SOYOUWANNA DECORATE YOUR APARTMENT (CHEAPLY)?

You finally have a place to call your own. A crib. A pad. A love nest. You're not sure what to call it, but it's better than your parents' house, and it's all yours. The only problem is, it's kind of empty. And you want to fill it with stuff so you can, like, have a party and impress your friends. And a little feng shui to bring you some luck couldn't hurt either. But you're no Martha Stewart (thank God), you don't have a lot of money, and you're also kind of busy. That's where we come in.

First off, first apartment decor - or first dorm room decor for that matter - doesn't have to be limited to beer posters and stackable storage crates. With a little imagination and the benefit of our guidance, you can put together a place you're proud of without breaking the bank. Just be sure to thank us by inviting us to your housewarming party. We'll bring the salsa.

1. EVALUATE THE SPACE

Since many first digs are smaller than closets and darker than medieval dungeons (sorry, we're a little bitter), it helps to know how to play down your apartment's bad points. Then take a look around your new surroundings and make a list of its aesthetic pros and cons. Does it have big windows but low ceilings? Great wood floors but a boxy, square feel? While emphasizing positive qualities takes little or no effort, counteracting undesirable elements is a bit harder. Here's some help:

One-room living (studios and dorm rooms)
Dark rooms
Tiny rooms
Boxy rooms
Low ceilings

One-room living (studios and dorm rooms)

You eat there, you sleep there, you watch Who Wants to be a Millionaire? there - all in that one, single, solitary room. Can you say "stir crazy?" While studios and dorm rooms can be a bit claustrophobic, they suck a lot less if they're pleasing to the eye and well arranged. With single-room living spaces, you have two options. You can either keep the room as spacious and open as possible, or you can divide it into areas of activity by using screens and/or large pieces of furniture that appear to "section off" one area from the next. Depending on the size of your place, the décor you choose and your lifestyle (whether or not you'll be doing a lot of work there, entertaining often, etc.), you can decide which option is better for you. Either way, be sure to keep it simple. Limit your color palette, and avoid clutter and excess furniture. Consider getting a two-in-one piece like a sofa bed or a futon to save space.

Dark rooms

No, not rooms where you develop your photos, silly. We mean rooms that resemble prehistoric caves. Don't know what time of day it is until you go outside? Well, brighten up dark rooms with light-colored walls, sheer curtains and plenty of plants. Mirrors also help by reflecting light and limiting the appearance of shadows. Opt for blinds instead of shades on your windows, and choose minimal lampshades with a translucent effect.

Tiny rooms

We can relate to the shoebox syndrome. Go with pale, cool colors, and fill the space with as little furniture as possible. Instead of a free-standing bookcase, for instance, try a shelf that's mounted to the wall with brackets. Also, if your room is really small, avoid busy patterns on items like curtains, tablecloths and bedspreads.

Boxy rooms

Adding character to a boxy room is fun because you get to break all the rules. The key is to create a focal point in the room. Paint one wall a different color than the rest, or hang up a funky mural or tapestry. Other focal point ideas include an attention-grabbing piece of furniture, or a ceiling covered with gauzy fabric and stick-on stars.

Low ceilings

Feel like the sky is falling? Raise the roof by using up-tilting lamps to cast as much light on it as possible. Paint the ceiling a shimmery, satiny, pale color, and do the walls one or two shades darker. Draw attention to the bottom half of the room with floor cushions, interesting rugs and low-to-the-ground seating.

2. DECIDE ON A STYLE

Even though your first apartment probably won't look like it jumped off the pages of an interior design magazine, there's no reason it can't have a cohesive theme that says something about your tastes and makes the most of what you have to work with. By combining hand-me-downs from friends and relatives with the right supplementary pieces, you can create a convincing version of one of the following styles. Really, you can! First find out what you can scam for free, and then figure out how these items can be incorporated into your look of choice. A few youth-friendly styles to consider:

• Eclectic - Also known as the "thrift shop" look, eclectic is a popular choice for many first-time apartment dwellers. It mixes the vintage with the new, the ugly with the stylish, the practical with the weird. Your end tables don't match? No problem. Your sofa is paisley and your pillows are striped? That's fine. Eclectic can look kind of hip and bohemian if it's done right, and awful if it's done wrong. Either you're born with the talent for it, or you're not. If you don't want to take the risk, move on.
  
