Oh my god that place is awful. You couldn't find anything better? I have no suggestions other than to move out. Good luck!

Lots of options, really.

The ceiling:
1) paint the tiles black or grey to obliterate the grid lines.
2) Paint the grid lines white/cream to downplay them.
3) Emphasise the whole catastrophe and paint the tile bright colours as you suggested. I've no idea how difficult that might be.

The walls.
How well is it stuck on there? If it is fairly well adhered:
1) Paint right over the wall paper.
If it isn't,
2) take it down. Lots of steam and a spray bottle and a wedge shaped spatula. It can be quite gratifying to take it sown. Invite a friend and make it a work party.

First thing I would do is paint the grid lines of the ceiling to match the tiles as closely as possible. The landlord *probably* won't like you painting the tiles themselves, but painting the grid lines is probably okay (check first) and will go a long way towards making it a little less obvious.

As far as the wallpaper goes, check with the landlord to see if they'll let you take it down. It may take a bit of elbow grease but if they cover any costs you incur it'll be well worth it for you (and for them). If they will not let you take it down/paint over it/alter it in any way well....at least it's a neutral color and not some awful, loud print :) If that winds up being the case, I'd just try to make the best of it and hang some art you like or maybe a couple of shelves for books/display items to kind of downplay the huge expanse of beige-faux-woodiness.

Use fabric to make some kind of tent?

eek..well i'd drape the place in fabric, from floor to ceiling and hang a fabulous chandelier -

Congrats on a new space. I'm assuming a rental, and that all issues of a rental apply (cosmetic change only, reversible changes, no repainting without landlord approval, etc.)

Now, don't panic til you get your "stuff of life" into the room.

It may seem dire now, but once more of your stuff gets in place, these glaring issues will seem remarkably less glaring.

You may even find that challenges turn into inspiration... find a black and white grid bedspread, for example, and that less-than-ideal ceiling turns into a design feature.

yeah, fabric! even if it's not draped and tented.... inexpensive fabric on some wood stretchers will be easy, replaceable, movable, and totally customized to what you like... w/ the ceiling, you could even use....THUMBTACKS. anything to cover it up, ey?

I agree with painting the black ceiling grid. I like the idea of a fabric wall perhaps just behind the bed so you can go with some a little crazy.

Treat it like a window curtain and put a rod up as high as possible and the let fabric bunch up and fall behind the bed.

Hang up some artwork.

You'll be good to go. At least the wallpaper is something neutral even if it's fake wood. It might be a little easier to match... just DON'T get matching furniture!

Good luck!

If you're allowed to paint the tiles themselves, you could go for a Mondrianesque installation art piece...

http://images.google.com/images?q=mondrian&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=em1&um=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title

I would caution against the fabric depending on what the rest of the room looks like. How big is the whole room and are there any windows? I think in a smaller room, the fabric would just make me feel claustrophobic whether it was draped or stretched like a canvas. Just my opinion...I really say kind of try to live with it. The wallpaper is certainly not a first choice, but it's not the WORST and the very neutral color could make it easier to ignore by focusing on other things in the room.

That room looks kind of like a nightmare...

I think the fabric solution is best and could be really fun and interesting. I have always tossed around the idea of creating a really cozy Moroccan den of sorts to sleep in. There can be a fine line between cozy and claustrophobic, depending on the person, but if done right it could be great. Plus...it would really be hard to succeed in making it worse.

it looks like your sleeping in an office cubicle.
paint the room with flat paint only, then paint the ceiling grid white.
i would keep the colors soothing neutrals

Start with what you like least and pick a strategy and then fill that strategy out across the whole room. What you react to will be so different from anyone else.

For example, I find that the room's biggest problem is that it looks sort of institutional and cold. The walls are glossy, ceiling tiles are for insurance offices, and it looks pretty tight. I would try to be funny (warmth takes more natural light and a taller ceiling, unfortunately.)

So, first, change the walls by one of (and in order of preference) 1) paint 2) cover with funky temporary wallpaper 3) hang fabric (light and tight weave to limit claustrophobia) 4) three foot wide strips of paper that you then have fun with by painting on 5) posters.

