How to Make Your Small Living Room Decor Unique & Stylish
Living Pretty Ep22: Studio Apartment Tour: Small Living Room Decor Ideas
Do you live in a tiny apartment and need small living room decor ideas? If you saw my full studio apartment tour video, you know I’m all about sharing how to decorate a studio apartment, basking in the apartment lifestyle, and giving you some rustic decorating ideas. Now, it’s time for my rustic living room decor tour!
Join me in my living room tour apartment video for some small apartment tips, studio apartment inspiration, and advice on how to make your apartment decor reflect your unique personality. Let’s get cozy in my little living room, shall we?
Watch the video now!
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I’ve made some slight edits in the transcript below so that everything makes more sense in text form. But overall, this is almost a word-for-word dictation of what I say in this episode. I’m a much better writer than this, I swear, haha.
What do Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, the band Garbage, and the Legend of Zelda all have in common? Well, they’re all here with me in the living room area of my 500 square foot studio apartment.
They’re all stuffed in here, like eccentric roommates you’d never expect to live together.
In this video, I’m going to give you a tour of the living room area in my studio apartment, and you’re gonna see how I weave together the pretty things with the unexpected things to create a space that not only serves some serious style, but also starts conversations.
Isn’t it great when you have people over and someone notices a piece of your decor and say’s “oh cool, I love Fleetwood Mac” or “oh cool, I used to play the Legend of Zelda as a kid! You’re a full grown woman with Legend of Zelda stuff in her apartment... You’re obviously very cool and our friendship has now been solidified.” 🙃
That’s what I like my decor to do. I like it to be pretty, but also to say something about me.
You may have seen my studio apartment tour video, which walks you through my whole studio apartment. Now, in this video, I’m going to delve deeper into the little style details of my living room area that I couldn’t fit into that broader apartment tour video.
You’ll see how to carve out a distinct living room area in a studio, and also how to incorporate your personal interests and passions into a space without sacrificing style.
Also, if you live in a studio apartment and want a resource that will help you get started on making your studio feel more like a home, then download my Studio Styling 101 workbook!
So now let’s get comfy in my living room. Right this way!
Here’s my little living room, smooshed right up against my bedroom area, as is often the case with studios. It’s very cozy and, admittedly, styled to the brim. I swear to god, minimalists are not here for this, I can tell you that much.
But aside from being very styled, it’s immediately a reflection of my personality. So right when I walk in, I feel like I’m being hugged by a friend who knows me very well, which is probably the best feeling a room can give a person, right?
So let me dive into exactly how I do this - create a space that isn’t just pretty but also very much an expression of me as a person. And hopefully you’ll get some new ideas on how you can do so with your decor.
So let’s start with this side table, which I think of as a continuation of my TV stand. Both are from World Market and really drive home the rustic vibe of this space.
On top of the side table, I’m going for kind of a witchy, apothecary vibe, like I do on my console table as well (which you can see in this video!). The tall vase is from Pottery Barn and the small vase is from TJ Maxx - you’d almost think I bought them together right? I totally didn’t.
And down there is where Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Garbage hang out with the Legend of Zelda.
Tip #1: Get coffee table books about the things you love.
This is my first tip for creating a space that reflects your personality, and it’s probably the simplest! And in my particular case, there’s kind of a formula here that I’d recommend, that just keeps things interesting. Keeps people on their toes, you know?
There’s an obvious theme here - rock and roll - and then there’s a little something unexpected, which is the Zelda book. So my two cents here is to have fun with using a coffee table book theme to really highlight something you love (in my case rock and roll), but then throw kind of a wrench in it with a book that’s totally off-theme. It allows you to show more facets of yourself, and also creates even more opportunity for conversation.
Tip #2: Picture frames do not have to frame pictures.
They can frame anything made of paper, like a poem.
So, a few months ago, my boyfriend and I were traipsing around one of the ever-cool neighborhoods here in Seattle and we happened upon a group of typewriter-wielding poets on a street corner who would write poems for willing passersby on the spot. My boyfriend and I were enthusiastically willing, of course.
What resulted was this typewritten poem I have framed here that our poet of choice - a hand-rolled cigarette smoking enchantress - wrote for us in a matter of minutes based on a few details we gave her about how we met.
I got a frame for this little treasure and now it’s a piece of decor that doesn’t exist in any other home.
Think about what text you could frame that’s meaningful to you. Whatever text lights you up, consider printing it out and framing it. It’s not only cool looking, but also completely unique to you.
Continuing on, we have my TV area with the Fleetwood Mac lyrics which I bought from Stay Classic Blog and these gorgeous tree ring prints by Neptune Art Prints on Etsy. I linked to all these in the description of this YouTube video if you want to check them out there!
Tip #3: There’s no need to hide your TV!
Now, I’m just gonna tell you right now that I’m not one of those people who feels like you need to hide your TV or put it off to the side in some inconspicuous place that forces you to crane your neck in a weird way in order to watch a show.
I don’t think that TVs are some dirty little secret that we all have to keep from each other, when in reality, most of us watch TV. In fact, the TV is a place where people gather and experience stories together. Can we stop pretending like TV isn’t a completely valid part of the human experience?
I’m sorry, as a TV junkie and someone who kind of worships the art of TV shows, I tend to get worked up.
