AMLI Blog | Living Apartment Life

Coasters play a key role in protecting hardwood tabletops and other nice surfaces from condensation rings and water droplets. They’re also easy to make. You can craft DIY coasters from a range of materials available for cheap from craft supply stores. If you dabble in DIY decor or other crafting, you likely already have some of them in your apartment. Here’s a list of household items and materials you can upcycle into beautiful DIY coasters. Clay Clay coaster ideas appear on several DIY craft and home decorating blogs. Depending what you’re aim is, you can purchase clay saucers, buy oven-bake clay, or […]

The Atlantic calls pumpkins “an American obsession.” According to the National Retail Federation, 46% of American households carved one in 2016. In spite of being a nearly ubiquitous Halloween activity, pumpkin carving is by no means easy or intuitive. But with the right preparation and tools, you can carve a next-level jack o’lantern that will put your past efforts to shame. Be a pumpkin patch pro The perfect pumpkin carving job starts at the pumpkin patch, or wherever you acquire your pumpkin. The cardinal rule of pumpkin picking is to choose a pumpkin with a stem, preferably one that is thick […]

Easy-care houseplants are all the rage these days. And many plants that require little water or sunlight to thrive have bizarre physical characteristics. As these easy-care plants grow more popular, an expanding selection is cropping up at nurseries and garden centers. Here are eleven strange, but beautiful houseplants that are gaining traction in the age of the easy-care houseplant. 1. Black Rose succulent (aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’) Most black plants are black either because they’ve been charred or diseased. These perennial succulents, characterized by large burgundy leaves arranged in floral patterns, are an exception. This drought-tolerant plant require little water and only partial sunlight. […]

You’ve heard of feng shui. You might even be able to distinguish between apartment interiors decorated with feng shui principles in mind and interiors inspired by other decorating styles. But how much do you know about the ancient Chinese philosophical system? Learn more about feng shui’s origins and defining principles in this post. Origins and History To the best of our knowledge, feng shui originated as an astronomical device designed to find correlations between humans and the universe. Today, it is best known as a harmonizing design philosophy. The primary goal of feng shui as an art form is to […]

According to Home Depot’s blog, the home improvement supplies company hand selects the best and brightest decorators and DIYers for its style challenges. At the beginning of March, certified interior decorator and AMLI Uptown resident Chári Herndon was asked to participate in Home Depot’s balcony makeover challenge, giving it a fresh and fabulous new look and feel. She enthusiastically accepted. She’d lived in apartments for 11 years, and never truly made over her own balcony or patio before. Chári decided it was time to focus on the space she had neglected most. We recently interviewed Chári about her balcony makeover. […]

With many people embracing a lifestyle of minimalism, studios have also lost some of their “cheap and cramped” reputation.

Whether you’re renting an apartment as a short-term housing solution or as a long-term residence, you want the décor to reflect your personality. In some rental situations, there are restrictions on what you can do to the interior space. If that’s a situation you find yourself in, consider it an opportunity to release your creativity, or discover the creative part of yourself that you didn’t know existed, and collect décor that creates a visual depiction of your personality. Include your favorite color Professional decorators often recommend that you paint one wall, called an accent wall, in a color that differs […]

Whether you’re living in a small apartment because it’s a better fit for your budget, due to the location or because you’re on board with the small home living trend, you don’t want your apartment to feel or look cramped. There are many decorating tips you can implement to increase the visual spaciousness of your apartment. Furniture Selection People tend to think that a small apartment requires small pieces of furniture. To make rooms appear more spacious, it’s best to include a few average size pieces of functional furniture than lots of small accent pieces. Tables with an open base […]

Sure, an apartment that looks like it’s been decorated by Mrs. Claus and an army of elves is impressive. But who has the time or money to change up the decor in every nook and cranny of an apartment, only to take everything down and rearrange after the New Year? Here are some holiday decor tips to make your apartment look great without breaking the bank or going mad before the fast-approaching holidays arrive. Decorate with what you have Reusing holiday decorations year after year is something almost everyone does, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Do that, yes. […]

When moving into an apartment, it can be easy to feel uncomfortable in a new space that doesn’t yet feel like home. Fortunately, your decor and furnishings can be enough to transform the setting and make it feel that way in no time. Try modernizing your apartment and make it up-to-date with the latest styles, there are a few important tips to follow. Change the light fixtures One of the quickest ways to give your apartment a quick update is to change out the light fixtures. According to Apartment Therapy, you can install new ceiling lamps that feature a bulb drum […]