Ceiling: 1) Remove a tile by pushing up gently and see what's underneath. If it isn't bad, take them all out and use some cool lighting up there to extend the ceiling. Save the panels. Nothing damaged so the owner should care less. (dust will fall in your eyes, so be careful) 2) be ironic - get colored masking tape in the same width as the black grid and start messing with it - create diagonals, pinwheels, curvy lines. Change it often. put some glow stars up there while you are at it. make fun of the ceiling. often. 3) those tiles are great for sticking mobiles into, and if they are small and skinny it might even appear to extend the ceiling upward.

Get rid of any institutional-looking furniture and get closer to the floor - it will also raise the ceiling. It looks like carpet so cover it with a washable natural fiber rug (like cotton) - prevents stains and is nicer to the touch. Let us know what happens!

Don't listen to these haters. Congratulations on getting your first place. You must be pretty psyched to get it all rigged up. Also, even though those panels on your ceiling maybe aren't your favorite type of ceiling, they do have some pretty serious sound absorbing capabilities, which the hardwood-tin sandwich in a lot of these people's sweeping lofts lack. Looking at that pretty ceiling doesn't make up for much when your upstairs neighbors have a coke-fueled dance dance revolution party at 5am.

I think you'll be able to come up with some way to make your room nicer and its definitely got some positives. Eg you appear to have space between your bed and at least two walls. And your bed looks pretty cool. You have crown molding and tall baseboards. In fact, the only bunk things here are the Tron ceiling and the dentist's walls.

People are always like "do this to open up the room, don't do this cause it'll shrink the room." I don't think increasing perceived bigness should be the be-all end-all. What about carpet tiles? on the wall? If you can't paint. Just thinking out loud here. what about covering one wall with cheapo mirrors from ikea?

I also like the carpet idea. Even if the area above the carpet tiles is bogus, it would be kind of cool to take the tiles out, put them in safe storage, then put inexpensive fabric up there, either loosely so it slighltly billowed through the squares, or taughtly (this could even be on the outside, or woven through the grid) and then put lights up there, so the whole thing is a big glowing light fixture. If you get like white muslin or something this would be very, very affordable. Makes the grid less contrasty when off, and makes it something kinda cool when on. Then again, it might look ridiculous, but its not like you can't change it.

I have to agree with Patrick (too). Put your things in there first and then see what you can do to improve upon the space.

I think if you tried to attack the space at this point it may prove to be overwhelming. Wow! where is this place? I've seen some basements like this before. I lived in what could be considered a cellar at one point, not one of my favorites, but I covered the walls and ceiling with fabric that fit my style at that particular time (hippie college student). But you could use a similar strategy with different textures and colors that suit your style. You have a sprinkler head which is one thing I didn't have. But you probably won't be burning incense and um...herbs.

fabric all the way! i had a room just like this once (it was actually worse if you could believe that), and i draped the ceilling in indian sari fabric, and hung a chandelier in the corner. you can go indian or moroccan on the room, and make it lovely.

if it were me i'd totally emphasize the office-y nature of it and make a tweed headboard edged in stainless strips to look like a cubicle wall, use old office/industrial casegoods as bureaus, etc. Find sheets the colors of manila file folders, etc.

i would understand many people would not like that as their bedroom. But i say make some lemonade...

You could try wrapping the surface of those ceiling tiles with a stretchy fabric or fabrics in the color(s) of your choice. Just pop em out, wrap em and pop em back in. I'd go with something fireproof, though.

If you want to spend $$$, tiles in other materials are available, like wood or simulated wood.

hi Catherine,
not sure why some of the comments posted here have snarky remarks about your room when you've been cool enough to ask for advice on the room! you'll love having your own place, and every new place needs some work to personalize it. as you start to add color and your personal items to the room you will see quick and dramatic improvements. a lot of the sincere suggestions listed in postings above are fantastic. good luck and have fun with it!

I know this issue has been debated before, but if I were you, I would go ahead and take down the wallpaper and paint the ceiling grid. Only if your landlord is a total jerk will s/he argue with you at the end of your lease, and it might be worth a little bit of your security deposit.

This would be an inexpensive weekend job and the room would look great.

is it this month's domino or O at Home? I think O: In one of the feautred homes, the woman has erected a canvas tent-- like a high end safari -- in her living room. Looks great, obscures the walls. I have something similar in my bedroom (made of saffron and white greek key printed fabric; I got 29 yards for $11.99 TOTAL at a Calico Corners sale) and love it -- very cozy to sleep in.

