Many times, it can be daunting to scroll through the internet and look at interior design inspiration when you live in a rental home. For many years, I lived in a rental home myself and I couldn’t even put a nail into the wall. I therefore needed to come up with workarounds to decorate my flat and make it into a home. If you also are in the same situation, here are my tips for how you can decorate when you are renting.
1.Pick a rental home that is unfurnished
The main thing you can actually impact in a rental home, is what it contains. If you have the possibility to rent without furniture, I would advise you to do it. Then you can shape more of your home. Don’t get too scared to taking on a challenge going unfunished. In most countries, you can buy and sell items second hand petty easily online. In addition, IKEA has home delivery and is a brilliant way to fill your home with the large, basic items without breaking the bank or needing a car.
2. Focus on adding your own lighting
When you enter into a new home, many people just use the original ceiling lights that are already there, like the ceiling light. My advice is to not use lighting like this – lighting sets a lot of the atmosphere in a home and you want to take control of this if possible to add your own mark. Adding floor lamps and table lamps into your rental home, with warm lighting, can make all the difference. You will be impressed by how much this can make a rented property quickly feel like home.
3. Add rugs
A great way to add more personality into the home is to add rugs. Since you can’t control the floor, can adding a rug be a great way to put your signature on a rental home. Try to add a rug that works with the room, the floor and your personality.
4. Find ways to bring your walls to life
The most common thing missing in a rental home are things on the walls. But there are ways of bringing life to the walls, even though you can’t put any nails into the wall. You can use sticky tape or blue tack to add posters and even light weight frames. When I was a student living in a dorm room, I added super light frames from IKEA to the wall with blue tack. I covered a wall with these frames and added a collage.
Another way to bring life to walls is to add a floor mirror that can lean against the wall. This will not require you to put any nails into the wall.
5. Add layers and textures
When you style a home you are adding layers and textures which is important to build depth and character. Try to mix items that are made of different things. This could be marble, wood, silk, linen and wool. This will give a depth to your home and help you transform how your rental feels, providing a more homely feeling.
6. Bring in the details
It can sometimes be easy to focus on only practical items you need when you move into a new rental home. But I would advise that you bring in decor and details to the home also, even though you are not going to live there forever. Bring in vases, flowers, candles and add your favourite colours. I also believe that adding photos from important experiences throughout your life can also make a rental home feel more like your own.
Have you ever had issues with decorating a rental home?
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