College Apartment Living Room Makeover – One Room Challenge Week 1

If you’re finding me through the One Room Challenge, welcome to my blog where I share my passion for creating comforting homes by thrifting, sewing and a little diy-ing along the way! While I’m not averse to buying new. I love being able to stretch a budget AND get that “layered over time” look that comes from incorporating pieces that have had a previous life! You can follow my decorating journey on the HomeSpunStyle Instagram.

For my first time as a guest participant in the One Room Challenge, I am making over the living area of an on-campus apartment (townhouse) that my daughter shares with four other design students. When I first saw it, I was dismayed at how dark and sterile the main living area was. It’s not the comforting environment I’d want to be in for studying or kicking back after pulling an all-nighter. I am thrilled that they’ve given me free reign (with veto power of course) to make over their living room!

Before Photos

This is the view into the townhouse from the doorway. The living room is to the left and the kitchen/dining area is to the right. The stairs lead to the bedrooms.

Living

Kitchen/DIning

While the kitchen isn’t the focus of the makeover, it will be impacted by what I do on the living room side and I plan to add a little style and function over here as well.

I have a few constraints with this project: Specifically, I can’t make any permanent changes (not even a tiny hole in the wall!) and I need to use the university-issued furniture. One of the challenges will be to deal with the yellow painted walls! On top of that I want to keep the budget as low as possible as this is obviously a temporary home for Elizabeth and her roommates.

Here’s my design board for the space, using the university-provided furniture, things I already have in my stash, things I plan on thrifting, and a couple of new purchases in the form of lamps, slipcovers and a rug.

I’m going for a minimalist look with a rad boho vibe. I’ll use plants to bring life to the room and purify the air at the same time!

The anchor piece for this room will be this rug that I got at Target.

It incorporates all the colors I am using in this room and I love how textural it is. Hopefully it will bring a cohesive look to the mish mash of things I have to work with. And, since I only need a 5×7 for this space , I can make a big impact without spending a fortune! PS. I got it on sale, too!

Be sure to follow Home Spun Style on Instagram for sneak peeks of my progress. And stop back here on my blog for weekly updates where I’ll be sharing a couple diy projects we are planning for the space as well.

Don’t forget to check out the design plans of the other guest designers on the One Room Challenge Blog. 

Thanks for following along!

Debra