I saw another room that was extremely cool - black and white mattress ticking on ceiling and walls, hanging straight rather than billowing drapes -- and a "molding" made of corrugated cardboard cut in a scalloped pattern, attached to the walls via brass tacks. Looks great -- very campaign (ie Napolean, not presidential) stylish.

You can also cut wood luaan panels -- very cheap -- to size and slip them into the ceiling on top of the acoustic tiles, for a mid-century-looking wood ceiling. Cover the joints with something -- grosgrain ribbon? veneer tape? paint?

good luck. send pics.

Catherine,
Good luck with your new place! I googled "acoustical ceiling tile grid" and came up with a cool supplier, Empire West, lots of styles and colors. I especially like the translucent (!) 'Roman Circles' ceiling tile:
https://www.empirewest.com/store/series.cfm/SeriesID:16/CategoryID:2#462
but I bet there are more cool ones out there. It looks like you will need the 24" x 48" size, and a good cutting tool for the edges and around the sprinkler head in the photo- but it's pretty easy, the tiles are designed to drop in.
While you're taking out those mundane office-y tiles and putting in your new designer tiles, look around- maybe there's an area where you don't need to put tiles back, where nothing above needs to be hidden. Maybe you can get a little extra height somewhere, maybe you can light the plenum and get a fabulous glow.
As for the walls, I'd go with the hanging fabric if you can't paint or remove paper, but maybe you can do taut clean panels with cool fasteners like grommets and turnbuckles (fastened to the baseboard and the ceiling moulding, so that that the holes can be easily filled).
And maybe one wall can have more textural treatment like cork or Flor tiles.

gosh this was my first post here and already i'm getting hate from mrgreen. mrgreen writes:

"People are giving you a lot of bad advice. You don't want to throw money away on new tiles..."

Love the cowardly indirectness of 'people'... FYI the tiles I found are in the range of $2.95-$12.95 each, with other cute lower-cost options as well. With the tiles, you can stow the old crappy ones for your landlord and return the apartment in the condition you found it. Your landlord might give you grief if you paint the grid without permission...

And maybe those tiles will serve another purpose in your next apartment- a screen to block out bitter neighbors for instance...

Thank you, everyone, for your comments! Even the "haters". This is my first apartment, I'm a student, and yes, I probably should have found something better, but the campus is a ways from where I live. I sort of picked the third one I saw. The room IS kind of a nightmare. The rest of the apartment isn't as bad though, it can be seen in my flickr set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thegeneralx/sets/72157600707210444/

I'd sacrifice some of my deposit and take down the wallpaper if I just knew what was underneath it. The landlord is sort of a stickler and won't let me paint the rest of the apartment or do pretty much anything. I'm just worried there would be layers and layers of wallpaper underneath and then damaged drywall. The building was built in 1895 and the ceilings were dropped from 20'. The floors are carpeted (except for the little kitchen) which is NOT my style at all, but I'll have to deal.

Like a Bridget212323, I was thinking of draping the walls in fabric by buying a few of those Urban Outfitter's bedspreads, but I'm not sure how I would hang them considering they're large, they might not hold with tacks?

As for the bed: IT IS NOT MINE. Thank goodness. I've convinced the landlord to get rid of it. As for the rest of the furniture, I'll have to cut it apart in little peices over a period of time and dispose of it in the trash, and then feign ignorance about it's disappearance.

may be too late now... but you know it is illegal (I think! someone correct me if I'm wrong) to have a bedroom without a window (as you say on your Flickr site). But if you ever want to get out of the lease.......

I have had success with pressed tin ceiling panels( or plastic replicas of) that fit in where your old panels are- two will fit where one rectangular one is-painted light or white ( along with the strapping of the existing ceiling) will give a soft romantic feeling- left unfinished( if tin) will give a cool loft sort of feel
as for the walls you can even paint the wallpaper if allowed-unless you don't care about the damage deposit
btw the 'tin' panels can always be taken with you when you move!

Ok, first of all, the apartment is not that horrible. Seriously. I've lived in much worse AS A WORKING ADULT. Everything looks safe and clean and generous in size. You have sprinklers, for Pete's sake, which shows some thought. It's just that stuff not your taste. Trust me, it actually IS someone's taste.

But these are all cosmetic problems which can be minimized.