  
• Traditional - The traditional style is just what you think it would be - matching wood furniture, a comfy plaid couch, and colorful, coordinating accessories. Smart, functional and straightforward, apartments done in this style tend to look friendly and pulled-together. And your mom would like it.
  
  
• Ethnic - Why not add a little international flavor to your crib? Go for an Asian look, with paper lanterns, hand-painted tables and curtains made from kimono fabric. If India is more your speed, try Batik-print pillows, velvet drapes and plenty of candles. Pretty swanky, eh?
  
  
• Minimalist - If you're a sucker for all things sleek, consider the minimalist look. Picture this: A black leather couch, a postmodern painting on the wall, and a glass coffee table holding nothing but an empty vase. Knickknacks? No way. Curtains? Just vertical blinds, please. The minimalist look is chic and clean, but can also appear kind of cold and unhomey.
  
  
• Kitsch - This style is definitely for people with a sense of humor. We're talking hula girl statues, Elvis lamps and taxi cab telephones. Kitsch is over-the-top, cartoonish, playful, and cheesy. Total Vegas. It's achieved almost exclusively through accessories (and tons of 'em!), so keep your furniture basic so it can serve as a backdrop. If you collect things, then this is definitely for you.
  
  
• Interest-specific - Have a passion you'd like to flaunt? Decor to the rescue. Football fanatic? Paint goal posts on the wall and hang up some helmets. Film buff? Do an entire room in movie posters. If you like this approach - but think it seems a little too obsessive - test it out in the bathroom, where the stakes aren't as high. This way, instead of freaking your guests out when they first walk in, you can do so when they're a captive audience.

3. CHOOSE A COLOR SCHEME

If color doesn't seem like it's worthy of concern, think back to the puke-green walls of your junior high school cafeteria. Get the point? Color makes an immediate and lasting visual impact, and gives off an array of mood-changing associations.

As soon as you've evaluated your apartment and settled on a style, you should choose a color scheme that both complements the space and suits your personal preferences. By understanding the qualities of primary and secondary colors, you'll get a better idea of what shades will work best.

Primary colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue.
Secondary colors: Orange, Green, and Violet.

• Red - Bright and bold, red suggests vitality and aggressiveness. It's a great accent color, making cold, open rooms seem more inviting and intimate. Deep, subtle shades of red such as burgundy and maroon are perfect for living rooms.
  
  At its worst, red is: Too dramatic
  Complementary color: Green
  
  
• Yellow - Stimulating, sunny and cheerful, yellow is associated with intellect, power and creative energy. Bright yellows bring warmth and light into dark rooms, and pale yellows make small rooms seem larger. It's also a great kitchen color.
  
  At its worst, yellow is: Disruptive
  Complementary color: Violet
  
  
• Blue - Blue denotes harmony, peace, steadfastness and loyalty. While it's appropriate for any room, blue is an excellent bedroom color because it makes one feel comforted and serene. It can also soften rooms that are over-bright.
  
  At its worst, blue is: Cold
  Complementary color: Orange
  
  
• Orange - Orange combines the energy of red with the intellectual associations of yellow. Dominant and lively, it's a fun choice for bathrooms and work areas. Peachy oranges have a delicate effect, while brownish oranges (like terra cotta) give off warm, cozy vibes.
  
  At its worst, orange is: Non-relaxing
  Complementary color: Blue
  
  
• Green - The color of nature, green is refreshing and pleasing to the eye. It makes dim apartments seem more vibrant by bringing a garden-like atmosphere indoors. With its varying shades, green works in just about any room.
  
  At its worst, green is: Dull
  Complementary color: Red
  
  
• Violet - Strong and majestic, violet is a powerful accent color. Pastel violets take on the characteristics of red or blue depending on which is more prominent in the shade. (Lilac, for example, takes on blue's characteristics, while lavender takes on red's qualities.)
  
  At its worst, violet is: Overpowering
  Complementary color: Yellow

To balance out the splashy colors above, add neutral earth tones and strong, sleek shades of black and gray. Another universal color is white, which, in its various incarnations (off-white, beige, and eggshell), provides a can't-go-wrong foundation for any room.

If you're lucky enough to have more than one room, try doing a different color scheme for each (e.g., a forest green and burgundy living room, a baby blue and white bathroom, a violet and gray bedroom, etc.).

A few last color guidelines:

• Deep "warm" colors give a room an intimate, cozy feel. They are: red-violet, red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, and yellow.
  
