Home Stories A to Z

Creating beauty out of chaos and sharing my home decor stories

Decorating Solutions for Renters

If you rent your home or apartment,  you may at times feel limited by your decorating options and frustrated with reading DIY blogs. Although you might not be able to rip out a bathroom, paint your walls, or paint your kitchen cabinets, there are creative decorating solutions available to renters.

Solution 1: Can’t paint? Use contact paper, removable wallpaper, and starched fabric in the place of paint.

Wherever there is a will there is a way! Erin from the blog Rare and Beautiful Treasures moved into a rental with a very outdated kitchen. Here is what it looked like before: kitchen before after
Using $10 worth of removable, white contact paper from Target, Erin “slipcovered” her kitchen cabinets to create this gorgeous after! Amazing! kitchen before after
You can also use removable wallpaper, starched fabric, scrapbook paper, and even old maps as wall coverings. To add temporary pops of color, try covering sheets of foam board in various patterned fabrics and hanging in a collage on the wall.

Solution #2:  Stuck with white walls? Add color through textiles.

White walls can be an amazing asset when paired with vibrant curtains, toss pillows, rugs, and accessories. The bonus of investing in these items is that they can move with you to your new home! You might not be allowed to paint the walls but you can paint a rug, toss pillows, and curtains. Lamps and accessories can also be painted to give your space the color infusion you are craving.

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Solution #3: Can’t nail into the wall? Learn the art of leaning and layering.

Fortunately, most landlords will allow you to nail into the walls; however, we once rented an apartment with plaster walls where nailing and drilling were off limits. To add some wall decor in these cases, you can use 3M command strips which allow you to do some damage-free hanging. You can also lean, stack, and layer your objects. If you are lucky enough to have a shelf or mantel, this is done easily. If not, look for large-scale pieces of artwork or floor mirrors. Large canvases found at second-hand shops can be painted over to match your decor. lean art

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Homes.com knows that not all home dwellers are home owners. They want to make it easy for all of us to find the home we love and to love the home we are in. This is one of the reasons that they created their first rental app which allows you to easily find listings in your desired locale and neighborhood.

You can download the rental app from the app store if you’d like.

So, how about you? Do you currently rent your home? Do you have any great decorating tips or tricks to share with your fellow renters. If so, feel free to leave them in the comments! I’d love to hear them.

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Comments

  1. jalbertson says

    I was wondering if you’ve ever done the starch fabric on a mirror? I have a wall that is a mirror I want to cover but im worried about temporary wallpaper leaving residue on the mirror. What do you think?

    • Beth says

      I haven’t tried it, but I know others who have and it shouldn’t harm the mirror. It might be a pain to get it clean when you move out but it should come off without a problem.

  2. Diane says

    Usually, you are not allowed to nail any artwork on your apartment wall for decorations. how about try vinyl decals or lettering.

  3. Sheila says

    Being the owners of rental properties, I’m not so sure I would want my renter putting contact paper on the cabinets…especially without asking permission. Would it not leave a sticky residue? I get to be the clean up lady after our renters move out & would rather they just leave the walls & woodwork alone. I don’t mean to rain on our parade…just have filled way more nail holes than I’ve wanted to. Love the before & after pics though.

    • Beth says

      To my understanding, there is a difference between “easy remove” contact paper and regular contact paper. And of course renters should always check with their property management before making any cosmetic changes to the property.

  6. Jennifer says

    Great tips! I always find it so inspiring what renters are able to do while having limitations. As a homeowner it really makes me think that nothing’s stopping me!

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