First, get fabulous lampshades to temporarily replace the ones on those enormous lamps. Hide the shades in the drop ceiling.

Then, make that ceiling grid white. If you don't want to risk painting, use wide white electrical tape, which will give it a nice gloss. Just make sure it's all super clean first, or you'll get tape hanging down in bits like seaweed, and that's terrible.

For the bedroom walls: I wish I could find a picture of what I'm going to describe. I saw this in a passageway in the Puck Building here in NYC, which is a largely a special events building. Basically, it's white lights behind gauzy fabric.

Buy a bolt of white lining fabric. That stuff is cheap -- regular price is $2.99 a yard, but it shouldn't be hard to find it even cheaper. This kind of fabric is semi-sheer, but is tightly woven. Sew pinch pleats or another type of pleat into this fabric (this only takes a handstitch or two per tuck or pleat). http://www.mormonchic.com/crafty/curtains.asp shows you different types of pleats.

You're lucky enough to have trim at top and bottom of the wall here. Use this trim to tack up white LED Christmas lights (with white wiring) in a sidways zig zag pattern. Or use the icicle style lights. In fact, that might be better, since it will draw the eyes upward. LED is important here for its cool temperature. That wallpaper will counteract the slight blueness of the light.

Now, tack up that fabric in panel sections, over the lighting. Don't make it taut, since the organic feel of the draping will help hide the shapes of the wires. The lights are now sandwiched between the wall and the fabric, and the room will glow.

That fridge is however, is bizarre. Who planned a kitchen without a space for the fridge? But at least it's large; it could have been a dorm room fridge, and that would suck.

If you don't wantto take down the wall paper, you could put fabric on the walls using starch. I think you soak the fabric in a starch water soloution and squeege it on. When you leave just pull it down and wash the fabric!

As it is a rental, and most likely short term, I would not put a lot of money into the place. I would ask the landlord if you can paint the grid and paint the walls. As it is an old building, there is a strong possibility that there is old lathe and plaster beneath the wallpaper, and it may not stand up to paper removal without a lot of crumbling and damage. I would ask if you can paint over the wallpaper. That being said, you would need to use a good primer, as the paper has a sheen and it may not accept paint well. I would also use a flat paint, as any sheen will accentuate any flaws in an old wall. You could also sponge paint in the colors of your choice, as it will also help to hide any imperfections. As a person who has had to fix up many places within a budget, I can certainly empathize with you. Best of luck!!

I just looked at your flickr set and really, it's not so bad! I would cram as much of the furnture as you can into closets or under the bed (i'm thinking lamps people, I'm not suggesting she stuff the sofa under her bed) and then do with it what you will. I feel you on the ugly carpeting, we have it wall to wall in our apartment as well and I have never hated anything as much as I hate that carpeting. At first I couldn't get over it, no matter what else I did to the apartment all I could see was the stupid carpet. It took a while but eventually I just embraced the fact that we aren't going to live here forever and that now I know just how much I love hardwood floors for sure :)

Whatever you decide to do in the bedroom, don't spend a lot of money. I'm assuming (correct me if I'm wrong) that you won't stay here more than a year - two at the most? Just embrace your first apartment for what it is - a temporary, adequate, and slightly ugly place that you'll make into a home of your own :)

Everyone has so many excellent ideas!

I vote for the idea of working with fabric - the Morrocan thing works well in small spaces too. Check out 'Moroccan Interiors' at the bookstore, it's got tons of great ideas. Or go for a safari tent look.

This link has a cool pic of the inside of a safari tent.
http://www.elcapitancanyon.com/tents.html

Hang one curtain rod in the middle and two lower ones along the wall and drape some canvas. I'm not sure what the dimensions of the room are but if there's space, you could actually hide stuff on the other side of the "tent" or get a garment rack and use the opposite side of the tent as an extra closet.

May your first apartment hold many lovely memories for you : )

I don't think it is illegal to have a bedroom without a window. That would however depend on the building code of whatever muncipality you live in. Generally, legal apts require 2 means of egress.
I would really advise against chopping up the landlord's furniture into little pieces. Trust me if he is a stickler about the painting ...he's really going to notice if he rents a furnished apartment and gets back an unfurnished one. At the very least he will take your security deposit and possibly take you to court. If he has other apts (as many college town slum..I mean landlords do) then he can find a place to store some extra furniture. Try telling him that you have your own furniture and you need it less furnished to accomodate your own stuff. The stuff that is there is not that bad...I would not buy it, but it is not bad. Although, after reading all the bedbug posts on this site I am now kind of skeeved by anything used and upholstered....so I would lobby hard to get him to remove the chair and the couch and live with or hide the rest.

