Renting a home comes with a unique struggle – you want to make it feel like home, but your lease specifically says things like no nails in the walls, no painting, and, in essence, no personalisation… unless you can do it without causing any damage. That can feel like a bit of a tall order, so perhaps you think you have to leave things blank and boring.
The good news is you don’t. You can still make your place completely your own without risking your deposit or facing the wrath of your landlord. Yes, you might have to be a bit creative, but you can add personality, colour, and style, all without leaving a mark. Read on to find out more.
Use Command Hooks And Strips
If you haven’t come across Command strips and hooks yet, you’ll love them when you do – and we recommend searching them out. They’ll be ideal for when you want to decorate without causing any damage. They’re fantastic because they can hold up frames, mirrors, shelves, and even things like curtain rods all without needing any nails or screws, so they keep your walls nice and protected.
You could use Command strips to hang a gallery wall, for example, or to give yourself some more storage with hooks for coats, bags, towels… the list goes on. The best part is that they come off completely cleanly when you’re ready to move out, and you won’t have any holes to fill, stress to feel, or angry landlords to deal with.
Fake Flowers
Nothing makes a space feel warm and inviting quite like plants, but not everyone has the time, energy, or natural ability to keep real plants alive, so if that’s you, you might decide against this particular piece of decor, even though it could make a massive difference in your home and make it feel more welcoming.
There is an alternative, however. Fake flowers can be used in place of real ones, and some of the best to choose are fake sunflowers. These bright, happy flowers add a gorgeous pop of colour and they don’t need any maintenance – plus, you can have them in place all year round, rather than just when they grow in the wild. Place them in a vase, mix them in a decorative wreath, or just lay them on a boring shelf, and you’ve got something lovely in place.
Faux greenery is another great option – you could have things like trailing ivy, fake succulents, or even artificial palm trees, and they’ll all bring some life to your space without running the risk of any damage or mess.
Peel-And-Stick Wallpaper
Plain walls are easy to maintain, but they’re very, very boring. So why not use peel-and-stick wallpaper to cover them up and turn them into something you love and that matches your personality and aesthetic a lot more than standard cream or off-white would?
Peel-and-stick wallpaper is amazing because it gives you the ability to add colour, patterns, and even texture without causing any kind of permanent marks or damage at all. So you could have the most wonderful statement wall if you want one, or you could go more subtle with a soft colour that works with the rest of your decor. You can even change things around as you want to, because the beauty of this kind of wallpaper is that it just peels off the walls when you want to remove it and they’ll be back to normal without any painting or fixes needed. So you can have different wallpaper as often as you want, and when it’s time to move out, you can remove it all with very little effort involved.
Rugs For Boring Floors
If you move into a place that’s not going to allow you to put down a brand new carpet (or you don’t want to go to the expense of doing that, which is probably the case if you’re renting), then a rug could save the day. A large area rug can totally transform a room, adding warmth, colour, and texture without needing to touch a single floorboard. And if your space is small, you could even layer smaller rugs to give you a wonderful effect that looks great and feels good underfoot as well.
Plus, if noise is an issue because you’ve got noisy neighbours or squeaky floorboards, for example, rugs are perfect for absorbing sound, so you’ll instantly get a quieter, cosier place to live that’s also comfortable and decorated to your taste (taste you can literally pick up and take with you when you move).
