充滿美好回憶的餐廳 – 租屋的溫馨低預算佈置
吃，對我來說特別重要！○(*￣︶￣*)○
從小到大，最喜歡的就是全家人一起吃晚飯的時間。
一起享用媽媽煮的美味佳餚、一起說笑～
家人的感情就是在飯桌邊培養的。
現在有了自己的小家庭，我也是特別享受全家在一起吃飯。
在我看來，有好的用餐環境特別重要。
這次要跟大家分享的是我如何佈置我們公寓的餐廳（dining room）。
一樣是用很少的預算佈置。目前租房子就是走省錢路線嘛～ ╭(′▽`)╭(′▽`)╭(′▽`)╯
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Meal time has always meant a lot to me. Not only because I love to eat, but also because it is important for family bonding. If you are not familiar with Asian culture, at least Chinese culture, many families don’t have meals together, not even dinners. Being in an extremely competitive society, parents are busy with work and kids usually just go straight to more classes after school. I feel really grateful that my mom always insisted we had dinner together. It’s an important time for our whole family to bond.
My family had a beautiful dining room, and that had a huge impact on me. It’s nice to enjoy meals in a beautiful environment! Therefore, I’m sharing how I decorated the dining room in our rented apartment with a small budget.
在我們租的公寓裡，除了我女兒的房間，我第二喜歡的空間就是我們的餐廳！
我們的餐廳主要是以英國倫敦為主題。
我喜歡餐廳有個大大的窗戶。早餐的時候，光線特別好，可以看到鳥和松鼠在樹上玩耍。
因為餐廳的空間小，而我不想用視覺上太笨重的傢俱，會讓空間看起來擁擠。所以用的餐桌和椅子都是細腿型的，讓整個空間比較有“透視感”、輕盈感。 ~(￣▽￣)~
桌子是以前在二手店買的，＄20美金。桌面本來是深咖啡色的，我自己在桌面貼了一層大理石紋路貼紙（marble contact paper）- 是個快速改善物品表面的好方法。白色能讓小空間顯得不擁擠。這次搬家沒有想要換新桌子，因為想說之後買了自己的房子，肯定會因空間的改變需要換桌子，所以現在就先用舊的。
椅子是為了搭配桌子在Amazon網上找的。四把椅子＄100多美金。雙人凳也是在Amazon網上買的。
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My daughter’s room is my favorite space in our apartment, and our London themed dining room is my second favorite!
>>> Click here to see how I decorated my daughter’s room
My favorite feature of the dining room is actually not the decoration, but the big window. Nothing is more beautiful than natural light!
I love watching the birds and squirrels on the trees outside our window during breakfast time.
Our dining room is not an open space that it has walls on its four sides, which makes it seem really small. To avoid making the space look even more crowded, I used furnitures with “skinny legs”, which will allow the light to flow throughout the room and keep it airy.
The dining table is an old one that I found in a thrift store for $20, and we have had it for 3 years now. I covered the originally brown table top with marble contact paper. (When decorating a small space, I love using white or light colored furnitures to keep it not seems crowded.) Contact paper is a good and cheap way to give your old items a quick makeover before you decide to permanently change them. We will probably get our own home in the future, and when we do, I will definitely need to get a new dining table that fits the space in our home, so the old table will do in our apartment for now.
I got the chairs and the bench from Amazon to match with the table.
我跟我老公是在倫敦相識的。（雖然當時一點都不熟）
在倫敦生活一年半之後，回到美國繼續完成大學學業。
不久之後，我老公也回到美國讀書，他開始聯絡、約我出去……一年之後我們結婚。
我們兩個都很喜歡英國倫敦的文化與生活。那是一個擁擠卻美麗的城市。
也因為那是我們第一次相遇的地方，所以它有特別的意義。(∩_∩)
我們也因此特別喜歡搜集與倫敦相關的裝飾和紀念品。
在之前的家裡，這些收藏都是零零散散地放著。
搬到這個公寓以後，決定把它們都集結起來在一個空間，製造一個 “倫敦” 主題的餐廳。 \(^o^)/
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I first met my husband in London while doing a volunteer work for the Church. We didn’t know each other well then. I returned to the United States to finish my college after living in England for 18 months. And not long after that, my husband came to my state for school as well. He contacted me and asked me out, and the rest is history…
We both love our time in London so much that we had collected many London-related decorations and souvenirs over the years. In our previous home, the London decors were scatter all over house. When we moved into our current apartment, I decided to have them all in one place to create a stronger sense of theme. The dining room became the perfect space to display our collections.
