Just because a rental property isn’t your permanent home doesn’t mean you can’t bring your own style into the space. Whether rental or owned, harmonising with the home you live in is always worth the effort to avoid feeling like you’re filling in time.There are some small changes you can make to bring your personality into your property without disregarding the rental rules.
Temporary Measures
Adding your own style to someone else’s home starts by surrounding yourself with the familiar. Here’s a list at a glance to help you curate some character under your rented roof:
- Unpack and position your homewares, art and rugs.
- Add colour by painting feature walls that can be returned to their previous colour when you leave.
- Rejuvenate your room with removable wallpapers and decals.
- Provide comfort and help divide the function of areas with rugs.
- Serve up some style with cushions, lamps, vases of flowers and pot plants.
- Get savvy, prop mirrors or artworks against walls to create a layered effect.
- Switch out tired window treatments by purchasing ‘ready-made’ drapes or blinds. The owner’s window treatments can simply be re-hung when you leave.
Walls And Floors
More often than not, drastically changing floors and walls is not on the cards while renting, so you’ll have to get crafty with alternatives. Firstly, rugs and mats of all kinds are your first line of design when covering up an unsuitable floor. Make sure that you place them in proportion to your furniture and and if you’re buying new rugs, consider the function of the space and the durability you require.
With regards to your walls, check with your Real Estate agent to see if you can ply some paint. Often, if you agree to return the walls to the previous colour before you leave, you’re more likely to get the go ahead. Even a subtle dash of paint can transform a room so consider painting feature walls, dado’s or colour blocks.
A horizontal band of colour will make your room look wider while a vertical stripe(s) will give the illusion of height. If painting permission is a problem, purchase a large canvas or collection of smaller canvases from a discount store and paint them in your desired wall colour. These can then be hung individually or in a grid to create impact, contrast and depth. There are also a lot of beautiful removable wallpapers and decals on the market that can help you reshape your space.
Hanging In Style
A great way to personalise and add interest to your home is to hang your much loved photos, artworks and mirrors. Don’t be frugal in finding good quality hooks to hang your pieces and take the time to choose positions for your hangings that are in proportion to your space and furnishings.
Personal Touches
Books tell a whole story about you and make wonderful styling tools. They can be stacked and styled on shelves, mantles, tables and can even be used as furniture. Bookshelves themselves are also great design pieces and can act as room dividers, storage and even works of art when cleverly styled.
Surround yourself with your favourite faces by putting them into beautiful photo frames and grouping them together on one or more different surfaces. Incorporate your framed pics into your bookshelf or hang them with temporary hooks to create a textural family photo wall.
If you’ve got a green thumb, personalise your space by bringing leaves, plants and flowers into your home for a lush look and a sensational scent.
Lastly, leverage your look with luxurious towels, soaps and candles in your bathrooms and buying stylish storage boxes and baskets to help organise your smaller items can turn a lacklustre bathroom into a stunning space.
