34 Apartment Decorating Ideas to Make Your First Rental Look and Feel Like Home
Your housewarming party will be picture-perfect.

Decorating your first apartment is a roller coaster of emotions. From accepting moving out of the house you grew up in or to a new state with friends, there are so many unknowns in your journey to feeling at home in your new space. What better way to shake off the nerves than decorating your apartment to feel and look like somewhere you can stay awhile? There are so many stylish apartment decorating ideas to help you make the most of your space. As you wait for the new living room sofa to arrive, plan out the layout of your tiny but mighty home.
There's so much to learn about decorating your space, so we tapped small-space designers to share projects that'll inspire you to think big even when you're low on room. With clever styling and storage hacks, you can fit everything you need without feeling cluttered, even if your kitchen can only seat two. Just be sure to triple confirm what you can and cannot do to transform your apartment for the better with your landlord before you pick up a hammer. Your parents will be in complete disbelief!
Below, you'll find gallery walls for displaying your memories from home and a genius minibar made out of a closet. We gathered 34 must-see apartment decorating ideas, ranging from low-lift upgrades to major makeovers that will grow with your evolving style. Here's proof that your first apartment can be design forward, unique, and filled with your personality. Cheers to your first housewarming party!

Hadley Mendelsohn is the co-host and executive producer of the podcast Dark House. When she's not busy writing about interiors, you can find her scouring vintage stores, reading, researching ghost stories, or stumbling about because she probably lost her glasses again. Along with interior design, she writes about everything from travel to entertainment, beauty, social issues, relationships, fashion, food, and on very special occasions, witches, ghosts, and other Halloween haunts. Her work has also been published in MyDomaine, Who What Wear, Man Repeller, Matches Fashion, Byrdie, and more.
Medgina Saint-Elien covers everything your home needs. She writes about exciting new product launches, hands-on reviews, and the "lightbulb" moments in every maker's story. In overseeing key HB editorial franchises, including the Live Better Awards, Saint-Elien champions the work of BIPOC entrepreneurs in the design and beauty industries. In addition to House Beautiful, her work has been published in Byrdie, Snapchat, and more. Outside of work, the writer and poet can be found documenting her travels on social media and saving memes for future use.

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