Warm weather has finally arrived and, as the seasons change, updating your apartment’s decor to reflect the warm breezes and sunny skies outside can help you make the most of summer in the city. Of course, coming up with summer decorating ideas for NYC apartment living that don’t require too much space (or too much storage space come fall) can be challenging. With that in mind, take advantage of these three small apartment decorating trends to help you capture summer’s laid-back ease.
Bring the Outdoors Inside
Nothing says summer has arrived as much as blooming, colorful and fragrant flowers. NYC residents can take full advantage of their local bodega’s ample stock of flowers to inexpensively add summertime charm to their apartment. Flowers on the kitchen counter, the coffee table and your nightstand? Summer has definitely arrived. Tired of spending money on cut flowers that wilt within a few days? Consider a single orchid plant at the center of a table for a beautiful way to bring the outdoors in. Orchids are easy to care for, and they bring year-round greenery to your home.
Catch the Light with Mirrors
The days are finally getting longer, and with longer days comes more sunshine. As any NYC apartment dweller knows, natural light is one of the city’s hottest commodities, and increasing the amount of sunlight that your apartment receives is one of the best ways to capture the spirit and atmosphere of summer. Of course, you can’t exactly start adding new windows, but you can do the next best thing and place mirrors in strategic places around your apartment. By hanging mirrors opposite your windows, you can distribute natural light more easily around your apartment and bring the bright summer days indoors. (As an added bonus: well-placed mirrors can make a small apartment appear larger–and give you multiple opportunities throughout the day to check out the progress you’re making on your tan.)
Incorporate the Year’s Hottest Color
Each year, the Pantone Color Institute announces their Color of the Year, launching decor trends centered around this fresh color palette. Called “Greenery,” this year’s color is gorgeous and perfect for guiding your redecorating project for the warm summer months. Greenery is a vibrant shade of yellow-green meant to evoke the lushness of the outdoors and promote re-invigoration, and the kitchen and bathroom are wonderful places to use this happy, fresh color.
Want to be even bolder? Cover your walls in the famous Martinique wallpaper, known for adorning the coffee shop in the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel. Centered around a repeating banana leaf motif, this wallpaper is in vogue right now for the bathroom or–if you’re adventurous–the living room.
