Top 10 Apartment Decorating Don'ts

Do read our expert don'ts for the very best advice on how to spruce up your small space.

(Continued from Page 3) By Anne Krueger
PHOTO

Designer Shane Reilly installed a high-drama, high-end chandelier in this apartment. Now that's an overhead fixture that lights up a room the right way.

4. Don't look up until you fix that overhead light fixture.

Lighting is an inexpensive way to decorate and instantly improve the atmosphere of a rented space. First things first: Change out that hideous overhead light fixture that casts a stark, unattractive light on everything. Put up a chandelier, says Jeanie Engelbach, whose colorful apartment has been featured on HGTV's Small Space, Big Style. Engelbach recommends any fixture that expresses your own style. Another simple and effective little change: You can put every light on a dimmer says Ron Marvin, mini-space expert on HGTV's Small Space, Big Style. "No one wants to sit in that bright light when you are relaxing or entertaining. Just adding that dimmer is a small update with a huge impact."

Designer Mark McCauley, ASID, suggests that apartment dwellers use canister lamps on the floors to wash light up the walls. "Try different colored bulbs — in shades of blue, red, amber or green — to get the feeling of a colored wall without painting," he says.