My point is that you don’t have to hide your TV. You can even think of it as a valuable piece of your decor, one that takes you to far off places and gives you experiences and perspectives you wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise - fiction or not.
Tip #4: Cute storage containers can be purely decorative. and when you need the storage, they'll be there for you!
Anyway, now that I’ve gotten my TV tirade out of my system, here’s some storage containers. One of them even says storage on it in case I get confused. But in what can only be considered a pointless act of defiance on my part, I don’t actually store anything in it.
I’ll admit, other than some extra tealight candles, a candle lighter, my Nintendo Switch controller holder thing, and a lone Mario game, I don’t really use these containers for storage. They’re really just accessories for the most part, that support the rustic vibe I’m going for.
If you want my small space storage tips, watch this video!
Tip #5: No room for a real coffee table? Use a small accent table instead!
If you don’t have room for a full-on coffee table, search instead for an accent table that’s usually intended for the side of a couch.
It serves the function of a coffee table without taking up as much space.
And of course, I have one of my Death Note manga books here, which is another moment of personality in my decor. Death Note is one of my favorite anime, and this collection of books is totally my aesthetic, so of course I’m going to use them as decor.
Tip #6: Let your geek flag fly.
If you take anything from this video, it’s that my biggest piece of interior styling advice is to let your geek flag fly. If you can find items that represent something you’re a fan of while still being aesthetically pleasing, that’s the sweet spot.
Speaking of fandom, that brings me to my letter board displaying one of my favorite Garbage songs, “I’m Only Happy When It Rains”. Fun fact: Garbage totally reposted this photo of mine on Instagram and I basically died and went to fangirl heaven. That was the pinnacle of my Instagram experience thus far.
Placed around this ode to Garbage are just some little pretty things - a bottle of room spray my boyfriend got me, a vintage style Scotch bottle from TJ Maxx, an Antica Farmacista candle (watch this video if you want my home fragrance recommendations), a card my boyfriend got me of a cat that looks like a slightly fatter version of my cat Helo playing with the moon, and an empty Antica Farmacista reed diffuser bottle acting as a vase for a faux succulent.
Tip #7: Use wall art to act as windows to your favorite scenery.
These exquisitely gloomy pieces of wall art are by Tordis Kayma on Society 6. Being from Washington State, fog through the trees is one of my favorite sights.
If you don’t have a great view in your small apartment, create one with wall art depicting your favorite nature scenery. I find that it tricks my brain into thinking I’m in a room with a view.
Tip #8: Find a cute container for remotes and things.
Over here I have this little brass tray from Target. (Jesus, I swear my YouTube videos are just commercials for Target only I’m not getting paid for them.) I use this to store my remotes and my Nintendo DS.
Because I obviously can’t allow my remotes and gadgets to run free, could I? This is perfectly functional. Okay it’s really just an excuse to have yet another accessory in this accessory ridden place.
Speaking of excessive accessories, this brings me to the copious amounts of throw pillows on my couch. Basically, if I don’t feel like I’m being swallowed by a pit of decorative pillows when I’m sitting on my couch, I have no interest in it.
I bought the green leafy pillows years ago in my Sophomore year at NYU at an Urban Outfitters that was located beneath my dorm building on 6th Avenue and 13th Street. You can imagine for a hipster NYU girl, living above an Urban Outfitters was problematic for my non-existent bank account.
But, I got these pillows! And they’ve stuck with me for all these years. If you can smell a tip coming, you’d be right…
Tip #9: Be loyal to your decorative pillows. Bring them with you from apartment to apartment!
My tip here is to get great decorative pillows and bring them with you from apartment to apartment. They’re easy to move with. No need to buy new things every time you move.
All the fluffy and fuzzy pillows here are from Target (of course), this cool metallic one is from Nordstrom, and this is my One Piece pillow my brother got for me for Christmas a couple years ago. One Piece is another favorite anime of mine, which brings me back to tip number 6.
Next to my couch is this little side table. I’ll give you one guess on where it’s from. Yes, it’s from Target. So is the coaster, and so is the faux floral. Shit...
Tip #10: There's no shame in buying inexpensive things that won't last a lifetime. you won't be spending a lifetime in your apartment anyway.
Honestly, I don’t really have any shame in all my Target purchases. At the end of the day, apartment life is inherently temporary, you know what I mean? This is not my forever home - I’ve never lived in a forever home, and I sure as hell am nowhere near buying one.
So as long as I’m living the apartment life, a lot of my stuff is going to be accessible budget stuff. And there’s a freedom in that; the freedom to experiment and discover your style without the commitment that comes with investing in expensive things.
I’ll worry about getting those high-end future heirloom pieces later. In the meantime, my temporary living situation will be filled with a lot of temporary things.
Tip #11: When it comes to studio apartments, chill out on the room dividers. you probably don't need them.
A living room tour in my studio wouldn’t be complete without a reminder from me that you do not need dividers in your studio. I swear, that one comment... I’ve gotten it many times. People really have this weird fixation with diving up a studio, and I’m here to tell you that you simply don’t need to in most cases.
Watch this video for my full explanation of this, but to sum it up in my particular studio, my couch acts as the divider between living room and bedroom. No need to complicate it further.
So that was my living room area! Thank you for getting cozy with me for a bit.
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And for daily glimpses into my studio apartment life, follow me on Instagram @moda.misfit.