We all love to watch decorating shows and they always say the easist and lowest cost decorating method is to paint the walls. Painting adds wonderful color to a room and can impart a theme or mood to the home. But if you live in an apartment and are prohibited from painting the walls, here are some great ways to add color without painting!
1
An easy way to define a space within a room and add color is an area rug. One large dramatic and colorful area rug is much better than multiple smaller area rugs scattered throughout a room. If you are decorating the living room, for example, select one large area rug to anchor the center of the room and then place the furnishing around this area rug with the coffee table in the center. Use this colorful area rug to pull colors from to use in other parts of the room such as wall art and curtains.
2
Use colorful curtains at the windows to add color to a room without painting. It will look more dramatic if you use solid color curtains or draperies and not prints. Make all the draperies or curtains the same color and purchase the longest length available. Mount the curtains way above the top of the window, as far up as you can with still having the curtains reach the floor. The curtains should puddle about 4-6 inches on the floor.
3
Of course you can add color to walls without painting by using wall art which you can purchase, but you can also make your own wall art, even if you are not an artist. Go to a crafts store and purchase premounted canvas that has gesso applied. Gesso is just a primer for the canvas that allows you to paint on top of it easily. These canvases come in many sizes but you will want to purchase the larger sizes, poster size or larger to make the biggest color impact statement for the room. Also get some aryclic craft paints that come in the 2 ounce bottles. These are very inexpensive and are water clean-up. Buy a few large brushes. Choose bold paint colors that reflect the theme of your room. If you are doing French Country style, you will want to choose golden yellows and lavenders to reflect the French Provence countryside. You do not need to paint a picture, unless you want to and are artistic. Simply paint the entire canvas the color of your choice. Then hang 3 large canvases side by side on your biggest wall. This will give the illusion that the room has been painted that color.
4
Another way to bring color to a wall in your apartment without painting the walls is to purchase a giant 9 x 12 foot canvas dropcloth which is available at any home improvement store. You can then paint this canvas using paint and a roller to paint the entire canvas, or paint using stencils or free-hand designs. Then hang this canvas on your largest wall.