That said, the simplest thing would be to paint the grid. I think fabric might be soften either the ceiling or the walls. I think on this site you will find instructions on how to hang a curtain as a room divider (basically using wire instead of a curtain rod ikea sells it but you can probably get the same items from a local hardware store)...the same system could be used on 2 of the walls to cover the blandness that surrounds you.

I totally agree with de-emphasizing the ceiling by painting, tape, fabric....whatever works for you, but as far as the faux-woodgrain, how about making it part of your design theme, like Jane and Darko's cozy thicket:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2006-entries/finalist-4-jane-darkos-cozy-thicket-007907

I looked at your flickr, and you could rasterbate one of your fabulous homestead photos, and do an entire nature, woodsy theme? Why not play with it instead of fighting it? Find some fantastic bed linens and an inexpensive area rug, and make your own cozy thicket.....
Most of all enjoy having your own place!!!!

I think that painting the grid white as has been suggested will make a WORLD of difference for your ceiling.
as for the walls, taking wallpaper down is such a huge pain so why not put some new cool wallpaper over what you've got? I always hated wallpaper but recently I seem to have caught some sort of pattern loving virus. I haven't been able to bring myself to put any up because I am afraid I will get sick of it and want to take it down in two years, but since you are renting and don't plan to live there for decades it might be worth thinking about. anyway, timorous beasties and nama rococo, just to name two, have some really lovely things and then you wouldn't have to worry about what lurks beneath.
http://namarococo.com/home.html
http://www.timorousbeasties.com/products/wallpapers/hollandandsherry/
you might not need that much, a roll or two, so it might not be too expensive, but to be honest I have no idea how much a roll costs.
you can sometimes find a couple rolls of great wallpaper on ebay for cheap from people who over bought etc. (I got some there to cover a cabinet and love it.)
good luck!

If the grid can support tiles, it should be able to support light weight fabric draped over it. Since it is a rental and for a short period of time, focus on your school work so when you are finished with that segment of your life (does that ever happen?) you can get the job that will allow enough money to live in a place that is in your taste. I agree with MrGreen, don't throw money away on temp living quarters.

The flesh-tone walls are seriously freaking me out.

Definitely paint the walls. I would go with a crisp white, but if you must go with color, choose something that will improve the space and will be good for future tenants.

I would also paint the grid on the ceiling to match the color of the tiles, so they aren't so apparent.

Bring color in with fabrics. Bedding, upholstery, drapes... it will bring life to the space. Use original art to personalize.

Congrats on your new place!

If you want to hang fabric flat to put over the wallpaper, use a staple gun to staple it over a thin slat of wood and then nail the slat (under the fabric) to the wall up by the ceiling. At the bottom, hem a tube and put something just heavy enough to weight it down - a very thin wooden dowel would do. Wall sized artist canvas stretcher strips are quite large in the size you'd need, and much more expensive. In a pinch, you can always use tiny map tacks to put up the fabric - you'll need a lot but you could put them into the existing wooden edging and not leave nail holes.

I can't find the link but you might want to look for the nylon fabric they sell for exhibition booths and stages. It is wide, inexpensive ($5/yard), fire retardant and comes in lots of colors - the translucent whites and metallics were the best - the others are a lot like the clothing liner material someone suggested. I found two dealers in NY and in California when I was looking at this - they send samples (although the one in CA seemed to be incapable of filling the order correctly, so I gave up). They would hem it for you, for a fee, which is probably a good idea unless you sew.

You could get a long roll of white butcher paper and tack it to the ceiling, which would be a fast and inexpensive way to make it all go away. Be sure to leave the sprinkler head.

Two words: mirror ceiling.

@ polkadot: I totally forgot about the rasterbator! That's a great idea for the third wall, if I draped fabric. Thanks for mentioning my outdoor pictures- I'm really going to miss living at home.

@ B: The fridge is bizarre! I'm thinking of moving it to the living room, but would that be too white trash?

