If you are renting your current living space, you may find yourself feeling stuck when it comes to making your rental feel more like a home. With most rentals, the opportunities to customize your space to your liking are going to be far more limited than if you owned your own property. Whether it be the dull wall color or flooring to the dreary cabinets that were already installed before you moved in, you may still be looking for ways to make your living space feel more like your own. Keep reading for tips on making your apartment feel homey without going against your lease agreement.
Depending on your rental agreement, you may be able to make some small improvements to your rental space. Make sure to discuss with your landlord or property management what type of improvements are allowed to be completed and if they are allowed, if you are expected to revert any chances once you move out.
Bring more light into your space
Nothing screams dreary and discomfort more than a dark space, whether it be from a lack of natural light throughout the day to not enough lighting once the sun goes down. If your apartment lacks natural lighting, bring in a lamp or two to provide ample lighting in the day time. If it’s a matter of wanting your space to appear brighter, bring in mirrors to reflect more light and make your space appear brighter and more spacious without cutting into your electricity bill.
If you are noticing that light fixtures don’t provide enough light once the sun goes down, plug in a floor or table top lamp that offers direct lighting for any space that needs it. Use funky lamp shades to add some decor.
If your landlord permits small improvements to your rental unit, try changing out your existing light fixtures. This small customization can bring in more light and more decor than the drab ceiling bulb that may have been installed before your move-in.
Eliminate blank space
You may be passing off your lack of decor as your latest attempt into minimalism, however, those blank, white walls may be contributing to the lack of “home” in your rental unit. Most rental units will come with the standard white or beige walls, which don’t offer much personality at all.
Unfortunately, many rental units will not allow tenants to freely paint the unit’s walls. If they do, they often require tenants to paint the walls back to their original color once their lease ends. To save you the cost and inconvenience, there are still plenty of options when it comes to decorating your blank walls:
– Tapestries. Larger tapestries can cover the expanse of a wall and substitute as an accent wall, or smaller tapestries can contribute to a gallery wall feature.
– Mix frames and prints for controlled pops of colors and personality, from framed posters to your favorite movies to treasured photos of family and friends.
Incorporate more textures where you can
If you are living in a rental unit, chances are you will not have any control over your floor, whether it’s an unappealing carpet or tile, or hardwood floors that don’t quite match your selection of furniture. A quick fix for this is laying down rugs where there’s space. Rugs can help you add more color, comfort, and personality to a space without making a major change to your unit.
Larger area rugs can also help you define spaces in larger rooms, like separating your dining area from your living room area.
Add throw blankets and pillows to your couches and chairs for pops of colors and comfort in your living area.
Bring some plants into your space
If you have a green thumb, sprinkle houseplants around your apartment. Not only do they add some life and color to your apartment, but they can also help clean the air of your apartment. While some houseplants require more time and effort (and money) to maintain, there are still plenty of plants that are easy to care for and relatively inexpensive to get and maintain, such as pothos.
If you don’t have a green thumb or can’t be bothered to commit to caring for plants, you still have the option of fake plants which add just as much vibrancy and can be pretty close to the real thing without all the work.
Don’t let living in a rental space hold you back from feeling at home in your living space. There are plenty of ways that you can get creative with your space without committing to major changes or breaking your lease.
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