17 DIY Apartment Decor Worth Trying

I spent my first three months in my Chicago rental staring at a beige wall that smelled faintly of old ramen before realizing my approach to DIY apartment decor was completely wrong. I bought random cheap knick-knacks at Target hoping they’d magically fix the bleak, sterile feeling of the space. It didn’t work. The real secret to successful DIY apartment decor is making structural-feeling changes that don’t actually violate your lease. I ruined a perfectly good patch of drywall trying to mount a heavy mirror with nails before I learned how to properly use temporary solutions. Now I focus on specific, measurable upgrades that trick the eye. I’m going to show you exactly how I handle rental spaces. Here are 17 ways I update apartments without losing a single dollar of a security deposit.

1. Embrace Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper for High-Impact DIY Apartment Decor

Updating a single wall behind your bed or sofa with high-quality peel-and-stick wallpaper is a reliable way to add color without permanent changes. I tried a cheap brand from Amazon last year. It shrank on the wall after two weeks and left a sticky, yellow residue that took me four hours to scrub off with rubbing alcohol. Learned that the hard way. Now, I stick to reputable brands. Love vs. Design offers over 200 customizable colors and a fabric peel-and-stick option that doesn’t stretch out of shape during installation. They also offer a 365-day return policy. Chasing Paper is another solid choice because they use non-toxic, GREENGUARD Gold Certified ink. If you want a massive selection, Spoonflower features over a million designs from independent artists. You can expect to pay between $0.50 to $1.00 per square foot for basic designs. Premium or custom options run up to $5.00 per square foot. The extra cost is worth it. Cheap vinyl tears easily and looks exactly like shiny plastic under artificial light. I’d never use the cheap stuff again.

2. Layer Lighting with Smart Bulbs Instead of Harsh Overhead Fixtures

Most apartment overhead lighting feels like a sterile hospital room. A common mistake is relying solely on that single, harsh ceiling fixture. Layered lighting creates depth and hides the cheap finishes typical of rental units. I replace all standard bulbs with smart LED bulbs the day I move in. Philips Hue White A19 bulbs cost $15 to $50 per bulb depending on the features. They offer a massive ecosystem, but they require a hub. If you want a budget-friendly option, the Kasa Smart Bulb Color runs $10 to $20 per bulb and connects directly to your wifi without a hub. For existing floor lamps or vintage fixtures that don’t fit standard smart bulbs, I use smart plugs. The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip or the AiDot Linkind Matter Smart Plug generally cost $15 to $30. These allow you to control your lamps via an app or set them on a schedule. I keep my living room lamps set to turn on at 45 percent brightness right at sunset.

3. Install Temporary Flooring to Hide Ugly Linoleum

You don’t have to live with dated, cracked rental floors. Temporary flooring solutions are ideal for quick updates in kitchens and bathrooms. Peel-and-stick vinyl tiles are incredibly easy to install. They cost about $1 to $3 per square foot. I used a black-and-white checkerboard pattern over the mustard yellow linoleum in my last bathroom. Just be sure to test the removal process on a small, hidden corner first. Some adhesives bond too strongly to certain finishes. For a more durable and realistic wood look in living areas, consider floating luxury vinyl planks. These click together without any adhesive at all. They cost around $2 to $5 per square foot. Because they float over the existing floor, you can pull them right up when your lease ends. I bought 200 square feet of a matte oak finish at Home Depot last spring. It completely altered the acoustics and the visual warmth of the room. Just make sure your existing floors aren’t heavily sloped before laying planks.

4. Curate a Personalized Gallery Wall for Easy DIY Apartment Decor

A gallery wall is a highly effective way to cover large, blank rental walls without painting. I used to eyeball my frame placement. That resulted in a crooked, chaotic mess that looked like a teenager’s bedroom. Now, I plan a simple symmetrical layout using brown craft paper templates taped to the wall first. I mix personal photos with minimal art prints. I strictly adhere to two or three accent colors to keep the visual cohesive. Black-and-white frames create a clean, modern look in smaller rooms. To protect your walls and your security deposit, use damage-free hanging strips. Command Picture Hanging Strips come in various sizes and typically cost $5 to $15 per pack. I buy the heavy-duty 16-pound strips for everything. The lighter ones fail if your apartment gets humid in the summer. I learned that the hard way when a framed print crashed onto my coffee table last July. Press the strips firmly for thirty seconds and wait a full hour before hanging the frame.

