Apartment Decor Ideas: Creating My Dream Space

(Last Updated On: March 2, 2023)

Hey The Abroad Blog readers! Today’s post is going to be a bit different from my usual travel guides, but equally as exciting! I normally share very content-heavy, written posts, but this one consists of mostly photos with TONS of links to apartment decor ideas so you can shop for your own space! For those of you who may just be stumbling upon my little corner of the internet… welcome! And for those of you who actively keep up with The Abroad Blog, I have a little life update for you… I moved to Charleston, South Carolina! In early August, I packed up everything (and I mean everything) I own, moved out of my childhood home, and drove 18 hours alone from Boston to Charleston to begin my next chapter. I’ve been here for about a month now and finally feel settled in my new place, so without further ado here are some of my best apartment decor ideas that I used to create my dream space in Charleston, South Carolina!

Disclaimer: This blog post is sponsored by Enjoy The Wood! Enjoy The Wood is a premium wooden map company based out of Europe that ships beautiful wall maps all around the world. I’ve had my eyes on their products for awhile, so you can imagine my excitement when I woke up to a DM from them asking to partner with me! If you are interested in a map of your own (and saving $$$), keep on reading! Everything written here is my own opinion.

About The Space…

If you’re unfamiliar with Charleston, it’s one of the most charming, historical cities… in the world! It has the largest historical district in the entire United States which is strictly preserved by the city. You actually need permission if you even want to paint your front door! Most of the homes in downtown Charleston are several hundred years old, including my apartment building, which used to be a multi-family home in the 1800s. I live with two amazing roommates in a unit with tall ceilings, arched doorways, original hardwood, and get this… central A/C (thank god!). I’m so lucky my room came with the same tall ceilings, original hardwood floors, and not one but TWO closets. All for about half the rent per month than a place in Boston… god bless the south! I had so much fun decorating my space and am thrilled to share my apartment decor ideas with you today.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission when you click on the links and purchase an item at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you in advance!

Apartment Decor Ideas: The Bed

As you can see in the pictures, my room here is quite spacious! This means I had room for a queen mattress, which I got down here. I got my bed frame from Amazon, which is linked below. It required no assembly – I just had to unfold the metal pieces and secure them together. Super easy! This was MUCH cheaper than getting a full bed set-up with a headboard and baseboard. Instead, I have the bed frame, a bedskirt, and two big Euro sham pillows that act as a headboard.

Under the bed, I have a 7×10 area rug from Wayfair, which I’ve linked too! Luckily, my room came with adjustable curtain rods for the windows, but I had to buy curtains. Blinds are too expensive so I bought blackout curtains for the 4 windows. My room gets a ton of sunlight, especially in the mornings, so these have been key!

Links:

• Bedframe
• Euro Pillows
• Rug
• Curtains

My bedding came in a 8-piece set from Amazon that included the comforter, sheets, sham covers, bed skirt, and pillow covers! I bought this on Prime Day a few months ago for like $50 – what a steal! My rose-colored throw blanket is from Target and most of my pillows are from Target, Homegoods, or Etsy. To save money, I ordered some new pillow covers off Etsy and just used pillow inserts that I already had. As you can tell, my theme here is pretty boho. Rust, burnt orange, gold, and various shades of pink have become my go-to’s lately, and I love how my bed tied these all together!

Links:

• Bedding Set
• Throw Blanket (Similar)
• Rust Pillow Covers
• Woven Pillow Covers
• Accent Throw Pillow Covers

Above my bed, I created a small gallery wall with two gold frames and two neutral wood frames. The prints with text on them are from Etsy. I purchased the digital files for a few dollars and placed a Walgreens order to get them printed. The top right print is from Poster Store, a Scandinavian poster, print, and frame shop that actually worked with me on my recent post about Salem, Massachusetts! If you’re interested in shopping for your own prints, you can use code abroad45 to get 45% off all posters.

