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No matter if you are moving, or improving, our newsletter is packed with the best tips, tricks and ideas to help you dwell well.
Rental properties offer many benefits, from the flexibility of the contracts to the affordability and the fact that your landlord will tackle any repairs required to your home. But one thing that can be a challenge is the lack of creativity it offers.
Tenants may not feel like they can put their creative stamp on their home, since so many rentals come with strict rules on what can and can’t be painted or changed. With a bit of out-of-the-box thinking, though, you can still make your rental feel like home, without needing to make any permanent changes.
Whether it’s a first move, a big family home rental or a temporary student let, just adding a few personal touches can make you feel a lot happier in your home however long you’re planning to stay. Here are a few markers you can lay down:
You don’t need to paint the walls or add wallpaper in order to create an impact with your decor. The furniture you fill the space with makes a massive difference to the theme of a room and the overall feel of the decor. Whether that’s the sofa in your living room, a dining table where you and your friends can gather for a meal or a decorative side table, the furniture you choose says a lot about you and is a great way to transfer your own personality into the home.
Instead of choosing cheap disposable items, invest in pieces you love and that will stay with you for many years to come. It may mean saving up for items or searching over a longer period of time until you find the right vintage piece, but the overall effect will be a dramatic difference to how your home feels to you.
Lighting can completely make or break how a room feels, and if you’ve ever been in a room with stark fluorescent lighting, you’ll know just how uninviting it can be. To create a homely feel and make any room feel welcoming, stick to warmer lighting that’s ambient and creates that cosy glow. Change out the light bulbs for warmer, softer lighting, switch out the shade and add floor lamps that will completely transform the look of a rental space.
Plants add colour and life to a room, and they brighten up an otherwise drab colour scheme to make it feel special and unique. What’s more, they’re a relatively inexpensive way to jazz up your rental. Whether you have a green thumb or not, there’s a plant out there that you can take care of, from hardy cacti and succulents that need minimal tending to luscious tall greenery that adds drama and height.
In many rental properties, the decor is kept deliberately neutral to appeal to any tenant who will be living in the space. But with plants, you can add as much colour and vibrancy as you want, and in every room in the house if you so wish.
Art is subjective, but it’s also the perfect way to brighten up any wall in your rental home and make it feel like yours. Not many of us can afford to buy unique pieces, but you can buy high resolution prints inexpensively to create gallery walls that are unique to your tastes and aesthetic. Or alternatively, why not print out pictures you’ve taken yourself, of friends and family, pets or places you’ve travelled to for a memory wall that’s personal to you.
Check with your landlord if they’ll allow you to hammer pins in the walls for frames. If they won’t, you can always hang them up with sticky picture strips which can be removed easily when you move out. You don’t need to stick to halls and bedrooms though. Add prints to the kitchen, up the stairway or even in the bathroom.
The splashback in your kitchen and bathroom can look a little tired after a while, but re-tiling isn’t a job that renters will want to take on, or one that many landlords will allow. Luckily, there are peel and stick tiles available in a range of colours and patterns that enable you to change up the look of the room without being permanent.
These thin and flexible sheets are easy to cut to the right shape and size, and can be applied on top of the existing tiles so you can inject some personality without risking your deposit or having to spend a lot of money. When you’re ready to hand back the keys, they can just be peeled off again as if they were never there.
Textiles instantly make a room feel comfortable and welcoming, and they’re the perfect vehicle for personality to make the rental feel like your own. Add a large statement rug under the dining table, add sheer curtains over bland blinds or throw a few plush blankets and throws to armchairs and sofas.
But don’t neglect the other rooms in your home either. A stack of fluffy coloured towels or a patterned bath mat can liven up an otherwise white space. And a scattering of plump cushions in all different sizes on your bed or a quilt or tapestry hung on the wall will make it feel fun and more like home.
Your rental may be a temporary space while you look for your forever home, or it might be somewhere you plan on settling for the foreseeable future. Whatever your circumstances, there’s no reason why you need to stick with a blank canvas just because you can’t add colour to the walls. From removable tiles that add pattern and personality to a kitchen or bathroom, to fluffy textiles and ambient lighting that make a room feel more inviting, and furniture pieces that bring you joy, there are many ways to make your rental property feel like your own.
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