5. Maximize Vertical Space with Floating Shelves

In small apartments, maximizing vertical space keeps your floors clear and makes the ceilings feel higher. I install slim floating shelves for books, small plants, and decorative bowls. The classic IKEA LACK shelves cost $15 to $30 each depending on the length. They feature a hidden mounting bracket that looks very clean. However, the hardware included in the box is useless for drywall. You absolutely need to buy heavy-duty toggle bolts from a hardware store. I use 1/4-inch toggle bolts that hold up to 50 pounds each. Once properly anchored, these shelves add incredible dimension without visual clutter. I keep three stacked vertically in the narrow space between my bedroom window and the closet door. I use them to hold my morning skincare routine, a 4 oz bottle of rosewater spray, and a small pothos plant I picked up at Trader Joe’s for $4.99. It utilizes a completely dead zone and keeps my tiny bathroom counter totally empty.

6. Incorporate Reflective Surfaces to Enlarge Small Spaces

A highly effective trick for small rooms is using reflective surfaces to create the illusion of more square footage. I hang a large mirror directly opposite my only living room window to bounce natural light into the darkest corners. A basic 65-inch full-length mirror from Target or IKEA costs between $30 and $100. Sarah Goesling, owner of Goesling Group, notes that mirrored backsplashes, paneling, and ceilings have long been used to create the illusion of more space in tighter rooms. Positioning a tall mirror at the end of a narrow hallway can make it feel twice as long. I bought a brass-rimmed floor mirror from Target last October for $70. I leaned it against the wall in my entryway. It completely eliminated the cave-like feeling of the space. Just be careful what the mirror reflects. If you angle it toward a messy kitchen counter or an overflowing laundry basket, you just double the visual clutter in your apartment.

7. Upcycle an Old Ladder into a Vertical Plant Stand

If you can’t drill holes for floating shelves, repurposing an old wooden ladder is a brilliant alternative. This vertical garden concept is ideal for displaying multiple plants in a narrow footprint. I found a beat-up 5-foot wooden stepladder at a garage sale for $10. I cleaned it with Murphy Oil Soap and secured 12-inch wide pine boards across the rungs to act as flat shelves. I didn’t even paint it. The worn wood adds a nice organic texture. I loaded it up with heavy terracotta pots on the bottom and trailing plants on the top. I buy most of my small starter plants at Sprouts. They usually stock 4-inch tropical foliage for about $5.99. This setup gives me a massive column of greenery right next to my television console without requiring a single nail in the wall. It also makes watering incredibly efficient since all the plants sit grouped in one specific zone. You might also like: 18 Easter Home Decor Ideas Worth Trying

8. Swap Out Builder-Grade Cabinet Hardware

Rental kitchens usually feature the cheapest possible hardware, or worse, no hardware at all. Swapping out standard silver knobs for something substantial completely alters the look of your cabinets. I replaced all 14 knobs in my current kitchen with matte black bar pulls I found at Walmart for $2.47 each. It took me maybe twenty minutes with a standard Phillips head screwdriver. The most important step is measuring the center-to-center distance if you currently use pulls with two screws. Most standard pulls measure 3 inches or 3.75 inches between the holes. Take one of your current handles to the store with you to match the size exactly. Keep all the original cheap hardware in a Ziploc bag tucked in the back of a drawer. When your lease is up, you simply screw the old ones back on and take your good hardware to your next place. It’s a $35 project that makes cheap laminate cabinets look intentionally designed. You might also like: 15 Charming DIY Cozy Apartments Home Decor Ideas for a Fresh New Look

