The limitations that come with moving into an apartment can put a damper on personalizing the apartment to make it your own. In most situations, you have to live with boring paint colors and standard floor coverings. The good news is, with a little creativity, you can use window treatments to personalize your space and create privacy without breaking the rules of the apartment complex or your budget.

Add Pizazz to Stock Blinds

Even if your apartment has the boring, neutral-colored stock blinds that are commonly found in rental units, you can use napkins to make a colorful, stylish valance. Valances are an easy, inexpensive way to add color and style to your windows without removing the blinds. To make a valance with napkins:

• Cut the napkins diagonally to make triangles
• To prevent the napkin from unraveling, fold the cut edge over about 1-inch and glue to the back using a glue-gun
• Put a line of glue along the back, top-edge of the napkin and adhere to the top, horizontal edge of the blinds (the top piece that covers the hardware)
• When you move, simply pull the napkins away from the blinds

Colorful Roller Shades

If you simply can't live with the stock blinds, replacing them with colorful roller shades is an easy fix. To personalize your roller shades, you will only need a few supplies: roller shades in the color of your choice, stencils, spray adhesive, fabric paint, and a stencil brush. To create designer roller shades:

• Lay the shade flat on top of newspaper or an old sheet or towel
• Spray the back of the stencil with spray adhesive and press onto the shade
• Using the fabric paint and the stencil brush, apply the paint directly onto the exposed area of the shade using a pouncing motion
• Remove the stencil and allow the paint to dry before installing the roller shade

Fused Designs

You can quickly personalize ready-made curtain panels or a roman shade with cut-designs fused to the fabric. All you'll need is a solid color curtain panel or roman shade, 1-yard of fabric (choose something with easy to cut-out designs from), iron-on fusible product and an iron. To add some fused pizazz to window treatments:

• Lay the shear, curtain panel or roman shade on a flat surface
• Set the iron at the lowest setting possible to complete the fusing
• Cut out the chosen designs and lay them out on the panel or shade in the style you want
• Follow the directions on the fusing product to attach to the curtain or shade

The apartment is your home, so it should be a reflection of your personality, and window treatments are a quick, easy and inexpensive way to accomplish this. Simply think about the look you want to achieve and get creative. Remember, if you switch out the stock blinds that were included with the apartment, be sure to store them in closet and hang them back up when you move.

For more information and ideas, contact a local window treatment supplier like Sylvan's & Phillip's.