I agree with everyone about not funneling very much money into redecorating. I'm just going to spend enough to make it livable, because I'm very sensitive to my living space- I like it to be comfortable and happy.

I'm definitely storing the furniture and bringing my own, if landlord will let me have it stored. He says he doesn't have the space, but that's so BS. He just doesn't want to try to get that couch out the door and down the narrow stairway.

To clear something up about the (much appreciated) comments: I'm NOT allowed to paint. I really, really wish I could. I asked, saying that I could repaint white before I left, and the landlord said,

"It is not in our policy to allow painting...I'm sure you're up to the decorating challenge."

BLEH.

Congratulations on the apt. haters go home!
I had the same issue with the same ceiling tiles and tacked up big pretty bed spreads from urban outfitters over them. You have to use small sharp nails to get them into the tile, and sometimes fold the nail under the grid to get it to stay, but it DOESwork. Same for the walls, you can cover them with fabric. It'll take a ladder, sharp nails ( not carpet tacks), some time and planning and patience but it can be very pretty. I chose UO over buying by the yard becasue thier bedspreads are nice and wide compared to regular fabric bolts, plus the weight is good for decorating at a very cheap price compared to fabric by the yard. Good luck!

xx

Okay, here's a different idea. Continue the grid lines down the walls! Paint the walls white with dark grid lines that connect precisely with the lines on the ceiling. Do everything in the room in black & white with an accent color (can be another neutral), and try to continue the black-lines-on-white theme into the fabrics/furniture. Call me crazy but somehow I think it might be really cool.

Hi there-
Seeing as how you have no windows to worry about and the wall with the door is already white (or looks that way on your other pix) it seems like it would be fairly easy to put fabric up along the rest of the walls. If you get fairly light fabric you could probably hook it up into the ceiling - use those ceiling grids to your benefit! I like the idea of using tape to cover the the grids since you can't paint if you would like a more continuous look on the ceiling. Just be sure to use tape that comes off relatively easily.

You know, this sort of reminds me of one of my first apartments. Yes, it was awful, but it was affordable for me in those days, and well, it was close to school and a great night scene.

I played up the roughness of my place by using large, bright, Mexican-types of textiles, large pillows, large pictures/posters/stretched fabric, and a splash of kitsche. Not quite my style, but it was cool and cozy and a great place to come home, kick off your shoes and chill out.

Shop local thrift shops, estate sales, and don't invest huge sums of money or time into a place that you'll be moving out of in due time.

I had an apartment for a little while that had the same suspended ceiling in the living room, complete with fluourescent light fixtures.

Horrible. Depressingly institutional.

I took down some of the tiles to see what was above them, and other than a few cracks, the plaster above was fine. I really had no idea why they bothered with the dropped ceiling.

My solution was to remove all the tiles, leaving the metal grid in place. I then painted every square inch above the grid an ultra flat charcoal grey. The result was pretty good--sort of a loftlike industrial chic.

When I moved out, I just put the ceiling tiles back up, and no one was the wiser.

That bedroom looks pretty dark. If it is, I'd eschew white paint--trying to brighten up a dark room with light paint only serves to enhance how dark and gloomy it really is. Go with darker, richer colors instead, working with the lack of daylight instead of against it.

Congratulations on your first apartment! I've had those ceiling tiles and every night I would look up at them, they were in the bedroom, and think what I would do if I only owned the place. Some ideas for yours might be to enlarge a picture or map to the area of the ceiling, but in sections the same size as the tiles in parts of the whole picture. Fit them over the tiles but under the grid. I guess you could do the same thing with a stiff fabric. If you like something woodsy, like looking up at a tree, it might even look nice with your walls. Then when you move, you could frame the sections for your wall? Or replace a few tiles with colored plexiglass? and paint the grid the same color of existing tiles as others have suggested?

Suspended ceilings are not legal in residential spaces. My neighbor just made my extremely cheap landlord replace her entire ceiling by confronting him with this fact. If the landlord gets nasty with you, remind him that he is in violation of the housing code.

Apologies on forgeting to capitalize your proper name MrQueen.

My comments are not meant to be mean but your bedroom has no window, that is uncivilized! You cannot drape fabric in that room becuase it will look and feel like a coffin. I suggest that you do whatever you can to get out of the lease. Lie, beg, cry, whatever. Please find a new place. I know it probably seems like a daunting task but rather than going through the effort of trying to make this livable you could concentrate on finding something better.