女兒的房間，我是按照選好的“調色盤”（color palette）去佈置。
調色盤除了可以上網找，也可以用房間裡的畫作來當作顏色依據。
我之前在網上看到有人在拍賣這幅倫敦照片（原本買自IKEA），我就用$25跟她買下來。（IKEA應該是賣$60左右）
我就用這幅大的照片作為我餐廳空間的調色盤。
所有的佈置物品和傢俱的顏色都跟照片裡用到的顏色一樣或接近。
所以如果你本來就有收藏一些大幅的畫作或照片（盡量面積大的那種），就可以按照其中的顏色來佈置你的空間。 ^_^
可以先選好這個房間或客廳要掛什麼畫，再按照畫中的顏色去買搭配的抱枕、沙發、椅子、窗簾、花瓶等等物品。
用這種方式佈置能確保整個空間的和諧感。
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Years ago, I bought this London double decker bus photo from another college girl who was moving for $25. (She originally purchased it from IKEA for $60.) It has been my favorite wall decor.
This wall art is my color palette for the dining room. I decorated the room according to the colors in this photo. (So mostly grey, white, other neutral colors and some red…)
If you don’t know what color palette to choose for your room, find a wall art (preferably large size) that speaks to you, and then decorate your room according to it… find matching pillows, furnitures, lamps, curtains, small decorative pieces, etc.
It’s an easy way to keep your whole room cohesive.
除了與倫敦相關的裝飾品，我也留了一面牆掛我們家庭的照片。
這個空間不只是我跟我老公的回憶，也充滿全家族美好的記憶。
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Other than the London decorations, I also filled one of the walls with our family portraits. It’s not just a room about our London memories, but also a room to remind us of our families during dinner time (especially when not all of them live close to us).
會自己照相、編輯照片的好處就是：大部分的家庭照可以自己拍。嘿嘿～
照片我是在Walmart印8×10寸。其實Shutterfly的畫質會更好，但我覺得以Walmart Photo這樣便宜的價位，它的品質其實也不差。（比CVS印得好，又更便宜）
畫框是在1元店買的，很便宜，也不是很堅固，但很省錢。 <(￣ c￣)>
尤其是目前搬家搬來搬去的，還不想買太貴的框，怕不小心摔壞。
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I took most of these photos, expect for the wedding pictures. It’s nice to be a professional photographer, so I don’t have to spend a lot on having family photos taken.
I printed these photos (size 8×10) from Walmart Photo Center. It’s not as nice as websites like Shutterfly, but I think the quality is nicer than CVS and it’s also cheaper. (Actually, it is the cheapest photo printing service that I’ve discovered so far.)
I got the gold frames from Dollar Tree. They look nice and are super cheap, but yes, they can also break very easily… haha. However, we are in a phase of moving a lot… And things get broken during moves very easily, so these cheap frames are just perfect, ’cause I’m not going to be too sad if one of them gets broken accidentally.
Photo frames from dollar stores are great options when you are renting and have a small budget for decorating. They are light, cheap, and easy to be replaced.
去飾品店買畫，有時價錢挺貴的。(￣▽￣＃)
一個省錢的牆上佈置方法是：自己畫 或 用年曆（calendar）。
左邊的圖就是之前朋友送我的年曆的其中一張，右邊是我大姑畫送給我們的。
在美國很多人喜歡在聖誕節時送明年的年曆。
年曆上美美的圖或照片可以留下來，買個框裝起來，就會變成很美的牆上裝飾。（在美國，可以等到一、二月時，去賣場、購物中心的年曆專賣店、玩具店或書店，買打折的年曆。）
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Wall art can be costly sometimes.
