So, you've graduated from college and have your first job--which might afford you the luxury of living on your own. Congratulations! While living on campus allowed you to bring some of your personality to your dorm room, now's your chance to really spread your decorative wings on a larger scale. Here are some tips to decorate your first post-grad apartment.
Too many styles
It's important to keep in mind that you won't know what you like in terms of home decor right away. You might want to continue hanging tapestries and posters on your wall in one room and then hang priceless works of art in another room. That's OK. It's going to take time to develop your own sense of style when you're on your own.
Clutter, clutter everywhere
When you move into your first apartment after college you might plan on bringing everything you had in your dorm with you. Take it from us, all those empty and "pretty" liquor bottles can stay behind. Not only are they not pretty, they're going to just clutter up your first home. You may have had good intentions to make a fun DIY vase or some other craft project you spotted on Pinterest with them, but let's be serious here, if you haven't done so already, you're not going to. Do the responsible thing and recycle those old bottles, posters of terrible bands and yes, even that lava lamp. These items aren't really going to add much to your home decor and they're just taking up space.
Get a bed frame
Do yourself a favor and get yourself a bed frame for your newly minted post-grad apartment. It may seem bohemian and cool to have a mattress and box spring on the floor, but it's not - AND you're losing valuable storage space by keeping it on the floor. It might feel like a whole new world once you're up off the floor--and if you live in a sketchy building that may or may not have a rodent problem, you won't have to worry about what just grazed your hand that was dangling on the floor.
Frame your pictures
It doesn't really matter whether or not it's a band poster, family photo or that priceless work of art - framing your photos will give them a nice, clean look on your wall and make your first apartment after college look a bit more "grown up." The frames don't necessarily have to match or be the same size, a gallery wall is a perfect way to utilize any type of frame shape and size as long as it's done purposefully. Your band posters will thank you for taking the time to care for them by properly framing and hanging them in your new adult-ish apartment.
Now that you've got a few tips to get you going, head out there and spread your decorative wings!