call for advice

Next week Scott and I will be moving for the third time in 8 months. This apartment may be my favorite yet: roomy(ish) but still snug-feeling, clean, plenty of storage space, awesome location, etc. It's a bit of a design challenge--mostly because I'm too cheap to think of spending much--but I'd love to personalize things at least a little bit, given we'll probably be here a year or so (maybe longer). Unfortunately, I have next to no decorating experience: my parents' house tends to go with "decorate it once and get it done" (so not much practice there); my two singles apartments were largely cinder-block & pretty strict about changes; and our first two married apartments were 4-month stints (giving me little motivation to put much work into decorating).

I have put a little bit of thought into things, though. Here are the colors thus far:

• Kitchen: sage-to-kelly green, cherry red, black, white/off-white (can't decide; I have some of both)--it's a cherries motif :-)
• Bathroom: navy blue, light blue, dark red, white (but not Americana-type theme...no flags...)
• Bedroom: navy blue and evergreen
• Living room: ANYTHING. No inspiration yet.

The carpet is grey, the walls are white, and the tile/laminate in the kitchen and hall are somewhere between grey and white. I could definitely use ideas to get some life into the decor! Generally speaking I like cool tones (blues, greens, black & white, richer reds) rather than earth tones (browns, tans, cream, brighter reds & oranges).

I'd love any and all budget decor ideas! Here are my first priorities based on what I've thought of so far:

• Drapes of some kind. I know these can get expensive quickly. Ideas?
• Something must be done with the couch. It's big and comfy, but the upholstery's worn and terribly ugly. I can't find a slipcover for under $60. Has anyone had any luck using . . . sheets? Or something?
• The walls are fantastically clean, but also fantastically bland. I need something bigger and more interesting than 8 x 10s. I'm thinking of printing some wedding pictures, but how to frame them cheaply? And what else? I'm pretty sure we can't paint the walls, and Wallies might be out of my price range for now. What have you guys done?
• Something cute to do with the kitchen table. It's a cute little round guy and we usually eat off the other table anyway, so I'd love to do some kind of cute centerpiece (I already have a sage green tablecloth and black cloth napkins). Thoughts?