As anyone who has rented a house or apartment will testify, we are governed by countless limitations.
While most of us are allowed to decorate, we also have to return the property in the state it was given to us in. Ultimately, if we want to change the color of the wall, we have to change it back at some point.
It’s for this reason that most apartments I have lived in through my life have been neutrally decorated. In other words, they have the standard white (or even worse, magnolia) walls.
It can make it hard to stamp my personality on something which is, in simple words, my home. It’s the cruel world of being a tenant. Check these san leandro apartments.
However, over the years I have found a few ways, which I will now show you through today’s blog post.
I change the light fittings
In most cases, this first point will work like a treat. If your apartment has light fittings which can be changed with ease (in other words, without an electrician), by all means start to chop and change them. You can still leave the originals in storage, ready for the time when you do move on. The effect of new lighting can be significant, whether it’s turning towards a new shade or something like a filament bulb to add a creative streak to your home.
I use flowers whenever possible
You don’t always need a bucket of paint to do the job, and this is certainly the case with this next point. I’ve recently been turning to Avas Flowers, after seeing that the Avas Flowers Insta page showcased a lot of summer-like designs. They can add a blast of color without any sort of permanent change and to keep costs down, here are some Avas Flowers coupons.
I take the risk with pictures
I coin the term “taking the risk”, as this approach does leave holes in the wall. However, with a bit of filler, they can be easily rectified and ensure that a property is returned back to the landlord in pristine condition.
Put simply, this next tip is about installing pictures whenever possible. They are something that can inject personality onto any wall, even more so if you take on a bright and colorful frame.
Rugs can be your best friend as well
This next tip is similar to what we spoke about with walls. You might not be able to change the floor (this would be really expensive to return to its original state when you move in), but you can add a rug. Rugs can again immediately add a splash of color, or they can cover up a floor finish which might not have been your first choice. Again, the world is your oyster.
For the furnished apartments out there…
I’ve only ever rented one furnished apartment, but this brings its own natural issues. After all, how do you combat a hideous sofa that you would never buy if it was down to you?
It’s not ideal, but one solution is with a fabric cover. Some people will use ‘throws’ (i.e., large pieces of fabric that are specifically designed to cover furniture), which sit on top of a sofa and just distract from its original design.
I talk to my landlord
They get a bad reputation in some places, but overall all the landlords I have liaised with have been really accommodating. It’s a bit of a give and take relationship and if you can build a bit of trust, they will permit you to do things that you may have thought just wouldn’t be possible. For example, in one of my older apartments I wanted to paint the wall grey (it was white originally). After running this past the landlord, she was more than happy for me to oblige – and didn’t insist that it was repainted when I moved out.