The print in the bottom left frame was delivered shortly after I shot content for this post, but I’ll add an image in below! It’s a custom map of the College of Charleston, where I’m currently studying to get my MBA, by Art by Aleisha! Aleisha is also a travel blogger and a talented, small-business owner who creates custom maps of cities and neighborhoods around the world. She customized this map for me to match my room and I think it’s my favorite detail! I highly recommend checking out her page! You can use NICOLE10 to save 10% on your order through the month of September!

Links:

• Posters / Frames
• Custom Map

Since my bed is in the center of my room, I really wanted two nightstands! I’ve only ever had one, and I love the symmetrical look of having two. I bought these from Wayfair and assembled them myself in about an hour or so. They originally came with black knobs, but I wanted to stick with my gold / white theme, so I ordered my own knobs from Amazon (linked below). These were less than $5 and really elevated the pieces!

Links:

• Nightstands
• Nightstand Knobs

I bought small, gold, matching table lamps for my nightstands from Target and decorated each table top with decor from Homegoods and Target. I have my favorite Capri Blue volcano candle, some coasters, a tissue box, and my fav white roses on the left and some coasters, a picture frame, and my alarm clock on the right. This alarm clock is from Amazon, costs less than $20, and is one of the sleekest things I own – highly recommend!

Underneath each nightstand, I placed a small wooden basket for additional storage! These hide any wires I have running behind them!

Links:

• Table Lamps
• Alarm Clock
• Coasters (Similar)
• Phone Charger
• Woven Baskets

Apartment Decor Ideas: The Corners

My favorite little corner in my room is to the right of my bed! I hung hanging shelves here (from Amazon), that I had a blast decorating. On the lower one I have another fake plant, a little elephant figurine that I bought in Thailand, a white “N” from Michael’s, and a succulent in a pink pot that I bought at Trader Joe’s. The top one has a wooden adventure sign that my sister got for me in Moab, Utah, a mini Eiffel Tower from  Paris, pampas grass, and a picture of my sister and me. This frame was originally hot pink – I spray painted this too instead of buying new ones to save money. I’ll link what I can below!

Underneath the shelves is a boho wooden drawer set that I use for storage. I got these drawers at a consignment shop in my town before I moved and fixed them up at home. I have another picture frame and a Homesick candle on top. Homesick candles are the best! They make the perfect gifts and are cute if you move. I’ll also link the electric lighter that I use for my candle and this cute little gold “ciao” sign that I have in this area too.

Links:

• Floating Shelves
• Name Letter
• Homesick Candle
• Candle Lighter
• Pampas Grass
• Ciao Sign

The other corner that I decorated, to the left of my bed, has this cute hanging pot from Homegoods, a floor length gold mirror, this fluffy stool, and my globe. I bought the fluffy stool at a consignment shop in Boston and the globe at Homegoods, so I can’t link these things, but I’m going to link the mirror because this is the BEST thing in my room! It was $90 on Amazon and is perfect for the corner.

Links:

• Hanging Pot (Similar)
• Corner Mirror

Apartment Decor Ideas: A Work Space

I kept my desk area simple with a one-drawer white desk, boho chair, some desktop decor, and of course, my Enjoy the Wood map, which I’ll talk about more towards the end of this post.

Since I moved here without any furniture, I had to buy everything here – and tried to do it as affordably as possible. I actually found this desk on Facebook Marketplace for $40. The best part? The previous owner had literally just taken it out of the box, built it, and decided she didn’t want it anymore. What a find! And I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of putting it together myself! I also found this chair on Facebook for about $20. It’s a little beat up, but I love the look of it. Since I can’t link to either of these items, I’m going to link to the previous desk and chair I owned before I moved. I LOVED them both, and totally would’ve moved them with me if I had the space.

Links:

• White Desk
• Acrylic Chair

I kept my desktop decor pretty basic too and tried to make it as practical as possible. This gold pencil holder and ceramic Rae Dunn notes holder are both from Homegoods, which I purchased a few years ago. The industrial desk lamp is from Amazon, which I’ll link below because I LOVE IT! It has an adjustable knob to change the brightness, which is my favorite part. On the left side, I have this small, fake potted plant that I spray painted white, my favorite travel-inspired desk calendar, and a cute gold hashtag to represent my love for (and career in!) social media. I actually found the hashtag on Poshmark, but will link a similar one from Amazon below.

