6 Design Tips When You Rent Your Home

Making a rental house into a home isn’t easy.

But it is doable. You have to have a few tricks up your sleeve.

Here are six design tricks you can start using today to make your rental house feel more like home.

1. Talk to your landlord about painting the walls.

Many landlords will be okay with you painting the walls of their home, but you’ll often have to ask first.

One surefire way to get a “yes” when you ask is to keep things simple. For example, instead of going for a bright aqua or fuchsia pink, propose changing the dull white walls to a more soothing color like light beige, pale green, or tan. Alternatively, you can tell your landlord that you’ll paint the walls back to white before you eventually move out in the future.

2. Try Command Strips to hang decorations.

If the décor you’re planning on hanging isn’t too heavy, Command Strips can work wonders. These small strips come in different sizes and strengths, and they’re built to be removed easily. Pull the tab when you’re ready to release a strip from the wall, and it should easily peel off.

Command Strips can be used to hang pictures, clocks, bulletin boards, and more. However, please don’t use them for heavier items like mirrors, as these may fall off the wall at random and break.

3. Don’t be afraid to purchase your light fixtures.

Light fixtures can make or break a room, but not surprisingly, most rental homes don’t come equipped with lovely fixtures. Instead, you’ll get some pretty ugly, old-fashioned pieces.

The good news is that changing out light fixtures isn’t so hard. Plus, if you do your research, you can usually purchase significantly becoming fixture options for a relatively low price. Just be sure to be safe when installing the new fixtures. Don’t ever perform this task without completely shutting off the electricity first and having a solid understanding of the proper process.

4. Don’t forget about window treatments.

Adding your window treatments is a must when you rent a home. Fortunately, nice-quality curtains can be purchased at a relatively low cost. You’ll probably want to avoid buying shutters or blinds because it’s unlikely these will be reusable in any future home you rent or own (the necessary measurements for things like shutters and blinds are usually too specific).

5. Try temporary wallpaper.

You probably remember contact paper from when you were a little kid. Your mom may have put it on the shelves of your cupboards to tidy things up and protect the wood. Today, contact paper is still around, but there’s a new similar product in town as well: temporary wallpaper.

Temporary wallpaper is just what it sounds like: wallpaper that is permanent but also easy to remove. Attach it to your walls (or furniture) according to the simple directions, and when you’re ready to move out or change the design, the wallpaper should peel right off without leaving a nasty residue.

6. Get creative with the rest of your décor.

Because you are often limited when it comes to home design in a rental home, you’ll want to put most of your focus on the design elements of your furniture, what you put on your walls, and the colors you use in the theme of each room.

Put a lot of effort into this. Do your research, and only choose the furniture and design elements that truly speak to you. To get some ideas, look at online home design websites and home décor catalogs. Finding DIY solutions can be a great help (and can save you tons of money).

Thinking About Buying a Home?

Let’s face it: Many individuals, couples, and families are forced to rent because they can’t afford to buy a new home. With the heavyweight of student loans, credit card debt, and a fledgling economy, it’s not easy to find a lender who’s willing to lend to you unless you can put a large amount of money down or pay huge monthly rates with high-interest rates.

Still, you can learn how to invest in real estate without buying property. Real estate investing can be an extremely lucrative opportunity, and you don’t have to have a large amount of capital to start. Once you earn some cash from your first investment, it will only be a matter of time before you’re able to purchase your own home.

In many ways, investing in real estate without purchasing property is safer to enter the real estate market. If you’re tired of designing your rooms around your landlord’s rules and feeling like a transient visitor in your own home, consider this investment opportunity and change your future!