My friend Kacey Bradley is back today with some genius tips on how to give your apartment some gorgeous renter-friendly updates that won’t upset your landlord.
Moving into a home comes with the thrill of making it your own. A home is more than a house. More and more people choose to rent than own a house. You can make anywhere you live your home, but you must fill it with your personality and aesthetic. Decorating becomes a necessary excuse to purchase items you’ve eyed for a long time for your dream space. You likely filled your place with a few items already, but it still doesn’t feel quite like home.
Tasks, chores and basic needs fill your day. Taking the time to decorate by yourself while navigating regular life puts off making your space feel truly like a home. The place you come home to and wake up inside each day sets the tone for your daily flow, affecting your love life, family, career and mood. Here are seven apartment decorating ideas to make your rental feel more like home.
1. Paint or Decorate The Walls
Many landlords say no to tenants painting a rental, but some say yes. It’s not like you want to add polka dots or anything wild. The bland white walls don’t work for you, and you’d prefer a warmer neutral, such as an olive or light sand color. Any color is better than stark white. Ask your landlord if you can add paint anywhere in your rental — perhaps painting the cabinets or the door frames will add just enough color.
If you can’t add color, add a wall hanging. Find a beautiful fabric and attach it to the wall. Hang an old quilt. Get together with a friend and throw splatter paint at linen to create your own wall hanging. Release your inner artist.
2. Change Knobs and Small Fixtures
Remove cabinet knobs and replace them with eclectic ones. Take off light switch covers and add ones with roses or geometric shapes. Add a decorative puller to string-pulled lamps and overhead fans, such as a bird or bead.
Save every original element you change and store it carefully. You’ll need to replace these before you move later, but for now, these little changes make your rental a home.
3. Lighting
Light impacts your space and creates ambiance. Let in natural daylight by using no curtains or lace curtains.
When the sun sets, turn on tabletop and standing lights to help your eyes adjust and create a more intimate mood, instead of relying on a bright overhead light. Bright light shuts down melatonin and affects your ability to fall asleep — so, use ambient lighting to help your eyes adjust before bed.
Use it to put a spotlight on your style. Switch out lampshades to add color or set a basic palette, such as choosing neutrals, blues or vibrant reds. Go eclectic and find a mermaid lamp.
4. Size Match Your Furniture
Choosing the right furniture for your space can prove difficult, especially when you have a small space. You don’t want to clutter the room, but you also don’t want the room to feel too minimalist. Start with where you spend a great deal of your time, and make sure you combine comfort and convenience.
Remember, the living room is the heart of the home, and when laying out a room, you should consider what you want the focal point to be. Will you orient the furniture around the TV, or do you want to create a comfortable reading space? Space your sofa about seven feet from the television, but make sure you have a small table for your coffee if you go the reading nook route. Give yourself space to move around and feel comfortable as you decorate each room.
Choose one statement piece of furniture, such as an over-sized loveseat, and orient the rest of the room around your focal point and statement piece.
5. Use Textiles for Comfort
Does your space feel too bland or harsh? Add elements of comfort by introducing various textiles into the space.
Mix and match patterns. Hang a quilt or blanket over the couch. Add mismatched pillows. Layer your curtains.
6. Introduce Plants
Just because you rent doesn’t mean you can’t garden, and having plants in the household boosts your mood and health — plants remove 87 percent of toxins in the air in 24 hours. Hanging plants with broad leaves help to regulate humidity, great for those hot upper floor spaces.
Seeing a bit of nature indoors will personalize your space and make it more unique. From vines to succulents, there’s a plant for you — even if you think you’re a plant murderer. It’s one of those apartment decorating ideas that can easily be overlooked… but it will dramatically improve the overall aesthetic.
7. Photos and Memorabilia
Maybe you don’t want to be the person who hangs endless photos of family and friends all over your home. You should be that person because photos personalize a space like nothing else. Select small frames and photos for a minimalist touch and hang memorabilia to preserve it decoratively and get it out of storage.
Many think of moving into a rental as a temporary step that spans a few short months or years of their lives. However, that rental is also your home, and personalizing it cultivates a nurturing environment that will more positively affect your daily life.
Kacey Bradley is the lifestyle and travel blogger for The Drifter Collective, an eclectic lifestyle blog that expresses various forms of style through the influence of culture and the world around us. Kacey graduated with a degree in Communications while working for a lifestyle magazine. She has been able to fully embrace herself with the knowledge of nature, the power of exploring other locations and cultures, all while portraying her love for the world around her through her visually pleasing, culturally embracing and inspiring posts. Along with writing for her blog, she frequently writes for sites like US Travel News, Thought Catalog, Porch.com, Tripping.com and more!
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