Decorating hacks to make your rental feel like your own

With more people renting these days, it’s not uncommon to want to make your rental feel like your own.

Somedays you may want to get rid of those dull white walls with something more colourful, or other days you may want to nail in a new piece of artwork you love. But before you do any of this, it’s important always check with your landlord first.

In many rental contracts, landlords can forbid tenants from painting, nailing, and drilling holes into their walls. If you violate any of the rules in the contract, it could cost you your deposit money. So, before you begin nailing things to the wall or painting, always be sure to ask your landlord if it’s okay to decorate. 

If you’re not able to convince the landlord to let you paint, drill, or nail stuff to the wall, don’t be disappointed. There are plenty of ways to work around this hurdle.

To bypass breaking the rules, I’ve compiled a list of things you can do to decorate your rental home without risking your deposit money.

Colour Schemes and Themes

Let’s face it, looking at dull white walls can get boring. If painting is not an option, there’s still plenty of ways you can decorate your rental home to make it feel like your own.

Why not try applying colour schemes and themes around the rental house? If you can’t change the fixtures or colours of the walls, you can certainly change what you own to match your personal preferences.

Perhaps you can add turquoise pillows to match your turquoise towels too? Or perhaps you can purchase a nice yellow throw blanket to match your equally yellow lamp?

Adding a touch of colours here and there can definitely put a personal touch to your rental home.

Add life to your rental

Living in a dull white box can get tiring. Why not add life to your rental?

You can start by buying some potted plants and flowers and place them around your house. You’ll quickly find that with the added touch of green here and there will freshens up the air and bring life to the house too.

Decorating the walls

There are plenty of ways you can decorate the walls. Here are just as few ways:

1. Vinyl decals are removal stickers that can be placed on the wall and leaves no residue. They are easy to stick on, easy to peel off, and incredibly affordable too. They come in all shapes and forms, colour and design, and are available online or in interior stores too. If you’re feeling particularly creative, you can also print your own vinyl stickers with designs of your choices. Products like these make it extremely easy to print a design of your liking and stick it on your walls at home.
2. If you’re into posters or light paper artwork, you may want to try poster putty. Poster putty is not only affordable, it comes in large re-usable quantity, and does not leave any residue or holes on the wall. You can find them at your local arts and craft store, hardware store, or shop online.
3. If you’re looking for a bigger decorating job, then you should definitely try removable wallpapers. Like traditional wallpaper, it is made with self-adhesive fabric, but does not require any glue or water to apply on. Once stuck on, it sticks really nicely against the wall, is damage free, and easily removable too.

Storage Units

With many people moving into apartments or condos these days, finding storage space can be quite difficult. It might be a good idea to add some furniture to your rental home to help you reduce the clutter and find a place to store your belongings.

A good method for people living in smaller homes to make your rental feel like home is to buy furniture that can be used for multiple purposes. Here are a few furniture pieces that I’ve personally used that served multiple purposes:

1. Sofa with storage: Most homes have a sofa. It’s not uncommon these days to have a separate storage compartment underneath your sofa. In some cases, you can find a sofa with a 3 in 1 experience that acts as a sofa, a sofa bed, and storage unit. With an ottoman that can be opened by pulling on the bottom strap, you can place your surplus bedding and other household items in there for extra storage
2. Shoe rack bench: I love shoes, but I simply do not have enough room at home for a shoe rack. For me, the SONGMICS Black Shoe Rack Bench solves this problem. Not only does it act as a bench for my entry way, it’s 3-tier shoe rack gives me ample of space to put my shoes there.
3. Bed with storage: Since I live in a one bedroom condo, it’s tough to have guest over. That is why I use the height of my bedframe to allow storage under my bed. This method proved to be extremely useful as I was able to slide a foldable mattress beneath my bed and also have separate space for bedding too.

Adding Artwork

Adding artwork in your rental home doesn’t have to involve nailing or drilling. So long as it’s not a heavy framed artwork, you can use removable adhesive hooks or strips to hang the artwork on your wall.

Adhesive hooks allow you to hand an art piece on the wall via a back string, and adhesive strips can be taped to the back of your artwork to be placed on the wall. Both work just as well.

Add Temporary Flooring

Let’s face it, some flooring can look atrocious. If removing and adding new flooring is not an option for you, then consider doing any of the following things to improve your flooring and make your rental feel like your own.

1. You can add some rugs in places that you find fitting. Perhaps you can consider adding a nice sizeable rug in the living room, or a running in the hallway, a shower rug in the bathroom, or even a kitchen floor mat.
2. Foam floor mats are also a great way to completely change the look and feel of your rental home. These soft cushy squares are not only comfortable to walk on, they’re easy to click together to lock in place and easy to remove too. Check out these mat selections for an idea of foam mats that look like real wooden flooring.

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Disclaimer

Hey Torontonians, I just want to let you know that I have posted a few affiliate links above. This means that if you make a purchase on Amazon, I can earn a small commission from it at no extra charge to you. I am not affiliated to any of the products or brands listed above, but my goal is to simply recommend to you products that I have either heard good things about them or have used it myself.

If you have any questions regarding the products, I would recommend reaching out to the above brands themselves for the most accurate and up to date product information.