One way to save on wall art, other than DIY, you can use your old calendars.
Just frame the beautiful images of your old calendar that you got from last Christmas. If you didn’t get a calendar during the holiday, go to a mall or a bookstore in January or February, and you can find many cute calendars on sale! It’s so much cheaper than buying an actual painting.
我們公寓餐廳天花板的燈本來是右圖中那種無聊的燈。（租房子大部分都是這種燈）
雖然我們走省錢路線，但後來我跟我老公決定應該投資一點錢在吊燈上。
很多人在改造家裡時，往往會忽略“燈”的重要性。
但其實每個房間的照明，應該是設計的優先重點。
燈的造型，可以給空間帶來很大的變化。
換個有設計感或有特色的吊燈，整個空間馬上就變得有質感起來。
房間的氣質就是不一樣！
這個吊燈是在IKEA買的，叫做“IKEA PS 2014”。（可以點擊粗體字直接去網站連結）
但我老公說它是電影星際大戰裡的“死星” 哈哈哈
看起來是蠻像的，所以我老公才會這麼想買吧！ ^口^
舊的燈當然沒丟掉，先收起來了。搬家之前，還得給人家把舊的燈裝回去呢！
換燈其實一點都不難（但最好需要兩個人一起做），上youtube就可找到教學影片怎麼做了。
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The lighting of a room is so important and often being overlooked by many of us.
If you want your apartment to not look like a rental, invest some money in getting some nice light fixtures.
You will be surprised how a stylish pendant light or floor lamp can change the atmosphere of the whole room!
We swapped out the boring ceiling light fixture (as picture shown on the right) with an IKEA pendant light.
My husband absolutely loves it. He said that it looks like the Death Star from Star Wars. (Yes, he is a HUGE Star Wars fan.)
I’m glad we got the light. It really has made the dining atmosphere a lot nicer and made living in a rented apartment more enjoyable.
最後，別忘了用一點植物裝飾，讓空間更有生氣勃勃的感覺。
沒有植物真的會感覺很死……
我個人是不太喜歡放花。我覺得綠植看起來比沒有風格或年代限制，換句話說，比較百搭。
如果有花的話，還得擔心花的顏色跟房間的色系搭不搭。
如果不會養花養草的話，可以選擇用人造植物。
不過千萬不要買便宜貨。做得很假的花花草草，真的真的真的醜不拉嘰！
多花點心思找、多花點錢，買逼真的人造花。你不會後悔的！ <(￣︶￣)/
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Lastly, don’t forget to accessorized the room with some plants to make the space more “lively”.
Personally, I prefer leafy plants rather than flowers. I think indoor plants without flowers give a more “timeless” vibe. And I don’t need to worry whether the color of the flowers matches the color scheme of the room.
If you a person who is not blessed with green fingers, like I am, get artificial plants. You don’t ever have to worry about watering them. However, make sure you get artificial plants that look ALMOST REAL. Although I’ve bought many decorative things from Dollar Tree, DO NOT buy artificial flowers or plants from there! Cheap looking fake plants can ruin the aesthetic of the whole room.
“租房如何在牆上貼裝飾，不用釘子、不傷牆壁？？？”
很多租屋會規定不可以用釘子在牆上，就算沒有規定不可以，也會要求搬出去的時候要把牆上的洞洞補起來。
雖然我在牆上貼那麼多東西，但用的方法一點都不傷牆壁呦！
我用的是右圖中的這種專門掛畫框的魔鬼氈貼。
真的不傷牆面，很神奇！
大幅的畫，也能掛，就多貼幾條。
貼之前要清乾淨牆面的灰塵，不然會影響它的黏性呦！
被掉下來的畫砸到頭可不好玩…… 對，我中過獎……
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I use velcro hanging strips to hang all my wall art.
I’ve found this method the most renter-friendly. 😀
I’m amazed by how much weight the hanging strips can hold up. (Heavier paintings need more strips.)
If you have a lot to hang on the wall, like I did, I think Costco is the best place to buy hanging strips.
看我其他的室內佈置分享Check out my other interior makeover：
>>> 女兒的可愛房間 My Daughter’s Big Girl Room