Is there such a thing as house/apartment abuse, because this landlord is incredibly guilty of it. People who "take care/maintain" of the buildings they own like this should not be allowed to own property!

That being said, there are lots of awesome suggestions here, and I'm sure you'll make it cozy and comfy with a little time.

My vote goes with fabric on the walls. The "wallpaper" looks like (as you mentioned) Contact paper, which would be one HELL of a bitch to try to take down. Really not worth the work.

Good luck!

I hope you will get down this far in the comments.

I rented a 1 bedroom apartment with problems similar to your own for 16 years complete with the dropped ceiling with woodgrain grids. I had carpet installed, bought furniture, hung shelves, and painted and when I was done, nobody ever noticed and I stopped looking at the dropped ceiling.

I suggest you work on furnishing the apartment first and making it comfortable. If after accomplishing this, you remain bothered by the ceiling, then use a conservative approach to it. The previously suggested white tape on the grids is a great idea. This way when you move, you can peel the tape off. Make sure the tape will come off easily by testing it on a section of grid first. If the tape doesn't work, then resort to painting the grids. Keep in mind that unless you have a scaffolding, painting could prove a backbreaking daunting task and even more so if the grids are plastic coated, as sanding will be required before painting. Do not remove the panels permanently and store them elsewhere, assuming this ceiling has been lowered for a long time you will expose yourself to all sorts of dust and other crap falling down from the original ceiling, plus if electrical wiring (romex) is running above the dropped ceiling you will be in violation of building codes.

As for more elaborate approaches, you can consider draping fabric across the ceiling. That was something I didn't do in my own place because I needed access to the ceiling for running telephone, cable, and computer wires. However, you could address this issue by anchoring velcro strips perhaps on top of the crown moulding, permitting you to peel back the fabric when needed. This month's Architectural Digest shows a room with an elaborate, fabric draped ceiling.

As for the wallpaper, find an inconspicuous spot in the room and try peeling it back from the wall. This test will reveal whether there are multiple layers of paper and/or paint. If the wallpaper comes loose easily and there are only one or two layers, then you may want to consider removal. If it's tough or multilayered, leave the paper up and cover the walls in fabric. There are several ways of hanging fabric on walls, one I would likely use is carefully applying velcro or a tack strip to the bottom of the crown moulding and top of the baseboard, then stretching the fabric between. As several people have said, bolts of nice, cheap fabric can be bought cheaply.

As for the furniture you dislike that came with the apartment, ask your landlord to take it back. You've already gotten him to take back the bed, so give him the other pieces too. Do not throw out their furnishings, otherwise you can be held liable for their loss.

Angie -- the word you're looking for is "slumlord."

Given the landlord and the quality of the environment he provides, I'd recommend being extremely careful about record-keeping: get everything in writing, photograph any problems or changes, and document any requests for repairs that you end up making in the future. I'd also see if your local housing code is online, to make sure that you know exactly what your landlord is legally required to provide. This just doesn't look like a situation where it's advantageous to be easy-going and trusting.

I think it's funny how I immediately thought "college" apartment when I saw this. Many colleges tend to be in smaller towns and the rentals can be very unconventional. I've lived in my share of them. But you've just got to make the best out of them as they are only temporary. We make sacrifices for convenience, New Yorkers, Chicagoans, College students. As long as those sacrifices don't compromise safety, which I don't think they do here, do the best you can with what you've got and have fun with it. Sometimes it's fun to look back and say, "damn! remember that one place! But, remember how cool it was 'cause I did this?"

I think what can be slightly sad in college towns is when people rent out beautiful old homes that have been in the family forever and they become trashed over the years. Oh well, it's just a house and people have to make a living.

If you plan on moving within the next year or two, just paint over it all. It's not worth spending the money unless you can take it with you.

MrGreen, I thought you'd be a fan of the adversarial relationship. Go figure.

SHE IS NOT ALLOWED TO PAINT, people.

@ patrick (the other one): Haha! Thanks for noting that. Yeah, I can't paint. But I REALLY want to paint a mural on the wall in the living area, because it is expansive and blank. Or, if I have the money to spend (and want to) I might get one of these stick on murals, from the nature section:

http://www.wall-print.com/english.html

Except as design milk said, I don't really want to spend money unless I'm taking it with me.

