doesn’t mean that your living room is fancier, but rather, more cluttered.

A fancy living room only requires a few statement pieces and proper organization. The more you add to the room, the more you are detracting from it. While you don’t want to skip out on any of the essentials, when it comes to décor, limit yourself to avoid unnecessary clutter.

2. Coordinate Colors

In most cases, it’s difficult for roommates to agree on a color scheme. Some roommates might love pastels while others go for bold bursts of color. However, if you’re attempting to create a fancier living room, sticking to one, set color scheme is important to the overall aesthetic.

For this reason, I recommend coming up with a color scheme that all can agree on, but that also gives your desired, fancy look. In order to achieve this, go with neutral colors (greys and beiges) for the general décor. From there, pick out a few statement pieces that have more of a bold look to tie it all together (and to appease the roommate’s that enjoy a splash of color).

3. Set a Budget

Fancier doesn’t necessarily mean more expensive, so fancier living rooms shouldn’t require all the cash you have on hand. Rather, set up a budget beforehand with your roommates so that everyone is on the same page.

Sticking to a budget when decorating is very important, especially given how easy it is to get carried away. Setting this budget will not only help you when it comes time to pay the bills, but it will also help you to avoid going overboard and cluttering your living space with decorative pieces.

4. Decorate Strategically

When decorating your living room, make sure you are doing so strategically. In other words, make sure you are using pieces where they have the most impact. For instance, televisions can detract from your fancier living room, so, in order to make the area more aesthetically pleasing, this is a great place to include a decorative item or two to tie it into the rest of the room.

The same goes for the rest of the room; make sure you are placing your items strategically throughout the room to make the biggest impact. Use the throw blanket over an armchair as both decoration and functional use during the winter, and place decorative pieces on end tables for double-functionality as well.

5. Be Unique

When it comes to décor, fancy can be synonymous with unique. While you shouldn’t be picking up dancing fish pieces anytime soon, you will want to consider items that fall within your neutral palette but that also draw the eye.

I recommend keeping an eye out and picking up pieces from craft stores that catch your eye. Again, you don’t want to break the bank in your decisions, but picking out those unique pieces will certainly set your living space apart.

6. Keep it Clean

Decorating your living room is one thing, but keeping it clean is another entirely. When you are decorating a living space, cleaning is essential to maintaining that fancy look. A cluttered or dirty space will never read as fancy, so make sure that you are cleaning periodically.

As a college student, time can be sparse when considering the amount of time spent studying, but making the time to clean your living room will help you to maintain that fancy décor that you worked so hard to achieve.

Living in a college apartment can feel cluttered, disorganized and, quite frankly, overwhelming when it comes to décor. Especially when dealing with multiple roommates, coming up with a cohesive and fancy style for your living room can feel impossible.

In order to assist you and your roommates in your decorating endeavors, use these six tips to create a fancier, more cohesive living room space, perfect for entertaining your friends.

Remember, just because you’re on a budget doesn’t have to mean that your living space can’t be fancy. Simply make smarter design choices, remember that less is more and stick to your budget no matter what. Do that and you’ll have a fancier living room in no time!

Looking for an easy way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Renting furniture from CORT saves you time and money. See how easy it is to get great looking furniture without breaking the bank.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format