Turning a Rental into a Stylish Abode

The thing about rental properties is that most of them are painted stark white. This is excellent compared to the places that are painted eggplant and pink so you can’t even have your own style, but being surrounded by cheaply painted white walls all of the time can be a pain. That’s where wall décor comes in. You’ll want to hang plenty of artwork, photographs and other décor around to create filled space in all of the white. This will give your home a lived in look instead of that Booker Hills Asylum look.

Most rental properties come with shades, blinds or drapery already installed for your convenience, but not necessarily for your pleasure. If you can change the blinds, you should—but don’t forget to store the provided ones in a closet—change them to something you like, whether it’s mini blinds, venetian blinds, bamboo blinds or room darkening blinds. If you can’t change the blinds—and many places won’t allow you to—then you can always cover them up with beautiful drapery or curtains that will take your eyes off of the ugly blinds and shades you couldn’t get rid of.

One major element of interior decorating is the lighting you choose for your home and the best thing about lighting fixtures is that you can always take your lighting fixtures with you when you leave the rental property and put the old ones back up. Plus, there are plenty of cheap lighting fixtures available that can help you update your space without breaking the bank.

Rental properties come with all sorts of surprises, like carpets that haven’t been properly cleaned or the all-time favorite, carpets with cigarette burns and major stains. The best way to take care of what you’re likely to run into—old, worn out, ugly or truly bland carpets—is to invest in decorative rugs. Area rugs can cover a good portion of that bland carpet and give your home that “full of life” feel. Area rugs can also be a big help if you end up with odd colored carpet that doesn’t quite match your standard, your style or any type of common sense.

The amazing thing about living in a rental property is that while you can’t make any major changes, you also don’t have to worry about paying to make those major changes. And all of the little changes you make can come with you to your new place so you can put yourself into it and take yourself with you when you go.

Living in a rental property can be a pain, especially if you’re looking to make a lot of major changes that the landlord won’t allow you to make. But don’t despair; simple, little changes can make your rental property all your own without making permanent or expensive alterations.

The hard part about renting an apartment, a condo or a house is that you can’t make improvements to the property and wouldn’t want to if you could since the improvements would provide equity that you would never benefit from.

However, there are some interior decorating and general home improvements you can make to bring your own life, personality and style to your rental property without violating your lease or own common sense.