9. Upgrade Your Window Treatments with Faux Linen Panels

Those brittle vertical plastic blinds that come standard in apartments are depressing. You don’t have to remove them, but you should absolutely hide them. I install a tension curtain rod right inside the window frame, or mount a standard rod high above the window if the lease allows small nail holes. Hanging curtains close to the ceiling makes standard 8-foot walls look significantly taller. I skip the expensive custom drapes and buy 96-inch faux linen panels from Costco. A two-pack usually runs about $29.99. The fabric has a heavy, textured drape that looks remarkably like real Belgian linen. I made the mistake of buying 84-inch curtains for my first apartment. They hovered three inches above the floor like high-water pants. Always measure from your rod down to the floor. You want the fabric to just barely kiss the floorboards. I steam them with a handheld steamer once they’re hung to remove the packaging creases. Crisp, long curtains instantly soften the harsh angles of a basic rental box. You might also like: 20 Cozy Wall Decor Ideas for Every Budget

10. Add a Peel-and-Stick Backsplash in the Kitchen

A bare drywall or ugly tile backsplash makes a kitchen feel unfinished. Peel-and-stick backsplash tiles have improved drastically in the last five years. I use a brand called Smart Tiles. They cost about $35 for a pack of four 10×10 inch sheets. They feature a gel-like 3D texture that actually mimics the depth of real glass subway tile. I installed a crisp white herringbone pattern over the beige square tiles in my kitchen last February. The key to a realistic look is proper prep work. You must clean the existing wall with a heavy-duty degreaser like TSP. If there is even a hint of cooking grease left on the surface, the adhesive will fail within a week. I use a sharp utility knife and a metal ruler to cut the sheets perfectly straight. Don’t stretch the material as you apply it. Just lay it gently and press firmly. It wipes clean with standard kitchen spray and peels off cleanly when you apply heat from a hairdryer.

11. Create a Faux Built-In Bookcase with Billy Bookcases

Custom built-ins are impossible in a rental, but you can fake the look using standard flat-pack furniture. The IKEA Billy bookcase is the perfect foundation for this project. A standard tall unit costs about $49. I bought three of them and lined them up flush against my living room wall. To make them look expensive and integrated, I pushed them tight together and used small white binder clips on the back edges to hold them perfectly aligned. I then added a strip of basic 2-inch pine trim across the top gap, attached with removable double-sided mounting tape. It completely hides the seam where the bookcases meet. I styled the shelves with my book collection, a few vintage brass candlesticks, and a 16 oz bag of whole bean coffee from Whole Foods that I keep in a glass jar just for the aesthetic and scent. The continuous visual line gives the room architectural interest that standard standalone furniture simply can’t provide.

12. Build a Custom Headboard with Upholstered Panels

A solid headboard anchors a bedroom, but large furniture is terrible to move from apartment to apartment. I make modular, upholstered headboard panels that mount directly to the wall using heavy-duty Velcro strips. I buy 1/4-inch thick plywood cut into 12×24 inch rectangles at the hardware store. Then I buy 1-inch thick high-density foam and a few yards of textured boucle fabric from Joann. The foam usually costs $15 a yard, and the fabric runs about $20 a yard with a coupon. I wrap the foam and fabric around the plywood and staple it tight on the back with a standard staple gun. I stack them in a grid behind my bed. It takes about two hours and costs less than $100. I tried using cheap craft batting once instead of high-density foam. The panels looked lumpy and deflated within a month. The dense foam gives it that taut, expensive hotel-room look. Trust me on this. Plus, if you move, you won’t have to carry a massive piece of furniture down three flights of stairs.

13. Frame a Vintage Textile or Fabric for Large Scale Art

Large-scale art is prohibitively expensive, but a massive blank wall makes a room feel cold. Instead of buying a cheap, generic canvas print that everyone else has, I stretch interesting fabric over a large wooden frame. You can buy 1×2 inch pine boards at any hardware store for about $3 each and screw them together into a large rectangle. I recently bought two yards of a heavy linen-cotton canvas from Spoonflower for $60. I chose a moody, oversized botanical print. I stretched the fabric tightly over my wooden frame and stapled it to the back, exactly like stretching a painting canvas. It creates a 4-foot by 6-foot piece of custom art for under $80. I lean it against the wall on top of a low console table. The fabric absorbs sound, which is a massive bonus in echoey apartments with hard floors. It adds incredible visual weight without the heavy glass and expensive framing required for traditional oversized prints.

