Apartment Decorating on a Budget

Asalaamu alaykum wa rahmatallahi wa barakato~
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you~

As I am moving to a new apartment soon, this gives me lots of new opportunities to redecorate/add decorations to my spaces.  My apartment now is cute, but not terribly put together.  I didn't have much of a budget when I moved last year.

I thought I would share some of my budget-friendly redecorating ideas on my blog :)

Idea #1:  Botanical Prints

Did you know that you can find botanical prints for free online?!  Well, you can.  Here's one site I found:  vintageprintable.com.  I plan on picking out the prints I like, saving the large size, printing them off, and framing them.  I think some vintage fruit sketches would look cute in the kitchen/dining area, and I might use some flowery type ones in our bedroom.

Idea #2:  IKEA bargains

Wow, is IKEA affordable.  It's comparable in pricing/cheaper than Walmart and Target 9/10 and the quality/look is very nice.  They have also recently added more items to their online shopping dept. so woooohoooo, Swedishstuff here I come :) !  Here are some finds I might purchase...

I love how country chic this duvet cover is.  Right up my alley...

This is my husband's pick for a duvet cover.  I like it also -- I've always had a thing for this print.  So long as it doesn't actually have people printed on it, which would be weird/Islamically impermissible. 

These curtains don't seem like much, but I plan on making a bed canopy out of them!  I've always wanted a canopy, and there's no time like the present, so... :)

I love this crib and bookshelf series, and it's on sale right now!  Enough said.

Idea #3:  Etsy

Etsy is a great way to find wall art and antique decorating accessories on the cheap.  I have also found that they have a good selection of Islamic prints suitable for a child's room...  You can also find Islamic wall decals, if that's your cup of tea. 

thewheatfield Etsy Shop

LittleWingsGallery Etsy Shop

Simply Impessions Etsy Shop

Antique wash basins are so sweet!  They always remind me of my grandmother, she always had them in bedrooms.  You can always find heaps of antique teacups and handkerchiefs also, which are so affordable and cute.

Idea #4:  DIY

DIY is a great budget-friendly option for decorating.  If you have any old furniture, or you find some thrifting, it's so easy to refinish furniture and make it look new.  Or add something to a wall space with a stencil.  I have a project planned with an old cupboard I inherited from my grandmother.  Here are some stencil ideas (which you can also use to add patterns to cheap-o rugs)....

OMGstencils Etsy Shop

If you see a stencil pattern that you like, it's fairly easy to copy. Most stencils show that actual stencil.  You can print that out, then trace it onto a thin piece of cardboard (I always use the cardboard from notebooks!), and you can paint accordingly.  Pretty easy.

Blog on Re-doing Furniture



Replacing the hardware on furniture is another easy/cheap way to restyle the furniture  you already have or furniture you have thrifted. 

Another DIY to consider is bed canopies!  I love canopied beds, and have always wanted one.  Recently, I've been thinking, "It would be so easy to DIY one!" So that's what I plan on doing.  Here's how (hopefully) the end result will look:

 

So, that's all for now!  In sha Allah I will post after pictures and let you all know which ideas I used and how they went.