Links:

• Desk Light
• Desk Calendar
• Hashtag (Similar)

Not pictured above but worth the mention are another few of my desk favorites. First, is a desk supplies kit that I got from Amazon that includes a rose-gold stapler, tape dispenser, pair of scissors, paperclips, and more. I’ll link this below. Also, I have an acrylic laptop shelf and pink keyboard. I was influenced to purchase the keyboard after seeing it go viral on TikTok and bought the shelf to go along with it. The shelf raises your laptop a few inches from your desk surface, which is not only great for posture, but gives you extra desk space. This keyboard fits perfectly under the shelf.

Links:

• Desk Supplies
• Computer Shelf
• Keyboard & Mouse

Apartment Decor Ideas: An Organized Closet

My closet here is my favorite one I’ve ever had! It’s huge! And I have two! I have a smaller closet with a swing-open door that I use primarily for bag storage, my sheets, towels, hamper, etc. They’re not pictured, but I have over-the-door hooks in here that I highly recommend for hanging towels / bags. I’ll link these below! This big closet, with sliding closet doors, is where I store all my clothes and shoes! It’s long enough for me to hang all of my tops, which is so nice!

I love organizing so I had fun putting this together. I have my coats, vests, sweatshirts, sweaters, etc. on the left side then dresses, rompers, and tops on the right, ending with tank tops all the way on the right. Some people organize by color, but I find it more practical to organize by season/ type of top. I’ve been using the black felt hangers pictured here for years and couldn’t recommend them more. I love the uniform look they provide, plus they’re non-slip!

I have a shelf above the clothing rack for a few more woven storage baskets that I keep my bathing suits, cover ups, and belts in. Underneath my clothing rack is a stackable shoe rack for all my shoes.

Links:

• Closet Hooks
• Felt Hangers
• Shoe Rack

Apartment Decor Ideas: The Dresser

A moment of silence for the dresser please… what a find! I also found this dresser on Facebook Marketplace… for a whopping $50! This was one of my best finds. It’s solid oak and was the exact size I wanted. It came with a bunch of residue on it, some stains, and really old handles, but I saw the potential for the price. I sanded it a bit, and cleaned it up with some polish. To finish it off, I replaced the handles with these sleek gold one from Amazon. They were super easy to install so I’ll link these below.

Links:

• Dresser Handles

I wanted this type of dresser so I could use the top to do my make up and get ready. This jewelry holder is from Homegoods, but I’ll link a similar one below. I found this tray in the $5 section at Target (my fav area), and decorated it with my brushes, a candle, and jewelry holder. This container was actually purple when I got it and I spray painted it to match my theme. I highly recommend doing this to revamp your current things! I also have a elephant figurine here that I got in Bali. My finds from around the world are my most precious belongings. On the right side I also have a fake snake plant, which I got at Homegoods, but will link a similar one below.

Links:

• Makeup Organizer
• Jewelry Stand (Similar)
• Wooden Tray (Similar)
• Snake Plant (Similar)

The last piece in this area is this gold hanging mirror. I originally bought one from Target, but I couldn’t hang it without using screws, so I returned it and got this one from Amazon instead. I think it’s the perfect size, plus it weighs less than 5 lbs so you can hang it with a Command hook!

Links:

• Hanging Mirror

Enjoy The Wood

Thank you so much to Enjoy The Wood for sponsoring this post! As mentioned above, Enjoy the Wood is a wooden map brand based in Europe that ships custom maps around the world. You can choose your shade of wood, size, add country labels, etc. to make these maps custom to your space. Their maps are also quite easy to assemble as the kits come with double sided tape and a guide for installing the map onto your wall. There were quite a few pieces for me to hang, but it only took me about an hour from start to finish. I absolutely love how this art installation came out and highly recommend getting a map of your own if you like to travel! If you’re interested in purchasing and want to save some $$$, you can use code ABROAD15 at checkout!

That concludes my apartment decor ideas and Charleston, SC apartment tour! I hope you all got some inspiration for your own spaces from this post and have fun creating your own home!

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