14. Use a Tension Rod for a Temporary Room Divider

If you live in a studio apartment, creating distinct zones is essential for your sanity. Permanent dividers block light and make the space feel smaller. I use a heavy-duty shower tension rod from Walmart, which costs about $18, to hang a visual barrier. I wedge the rod between two walls in the alcove where my bed sits. I hang sheer white linen panels on standard curtain rings. The sheer fabric lets the morning light filter through, but it completely obscures the view of my unmade bed when I’m working at my desk. I tried using a heavy velvet curtain for this last winter. It made the bedroom area feel like a dark, suffocating closet. The sheer material defines the space without closing it off. When I host friends, I just slide the curtains open to the side. It takes five minutes to install, requires zero tools, and leaves absolutely no marks on the drywall.

15. Paint Your Furniture, Not Your Walls

Painting rental walls is a massive hassle. You must pay for the paint, do the labor, and then prime and paint it all back to builder-beige before you move out. Instead of fighting the lease, I bring color in by painting my furniture. A bright, glossy credenza or a deep green nightstand pops beautifully against boring white apartment walls. I buy a quart of high-quality interior enamel paint from Home Depot for about $25. A quart is exactly enough to cover a medium-sized dresser with two coats. I prep the surface by lightly sanding it with 120-grit sandpaper and wiping it down with a damp cloth. I learned the hard way that skipping the sanding step means the paint will peel off in sheets the first time you bump it with a vacuum cleaner. I painted a thrifted wooden chair a bright mustard yellow last week. I grabbed a quick lunch from the Kroger deli, laid down a drop cloth on my balcony, and finished the whole project in an afternoon.

16. Layer Area Rugs to Hide Damaged Carpets

Rental carpets are notoriously terrible. They’re usually a flat, industrial beige and often feature mysterious stains from previous tenants. You can completely alter the floor without replacing it by layering area rugs directly over the carpet. I buy large, inexpensive jute or sisal rugs as a base layer. An 8×10 foot jute rug from Rugs USA usually costs around $150. Jute provides a heavy, textured foundation that won’t wrinkle or bunch up when you walk on it. Then, I layer a smaller, softer 5×7 foot vintage-style rug from Target right on top of it. The top rug usually costs about $80. This layered look adds incredible texture and completely distracts the eye from the ugly carpet underneath. I tried throwing a thin cotton rug straight onto my bedroom carpet once. It crept across the room and bunched up under my door every single time I walked on it. The heavy jute base anchors everything securely.

17. Build a Custom Entryway Drop Zone with Pegboards

Most apartments lack a proper entryway. You walk through the front door and immediately dump your keys and mail on the kitchen counter. I create a functional drop zone using modular pegboards. The IKEA Skadis pegboard system is an excellent solution for this. The large 30×22 inch board costs $22. I mounted one right next to my front door using the heavy-duty toggle bolts I mentioned earlier. The Skadis system features dozens of specific attachments. I use a small metal shelf for my sunglasses, a tall clear container for outgoing mail, and three simple hooks for my keys and dog leash. I even added a small elastic cord attachment to hold a 2 oz bottle of hand sanitizer. It keeps all the daily clutter off my flat surfaces and creates a dedicated organizational hub in a space that is literally just a blank patch of wall. It functions like a piece of custom hallway furniture but takes up zero floor space.

Making a rental feel like a permanent, intentional home is entirely possible when you focus on the right details. You don’t need to knock down walls or forfeit your security deposit. By upgrading your lighting, hiding the ugly surfaces, and maximizing your vertical space, you create an environment that actually reflects your personal style. I’ve used every single one of these methods to survive years of generic apartment living. No exaggeration. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but these specific projects always yield the best results. If you’re ready to tackle your own space, save this post to your home decor Pinterest board so you have the exact measurements and product names handy when you head to the store. Let’s make those beige walls work for us.