Thanks, Washington Post! Advice for grads decorating first homes

Thanks, Washington Post, for including a bossy color nugget in today's article about decorating first apartments (or houses).

Can you guess which advice is bossy color's?

Oh, all right. I'll just tell you.

After thinking way back to when I first graduated and was renting a beautiful (and back then, affordable) place in the Kennedy-Warren, here's what I gave the Post.

- No color is more depressing than "rental unit cream." Definitely ask your landlord if you can paint a room or two (walls only). Choose a super light color: mistakes don't show as much, and it will be easier to paint over when you leave. Even a light color can have a dramatic impact.

And second -
- Liberate one "good" piece of furniture from your parents' house - a dresser, a desk, a coffee table - or buy something unique from a store like Good Wood. No matter how much Ikea and Target furniture surrounds it, this special piece will distinguish your apartment from everyone else's.

Although you can't see the cool detailing in the picture below, this is the piece I stole from my parents - ok, they gave permission - when my husband and I moved into our first condo together. It's a mahogany sideboard from my English grandmother's house. We had little else, so it really stood out.


Picture of the Kennedy-Warren from Wikipedia.