Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

September 29, 2019

Renter Friendly Apartment Decor: How I Added a Polka Dot Border Wall.

     Happy Sunday!! I asked on Instagram Stories yesterday if y'all would rather see this post today or at the end of next week (since I don't usually do blog posts on the weekends). The answer was overwhelmingly to post it today, so here we go! I'm so excited to be sharing a review and tutorial for using these renter-friendly wall decals, and more info about the Etsy shop that sells them!


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     I moved across town in Charlottesville and into a new apartment over Labor Day Weekend this year. I've been moving around a lot for the last few years: I've moved apartments every single year since graduating college in 2016... and technically I've moved every year since 2012 if you count all of my college dorm moves too! As for the apartments I've lived in post-grad, I've genuinely liked each and every one. All of them have had unique features and benefits and I've loved making each one into a home- but a downside to all three of my past apartments is that they've all looked very bland. All have had the same off white walls and beige carpeting. Yes- there is a lot you can do to improve that with furniture and wall art choices, but it's still not quite as fun to decorate as I imagine a future home will be someday, when I can totally mix up the walls and flooring!

     After my roommate and I signed the  lease on our new Charlottesville place, I started dreaming up ways that I could make my new bedroom look unique and different from my past apartments. I quickly fell in love with the idea of temporary wallpaper! Temporary wallpapers come in a million different color and design options, and are designed with a special adhesive so that it doesn't damage the paint when it's removed (i.e. great for renters). Seems perfect right? Well... it was until I saw the prices. Temporary wallpaper panels cost a lot more than regular wallpaper- one quote I looked at for doing an accent wall in my bedroom was $500+.  😳 Yep- definitely not in my budget, especially when I might not be in this new apartment more than a few years!

    So I felt back at square one for figuring out how to decorate my new room. I continued to browse different options online, and then I was so excited to find Kenna Sato Designs! This is Etsy shop sells tons of gorgeous wall decals, which were listed as being renter safe and non-damaging to painted walls. A lot of the designs in the store were more appropriate for a baby or kid's room, but there were also several gorgeous ones to choose from that were totally appropriate for an adult apartment! 

     I fell in love with the Polka Dot Wall Decals and knew that I had to have them. I reached out to the shop owner, McKenna, and she was gracious enough to send me two packages to review, and she also sponsored a giveaway with a shop credit that I shared on Instagram a few weeks ago. These decals come in about 30 different color options, and you can get up to three colors per pack. Since I requested two packs, I did six colors! All of the Kenna Sato Designs decals are made from high quality vinyl, and able to stick well on most types of painted walls without further adhesive. 


     These wall decals were unbelievably easy to apply! I decided to do a polka dot border on the wall that my bed would go against. There were application instructions in the package- but the short story is you literally just press them on... and they stay stuck! So incredibly easy. I was thankful that my lease started before I actually moved in; it was much easier to have lots room to apply these than to be working around furniture. Here's a few pictures of the progress:






    I did take me between 2-3 hours to put up all of the polka dots, but the process itself was very easy! Just a little lengthy. 🙂 The decals have been up for about 6 weeks now, and they still look fantastic! None of them have fallen off or shifted. I absolutely love the way it looks in my room- having these decals up has added so much color and character. Now here are a few pictures of the finished project:




    If you're looking for renter friendly wall decor- I can't recommend Kenna Sato Designs enough! She has so many fun styles in her shop- something to fit every decor style. And her decals are so much more affordable than most temporary wallpapers! Although speaking of that- she posted that she is soon adding a few of her own wallpaper designs to her shop, which I can't wait to see.

    My room still isn't set up 100% how I love it yet- so it'll be a bit longer before I share full bedroom and apartment tours. But hopefully you enjoyed this little preview! 😊




    God Bless,


    xoxo Annaliese 
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3 comments

  1. How fun! Love the pops of color -- reminds me of confetti! So cheerful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a fun border! Love how it adds color to the room!
    Ellibelle's Corner

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  3. How fun is this decor! I wish I had known about this in college. Also, I think I have the same bed in our guest room. I love it.

    ReplyDelete

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