How to Refresh an Old Apartment in Sweden Without Spending Money

Behind the charm of an old setting is always a tired and lived-in interior: uneven walls, peeling plaster, old radiators, and outdated interior doors. However, to refresh such an apartment, it is not necessary to start a capital renovation; you can get by with a can of paint, new curtains, and a couple of fiddle leaf figs. That's what they did in this one-room flat.

Painting Walls and Ceilings

The first thing done in this apartment was to refresh the walls and plaster the ceilings. To visually not reduce the already tiny one-room flat, they chose light tones: white, gray, and pale pink. In the living room, the walls were painted in two colors — white and pale pink. This makes the white beauty of the stove stand out on the pink wall.

White Color as a Helper

To avoid spending money on new doors and windows, the designers of this apartment painted them white. First of all, white interiors are easier to assemble than colored ones. And secondly, it's a great option when you don't have time to come up with something and need results immediately. By the way, white radiator paint dries quickly, doesn't smell, and costs a penny.

Flowers Bloom

A couple of plants can transform any apartment. Place them on windowsills or on a coffee table, as was done in this apartment. The most popular flowers in interiors are orchids, palms, fiddle leaf figs, and monstera. You can also look for unusual vases for flowers at flea markets or age clay pots yourself. Dry flowers also fit well in Scandinavian interiors.

Decor from What's at Hand

In this apartment, a tablecloth is made from a piece of white cotton fabric. If desired, the edges can be finished with an overlock stitch, but even without it, it will look harmonious. Add it with an antique candlestick bought at a vintage market, and the look is ready.

Another way to bring warmth into an apartment is to buy curtains slightly longer than the ceiling height. So that they slightly lie on the floor. By the way, curtains can also be sewn from a regular piece of fabric. In this apartment, the curtains are linen. Linen is transparent yet durable in sunlight.

Go through old magazines, posters, and prints. There's definitely something there that can fit into a frame and hang on the wall. Another way to decorate the walls is to print several images from the Internet, as the owners of this apartment did.

Textiles

In this apartment, the background is white, so the textiles here come in various shades and patterns: blue, brown, green, zebra, and stripes. Don't be afraid to experiment with textiles and look for interesting combinations, as they are always easy to change.

Carpets, by the way, are also an important detail in interior design. It is they who bring warmth into the apartment. Plus, carpets zone space. This is especially important when you need to define functional zones in one room: work (desk), sleeping (bed), and relaxation (sofa).

Reflections

Mirrors reflect light and increase space. Use this trick, as was done in this apartment. Here on particularly narrow areas — in the hallway — the designers decided to install a mirror cabinet. In the living room, to reflect light from wide windows, a mirror was built right into the stove.