Redecorating My Apartment to Make It More Inviting

[Wave Rider]

I'm sort of going through a personal makeover right now. In addition to all the internal psychological work I've been doing, I just dropped my car off to get repainted and cosmetically repaired, and now I think it's time to redecorate my apartment so that it will be inviting to any women I might bring home. I have some plans for redecoration, and I need some advice.

 

First, the living room. I tried to decorate the living room in a tropical island theme. Right now it has a couch, two surfboards, a telescope, this boat poster, this Divi Divi Tree poster, and this Teahupoo big-wave surfer poster. I like the feeling of the fantasy tropical island created by these posters, but to someone coming in from the outside who doesn't share my internal fantasy, the posters probably look cheap, as if I were a college freshman trying to decorate my apartment on a low budget.

 

I like themed rooms, and I'd like to keep the beach theme, but with an upgraded look. I'm considering putting up this large Ikea picture and a framed coastline picture sort of like this, but instead is a color aerial shot of some Southern California coastline. I also want to get a coffee table and an end table, and I'd like to put a fountain on the end table, perhaps this shell fountain, though I'm concerned that the shell fountain might be too effeminate for a men's apartment. I thought about getting a mermaid figurine like this, but again, I'm wondering if it'd be too effeminate. I want to get two chairs for the living room, and I was considering getting bamboo chairs and a bamboo coffee table and end table to add to the island theme, but bamboo can end up looking like leftover hippie furniture from the 1970s and I think it might look bad. I was considering getting some sand-colored furniture instead, but I'm not sure. I'd also like to get a floor lamp and a fake palm tree to put somewhere.

 

My bedroom is also decorated in a tropical island theme, with this poster called "Morning", a "Paradise Found" poster, this Maldives palm tree poster, and a Hawaii big-wave surfer poster. I have this dresser with a small fake palm tree on top, and I have a double-size air mattress that I sleep on, and there is a surfboard leaning against the wall. I'm a little concerned that the pine dresser, and perhaps a pine bed frame I might get, is more of a mountain cabin aesthetic and doesn't match the beach theme.

 

I'm not sure what to do with the bedroom. I was thinking of framing a couple of the posters, and I can do that with the 36x24 posters, but the 62x21 "Morning" poster will be pretty expensive to frame. I was considering getting the Malm bed or the Tarva bed and this beach scene comforter cover. I love the comforter cover, but is it going to be too much, especially with the posters? I also thought about putting some books on top of my dresser between mermaid book ends, but these mermaids look kinda sad.

 

I'm also considering getting a beach shower curtain for the bathroom.

 

I'd like to stay with the themed rooms, and right now the entire apartment is in a beach theme (except my roommate's room, and he's kind of been a "ghost roommate.") Would it be better to decorate each room in a different theme - one beach room, one mountain room, one sky/cloud room, or perhaps one astronomy room? Or is it better to keep the whole apartment aesthetically unified with the beach theme? The fact that there are two rooms with surfboards makes the beach theme more natural for the apartment.

 

I'd appreciate any advice that you have. I don't know much about interior decorating, and if I bring a woman home I'd like her to feel welcomed by my apartment and perhaps even impressed. I'd also like the apartment to be something of an expression of me.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Wave Rider

[losangelena]

One word of caution for decorating with any kind of "theme":

 

Don't go overboard. You obviously enjoy a beach aesthetic, but too much of it will threaten to overwhelm a room.

 

I think it's fine to go for a beach or ocean aesthetic, but go for tasteful accents. Focus instead on incorporating beach or ocean colors (brown or tan hues; blue or green touches) and interesting textures. Bamboo or ratan furniture is fine, just make sure it's high-quality.

 

The most sure fire way to update a room's look is to frame all those posters (yes, it's expensive, but an unframed poster for sure looks cheap), and good lighting. If you only have overhead light, maybe prioritize getting a lamp or two.

[Wave Rider]

One word of caution for decorating with any kind of "theme":

 

Don't go overboard. You obviously enjoy a beach aesthetic, but too much of it will threaten to overwhelm a room.

 

I think it's fine to go for a beach or ocean aesthetic, but go for tasteful accents. Focus instead on incorporating beach or ocean colors (brown or tan hues; blue or green touches) and interesting textures. Bamboo or ratan furniture is fine, just make sure it's high-quality.

 

The most sure fire way to update a room's look is to frame all those posters (yes, it's expensive, but an unframed poster for sure looks cheap), and good lighting. If you only have overhead light, maybe prioritize getting a lamp or two.

 

Thanks. Yeah, it was going to be easy to overdo it with the themed rooms. I'll scale things down a little bit and use some accents. I think I am going to do the bathroom in a mountain theme, and keep the beach theme for the living room and my bedroom. I'll frame a few of the posters and get rid of the other ones.