I honestly don't think it will be THAT bad, after hearing everyone's comments and suggestions. I'm thinking I'll probably tape the tiles grid white and hang fabric from the three walls that are wallpapered (the one with the door & closet, luckily, is white! They were probably too lazy to paper around it?). When I go back to visit it, later in the month, I'll try to see what's underneath it, though. Because if I removed it and painted it nicely, my landlord probably would be peeved for very long, since it would look considerably better. Does anyone have any tips on how to pull up a corner?

Perhaps I'll rasterize a picture for one of the walls?

@ art: You're completely right about the whole college town thing. Everything is like this. I was going to pick a larger apartment, farther from campus, but the (new) carpet was inches from the sideboards, revealing lots of muck; and the last tenant, an old lady, had just died in there... The other ones had concrete block walls, low ceilings, half windows and huge electric heaters in the living rooms (but it was practically on campus). I picked the apt that was a few blocks away...

@ John H: Thanks for your huge comment! I really like your velcro idea. It's the first suggestion that I might be able to use, with hanging the fabric on the walls, because I really can't nail anything, and tacks would be a little damaging too.

To Apartment Therapy in general: If I get this fixed up, I'll totally send in AFTER photos.

Um, this apartment is mind-blowing for a college student. In a lot of places (ivy league or otherwise) it's three to a room, and still less than 200sqft. In one place I stayed I had a reeking shaft window with a leak coming through the ceiling and a radiator with banging sounds so loud it almost obscured the sound of gun shots outside. (I know, I know: "back when I was a kid...")

My freshman dorm room was less than 90sqft so I hid the furniture elsewhere, found a lot of big second hand pillows, hung natural linen on all the walls (I just bought a bolt of it - later it was stretched and sealed by an artist friend for use as canvases, so it was an incredible deal in the long run - I got a great piece out of it) and lit the whole place with lots of soft light. At the time I thought it was a primary cause of my ahem, success, but later as I moved into successively dingier (and cheaper) places, I found that variable didn't have much to do with it.

And here the segue becomes murky... Catherine, the impact of your intrinsic attributes on the mise en scène will eclipse (this is not a strong enough verb) any alternations you make. This might not help your experience of your home much, but I hope you focus on making yourself happy, and not on satisfying the aesthetic needs of your guests, who will be pleased regardless.

Easyenough: I hope to decorate it, for myself, I probably won't have too many guests because I'll be so busy. Someone said on my flickr account that it looks like a great party place- and it WOULD be- except for the landlord, who requires everything be perfectly quiet by 10PM (which is nice, of course, since I won't have to worry about anyone else's party annoying me). I'm sure the people I have over won't be too concerned with how it looks, considering they'll be all in dorms, they'll just want the fresh baked cookies.

Oh, and I am SO happy to have it, instead of a dorm. As you said, it is huge for a college student. I needed my own space: bedroom, kitchen, bathroom. It's actually less expensive than living on campus, if you can believe it. But, by the time I finish decorating it, and paying for electric and internet each month, it'll be about equal... ;)

Hi Catherine, would you like to see how you can decorate without painting and using fabric without sewing. Have a look at my website for some inspiration. http://www.kimtdesigns.com
From Kim

have just had a small inspiration -- time consuming but could be cool:
get mod wrapping paper with black in it and wrap each acoustical tile, securing with thmbtacks on the reverse side and then replace it -- making your ceiling a patterend focal point.

then do a fabric thing on the walls, or continue the wrapping paper -- or get a ginormous roll of butcher paper ($6 from Ikea) and hang long vertical strips down the walls. add some weight at the bottom, perhaps by tacking in a thin molding strip (trim the bottom after). you can leave it white, or paint or draw on it, or or or. You can cover the seams with grosgrain ribbon (in black or another color, with a glue gun). I'm imagining a black and white swirly paper on the ceiling (cheap too -- look at this site: http://www.papermart.com/templates/42-ABSTRACTS.htm ) and maybe red or yellow grosgrain ribbon at the seams, perhaps running horizontally too, to make a grid?

Embrace the closed in feeling and make it a fantastical little space. windows and good architecture actual constrain what you can create -- so take advantage of this to turn it into whatever you want without worrying about the "integrity" of the room. Hell. I kinda wanna come up there and do it for you.