The Novice Decorator's Style Notebook

An essential guide to decorating your first apartment.

By Jill Davis, Inspire Contributor

It's your living space. So make it yours! Time to put away your childish things, including that tired black futon that got you through many a late-night cram session in school. Add some style to your surroundings so you can be comfortable, entertain well and enjoy being at home in your new apartment. Browse through this Novice Decorator's Style Notebook and be the most sought-after renter making your debut!

Shop for New (and Old) Furniture. First things first: add these "grown up" basics to your shopping list:

• Sofa or sofa bed/slipcover

• Coffee table

• One comfortable, upholstered club chair

• One or two wood or metal chairs

• Tall bookcases or shelving in metal or wood/armoire

• Side table or small cocktail table next to club chair

• Table lamps, floor lamp, wall lamps (hung on the wall, these save space)

• Bed and headboard (could be homemade, a beautiful old door hung horizontally, a piece of shirred fabric on the wall, an old floor screen or shutters)

• Nightstand

Style Tips. Don't spend top dollar on a new sofa - scour your local second-hand shops for a deal on that old chesterfield. Relatives are always worth asking: Will your aunt let you have that spare couch stored in her basement? As long as it's clean, its condition doesn't matter. That reliable decorator's staple, the slipcover, hides a multitude of sins. Slipcovers come in a great variety of fabrics and styles. Handsome plaids, funky stripes, romantic florals inject new life to an old piece. Or create your own slipcover using a colorful quilt - tuck and pull to cover for loose, shabby-chic results.

A coffee table may serve double duty as an eating and entertaining area so make sure it's sturdy. Opt for the unusual to add flair. A large, old drum found at a flea market, an upholstered ottoman where you can also set a serving tray, a large piece of beveled glass set on two stacks of oversized books.

Tall bookcases or open shelving are surefire ways to add instant warmth to your living room. Use two for impact. Make it a point to hunt for discounted hardcover books so you can fill up your shelves with interesting titles. Don't cram too many knick-knacks in with the books - let them speak boldly for themselves.

If you're lucky, your small television might fit on one of the shelves where it can hide among the bindings. A club chair found at a tag sale looks great opposite the sofa and provides seating for a visitor, and two traditional wood or modern metal chairs are great for pulling up to the coffee table when guests arrive. Try slipcovers for wood chairs and create an upholstered, Parson's chair effect.

Get out the paint and whitewash for a rustic cottage look.

Lighting is very important in apartments. Use plenty of low-light lamps with crisp ivory shades for your tables. Lamps can cost hundreds of dollars, so take that pretty old flea market vase to your local electrician - he can wire it and fashion a custom-made lamp for a fraction of the cost. One tall floor lamp is essential for uplighting. And place several inexpensive but effective floor lights, found at hardware superstores, on the floor. They cast an upward glow that instantly brightens.

2. Accessories for Warmth, Color and Style.

• Low-maintenance large plants like philodendron in a handsome pot

• Realistic silk Ficus tree tucked in the odd corner

• Row of live topiaries on a windowsill

• A beautiful vase for fresh flowers

• Pottery, porcelain or glass filled with long-lasting, tall green bamboo stalks for drama

• An elegant, Oriental rug in warm tones or a bright abstract will anchor your room

• Area rugs can even be placed over boring beige, wall-to-wall carpet to personalize the space

• A big, rustic floor basket for storing magazines

• Textured, down-filled sofa pillows that don't match the sofa; try needlepoint, woven tapestries or damasks

• Plenty of photos of family and friends framed in varying sizes and placed on tables, shelves and countertops

• A cozy mohair throw strewn over club chair or sofa

• Clean, crisp, colorful sheets. Try Collegiatemall.com for an excellent variety of linens, towels and sheets, blankets and goose down comforters that will make your bed a comfy retreat

Tricks of the Trade. If you live in an old building, fashion a radiator cover from mesh and wood. The cover hides the ugly radiator while providing an extra shelf. Your landlord may buy it from you when you move, or you could sell it to a grateful new tenant.

Visit tag sales and auctions to find an antique free-standing mantel. Many can be had for less than $200. Prop it securely on a living room wall for instant architecture. The mantel creates an immediate focal point for a pair of urns or candlesticks, and a mirror or picture centered above it.

Angle furniture; place a tall bookcase, armoire or table at an angle in the corner to create a sense of movement — this helps get rid of that "boxy" apartment feeling.

Make your ceilings seem higher by placing Chinese porcelain urns or a basket filled with dried hydrangea on top of your tall bookcase or armoire angled in a corner. If you don't have much of a view, check out the faux, trompe l'oeil prints offered in catalogs like Spiegel and Homedecorators.com. They feature charming watercolors of outdoor beach scenes, a harbor or cottage lane, providing a "window" to the outdoors when hung in a strategic place on the wall.

The use of a three-panel folding screen creates a private dressing or dining area, if you have the space. If not, place the screen in a corner to add dimension and depth.

3. Walls, Windows and Floors. The designer's motto is: If your walls, windows and floors are well taken care of, all else will fall into place. You'll be surprised how attractive curtains, a tasteful arrangement of artwork and thick, quality rugs on your floors really make your room feel warm and complete. Put these on your shopping list:

• Collection of a series of old botanical prints, maps, paintings of animals or ceramic plates

• Curtains or shades in colorful, quality fabrics

• Architectural salvage to create a "built-in" dimensional feeling

• Paint on the walls, if your landlord agrees

• Large area rugs in living room and bedroom, even placing on top of wall-to-wall

Style Tips. Make good use of unique scatter rugs for kitchen, hallways, bathroom. Whether braided ovals, flat Dhurries or bound Wilton remnants from your local carpet shop, rugs add warmth and color while absorbing noise. Be sure to use a quality pad.

Curtains are apartment essentials for privacy in living room, bedroom, kitchen and bath. Make yours full and dramatic in olive velvet, shapely and natural in burlap or muslin, romantic and ruffled in chintz. Curtains let your personality shine through and suggest a polished finish. Create a custom look with highly-styled designer curtain rods and finials. Look for elegant gold-brushed artichokes, acorns, lions' heads and abstract geometrics.

Tricks of the Trade. Search for four tall, old shutters at a garage sale or flea market. Prop them up on the windowsill, gently leaning their tops against the window frame to create a fitted wooden "curtain."

Create a "wallscape." Instead of hanging one lonely picture, cover your walls with six botanical prints arranged in rows, a collection of rich green majolica plates, 12 black-and-white art photographs framed with extra-large matting. A collection is better for filling the big expanse of walls often found in newer apartments.

Use old architectural salvage crafted from wood or iron. Find an interesting piece the width of your door and hang directly above it to fake a molding or door surround. Seek out interesting, carved pieces featuring fruit, eagles, cherubs or iron grillwork.

Not enough can be said about the power of color. In many states, a landlord is required by law to paint an apartment before any new tenant moves in. Ask him if a pale shade of blue, salmon, yellow or cream could replace the stark "apartment white" (paler colors are easier to paint over later). Painting even one wall gives a room an immense lift and acts as a mood enhancer - it's worth asking your landlord.

Use storage solutions that do double duty as display. Hang eight attractive hat hooks in your tiny entryway to show off your straw and woolen hats. An iron pot rack hung from the kitchen ceiling displays your basket collection. Use tables that have shelves beneath for holding books, magazines and pottery.

A few well thought-out ideas can turn your new place into a showplace!