  
• Light "cool" colors make a room seem more spacious and elegant. They are: green, blue-green, blue, and blue-violet. White also has this effect.
  
  
• Even if you have all-white walls (many landlords and dorm managers won't allow residents to paint), you can easily convey color schemes through curtains, pillows, lamps, candles, blankets, area rugs, etc.
  
  
• Avoid puke-green at all costs. Unless you actually liked the '70s.

4. BECOME A BARGAIN HUNTER

We here at SoYouWanna.com are very practical (translation: we're tightwads), and we understand that most of you can't afford a shopping spree at Pottery Barn. That said, we'd like to clue you in on a few tried-and-true money-saving methods. Don't worry, they're all perfectly legal.

Finagle freebies

We mentioned it before, and we'll say it again: get as much as you possibly can for free. Check out the recliner that's collecting dust in your uncle's garage. Convince your parents to buy a new couch so you can have their old one. Ask Grandma what she does with her old curtains (you know she doesn't throw those things away, so follow her up to the attic and take a peek). Find out if your school or office is looking to unload a halfway-decent desk. You get the idea. You can also wake up before the garbage men on trash day. Hey, we didn't say getting something for nothing would be pretty.

Take a trip to the thrift shop

Remember the old grade school insult, "Where did you get your outfit, the Salvation Army?" Well, now that can be taken as a compliment. Now that retro is cool, there's no better place to scope out blissfully ugly '70s lamps than your local thrift shop - especially if you've chosen "Eclectic" or "Kitsch" as your theme. Knickknacks, vases, framed pictures - they're all there. It's also a great place to get furniture. Couches, for example, go for as little as forty bucks. If you're sceeved out by the idea of sitting on someone else's sofa (because God only knows what that baby has been through), seek professional help for your paranoia. Better yet, get it cleaned or re-upholstered, or try covering it up with a colorful sheet to make it look like new.

Be a garage sale groupie

Every neighborhood has them, and now you'll get to see what all the fuss is about. Garage sales (a.k.a. yard sales or tag sales) have a lot of the same finds that thrift stores have, and sometimes the stuff is even cheaper. You may have to haggle ("Forty dollars for this? I'll give you a buck and a half."), but it's worth it. Go early, before the crowd shuffles in and gets all the good crap.

Outfit your bathroom at the 99-cent store

If you buy your bathroom stuff from a department store, we can't be your friends anymore. It hurts too much to see someone pay ten times the price. Dollar stores (or even better, 99-cent stores) are the only logical choice for items like shower curtains, toothbrush holders, soap dishes, waste paper baskets, bath mats, etc. They won't literally be 99 cents each (false advertising to lure you in), but they'll be dirt cheap and well worth the seedy atmosphere.

Dress your windows at the discount store

Places like Kmart, Wal-Mart and Target have the best window treatments around, hands down. Whether it's curtains, rods, blinds or shades, look no further than your favorite mass-market megastore. Great selection, ridiculously low prices, and blue light specials left and right. You can't beat it.

Buy furniture you assemble yourself

You may be surrounded by planks of fake wood and assorted nuts and bolts for a couple of hours, but you do what you have to do to save a buck. Places like IKEA and the aforementioned discount stores offer an array of inexpensive pieces that come in boxes and require assembly. The quality of the furniture isn't always premium, but it will look just fine and last you a few years - which is probably the amount of time it will take you to be able to afford the better stuff. You can get dressers, bookcases, kitchen tables, entertainment centers, you name it. Isn't life grand? If you're weary of wielding tools, recruit a couple of handy friends. Buy them a pizza or something.

Don't purchase pricey pictures

Why buy an expensive framed picture when you get the same effect for a fraction of the cost? Simply buy a print from a poster shop, then buy a frame from a discount store. Voila! Instant chic.

Seek out knockoffs

This is one of our favorites. Go to stores that are out of your price range and scout out looks you really dig. Nine times out of ten, you can get them cheaper somewhere else. Like that metallic trash can at Urban Outfitters? There's a similar one at Target. Cool wrought iron magazine rack at Pier One? We saw the same one at Odd Job. Great oriental tapestry at the museum shop? Hang up a sheet of funky, Far Eastern-inspired material instead, courtesy of the local fabric store. O.K., we'll shut up now.

And now your new apartment is decorated, and you have enough money left over to throw together a little shindig! But don't forget to invite us to that party. We're dying to see your place.