Moving can be a challenging, stressful time for everyone, but it doesn’t have to be! You can turn an unpleasant move into an adventure by seizing this opportunity to decorate and embrace the change. Your new home is a blank canvas waiting for your splashes of creativity and color. After all, your home should be a reflection of you and everyone living in it!
5 Tips for Enhancing a Rented Home
Rented Home
1. Creative Curtains:
A simple part of decorating that many people neglect is window treatments. Curtains are a super affordable, simple way to invite color, patterns, and personality into any room. My favorite way to make small rooms with low ceilings look larger is by using long eyelet curtain panels. You can also get cheap curtain rods and paint those to match!
2. Paint, Paint, Paint!:
There are many options for redecorating with paint in your new home. Walls are a great place to start especially if you are not as fond of the bright green kitchen as the last tenant was. Check with your landlord first about the changes and if you get to repaint remember that neutral, flat finish colors work best. Leave the fun pops of color to accents throughout the space.
Painting little areas like knobs on cabinets, parts of doors, or framing is a great way to add simple splashes of color to brighten up the room. If the landlord likes what you have done, you may not have to paint it back when it is time for you to leave.
3. Illuminate the Room With Lively Lighting:
If you find yourself face to face with atrocious light fixtures, it may be in your best interest to change them out. You might have a friend that knows how or have an electrician give you a tutorial. Just ensure someone knows what they are doing so your redecorating doesn’t turn into a fire hazard. Once you learn it is pretty simple, just be sure to replace the original lighting when you leave.
If that sounds like too much work there are plenty of options for lighting that you can simply plugin. One of my favorite tricks is finding cheap lamps at thrift stores. You can paint the base or change out the lampshades to give it a new, fresh look.
Lighting can create the mood in a room so have fun experimenting with illumination. A simple chandelier that plugs into the wall will bring elegance to any space. For some party and pizzazz invest in some color-changing light bulbs.
Room With Lively Lighting
4. Keep Furniture Neutral and Versatile:
Having dual-purpose furniture and sectional couches that can be easily moved around to fit the space may save you some headaches in the long run. Every home you move into will not be exactly the same as the last, even if it has the same square footage.
Instead of having to buy new furniture each time, try to find pieces that have more than one purpose. If space is limited in your next home and you have to downsize, you will be prepared! Things that stack and pieces that can be removed are great for this. I keep the big pieces of furniture neutral colors and bring in lively patterns and color through accents like pillows and rugs.
5. Decorate Rooms You Normally Wouldn’t:
Patios are an amazing place to spruce up. Add some lights and plants around the deck for a cozy feel. Hanging sheer curtains will keep the bugs out so you can enjoy this sunshine-filled space.
You go to your closet every day, why not make it nice to look at? Hate staring at that blank wall while you do the seemingly endless piles of laundry? Add some color and personality to those places that you spend time. This will make this new strange home feel like less of a stranger.
