Make Your House A Home
The “landlord special” is a common practice among rental properties, where a quick and dirty paint job and a half-hearted attempt at cleaning are the expectation of anyone moving into a property. It’s also common to find that you’re lacking any proper decoration, storage, or charm that make a house feel like a home. However, renters are rarely allowed to do whatever they like within an apartment, needing to take down or repaint anything they alter within the house, leaving any solid, permanent fixes undoable—but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your space feel more like your own. Here are a few ways to make non-permanent, but effective, updates to your home.
1. Wireless Lights
Don’t want to bother switching out any lighting, or don’t have the proper knowledge to do so safely? Not a problem. You can purchase battery-powered wireless lights to hang from the ceiling, which can serve as an effective alternative to your less attractive lighting.
Armando Castillejos on Unsplash
2. Replace Furniture Hardware
Cabinets, dressers, TV stands, and pretty much anything with a drawer could likely use some funky new hardware. Your own furniture is easy enough to change as you please, but if you’re worried about getting back that security deposit, you can always keep the old hardware in the back of a drawer whenever you move out.
Lotus Design N Print on Unsplash
3. Swap Out Curtains
The bland, ugly, and likely broken curtain setup your rental property has probably isn’t doing you any favors. Switch out the broken blinds for new ones, or invest in some curtains that fit the color scheme or needs of the room. Or both - we don’t control your life.
4. Add A Little Bit Of Foliage
Plants, real or fake, can make any room feel comforting and lived-in. Real plants would obviously be better in terms of air quality, but if you don’t have a green thumb, then fake ones will do just fine. If you have pets, fake plants that look like real plants that could kill your pets are also a much safer option.
5. Temporary Wall Molding
If you’re looking to make your space feel elegant or more grown-up, you can create temporary wall moldings. You can buy wall moldings pre-cut, but you can also make it a fun DIY project with a little bit of double-sided tape—and a clear artistic vision.
6. Hang More Art
If a space is feeling sterile, cold, or generally unwelcome, the blank walls may be to blame. Invest in some art, mirrors, or get crafty with magazine cutouts to add your own personal style and warmth to your space. This goes for every room in the house, by the way.
7. Use Removable Wallpaper
Removable wallpaper has come a long way in the past 30 years, to a point where it is actually removable now! If you would prefer to avoid painting your walls, some funky wallpaper could be the way to go. If you don’t use it all, you could always add the extra to other areas of the house to maintain consistency.
隔壁光头老王 WangMing'Photo on Pexels
8. Make Faux Stained Glass
Whether it's for windows or glass panes within the home, nothing beats the look of stained glass. Easy enough to put on and even easier to remove, you can add a touch of color and elegance to your space with these low-commitment stickers.
9. Add Peel And Stick Tile
Peel-and-stick tile can be used just about anywhere, and we mean anywhere. Add tiles to make a kitchen backsplash, to liven up the floors, or to create a focal point around the bathroom sink. You can buy actual knock-off tiles for that truly realistic feel, or opt for stickers instead.
10. Make Use Of Rugs
Do you have stained, cruddy floors? Not anymore! Thanks to the newest invention known as “rug,” you can cover up any problem areas in a flash. Adding a floor-based textile will immediately make your space feel warmer and more comfortable, and can cover up any pesky flooring issues.
11. Create Faux Built-In Shelving
This is a bit of a larger project, but bear with us. You can paint the shelving the same color as your walls to make it look like those shelves have always been there. Additionally, you can add faux crown molding and baseboard to really blend the two, although this is probably recommended for those doing long-term rentals.
12. Replace Faucets
Adding shiny and new faucets to your kitchen or bathroom is sure to make any space feel a few years newer, and you can even pick your very own colors or finishes to really bring everything together. Just make sure to pick the right faucet for how your sink is set up.
13. Add Ambient Lighting
Invest in floor, table, and plug-in lights to make your space feel cozy and to avoid having to turn on the dreaded overhead light. This shift in lighting immediately makes a space feel more intimate, perfect for a night in by yourself or if you’re hosting a party.
14. Replace Light Switch Covers
A common victim of the landlord special is just painting over light switch covers, essentially sealing them to the wall. Go ahead and remove that cover and replace it with something that better matches your visual aesthetic. Alternatively, you could paint your light switch cover to bring your own art into the space.
15. Replace Your Toilet Seat Cover
We know, we know, you don’t really want to think about the visual implications of your toilet. That said, if you have a less-than-desirable toilet seat cover, aesthetically or functionally, replacing the toilet seat cover is an easy way to bring color to the room and the added convenience of a workable space.
16. Change The Shower Head
A crusty shower head is not going to make you feel any cleaner, nor will it make your shower look cute. Changing out the shower head is a cheap and easy way to make any bathing time feel better, and allows you to customize color, settings, and style.
17. Cover Up Countertops
If you’re not loving how the countertops look, it’s time to break out the stickers yet again! Contact paper is a low-stress and low-budget way to make those countertops shine, even if it’s only plastic instead of real marble.
18. Open Shelving DIY
Instead of painting your cabinets, why don’t you just take them off? By removing your cabinet doors, you can create an easy breezy open shelving option that will help make your kitchen feel more welcoming.
19. Create A Temporary Kitchen Island
Several furniture stores have temporary or movable kitchen islands, which allow you the ability to have added seating and storage without building something immobile in the center of your kitchen. It’s perfect for entertaining, but can also be moved off to the side when more space is needed.
20. Don’t Forget The Paint
Above all else, a fresh coat of paint can really change how a room looks. Even if you can’t or don’t want to worry about changing the color, you can touch up the existing paint to get the same effect.
