5 Non-Permanent Ways To Dress Up Your Rental Home

By Julia D on June 15, 2018

This article is brought to you by CORT Furniture Rental. We take the hassle out of furnishing your new place so you can do more important things like read this article. Learn more about why furniture rental is the best way to get a great looking apartment.

Housing is tough to find when you’re a college student on a budget–and once you finally find a property, it can feel even tougher to personalize your place if it’s a rental home or apartment.

You may think your options are slim when it comes to rental decor. Nowadays, they aren’t; more and more products have become available that allow for temporary customization of entire houses or single rooms, and a little creativity can transform your space substantially.

Here are five temporary ways to dress up your rental home and reflect your style:

Image via Pexels

1. Decorate walls with decals

Removable wall decals can accessorize nearly any room in your house without damaging paint whatsoever. In my experience, wall decals are often marketed most heavily during college move-in season because they come in handy for decorating dorm rooms; however, they are available year-round from home improvement stores and online! You’ll be surprised how much of a difference the right wall decals can make in your home; you can find floral decals, letters and quotes, stripes and patterns, even sheets that resemble wood, for folks looking for a more natural look. They tend to be made of vinyl, and essentially, they’re large stickers that don’t leave residue.

You can reposition them fairly well and use them multiple times, in case you decide they look better in a different room. Those who might be uncertain about using huge sheets of peel-and-stick wallpaper may find decals to be much more user-friendly, according to Apartmenttherapy.com.

2. Use tension rods (no tools!)

Tension rods are great for those living in rental properties because you don’t have to drill anything into the wall, and the rods are fairly simple to install because of it. With a tension rod, you can hang curtains from wall to wall and separate large rooms into several smaller ones, add privacy if you’re sharing a room with someone, or just brighten up your windows. If you’re looking to add a large pop of color or pattern to a room, hang a large tapestry or fabric swatch on a tension rod.

Even if you aren’t living in a rented property, tension rods are extremely handy for those who aren’t great with screwing objects into the wall. Why get out the tools when you don’t need to?

Image via Pexels

3. Go crazy with throw rugs

Wish you had carpet but only have hardwood? You may not be able to request full-on carpeting in your rental, but you can use bath mats and area rugs of various sizes to add a fuzzier texture to your interior flooring. They aren’t just for kitchen and bathroom sink areas anymore!

Placing a few smaller rugs in a pattern can add a nice touch of design. Even better, there’s little commitment involved, so you can switch up your rugs anytime you need a change. Area rugs also act as great protection against hard flooring, thus reducing the likelihood of scratching or scuffing the finish. They vary in price according to size and material, and can be found online and in home improvement stores

4. Hang photos on a clothesline

If you aren’t allowed to poke many holes in your walls with tacks or nails, hang photos on a long stretch of string using clothespins. It makes for a very cute and trendy wall decoration while greatly reducing the number of holes you need to make in the wall (just two or three are needed to keep a medium-size strand hanging). You can also turn your photos and printed keepsakes into a collage, adhering them to poster paper before putting the paper up on the wall. Whenever you end up moving out of the rental, you’ll find that packing up decor takes much less time, too, seeing as the photos will have been consolidated.

5. Find unique furniture

You may not be able to paint your apartment or rental home itself, but you can add color and pizzazz with furniture! You can buy the basics at any large department store, but you can find some one-of-a-kind pieces at antique stores as well. Check out thrift shops and secondhand shops for furniture, and you might find some cool storage items, old-looking tables and quirky dressers. Used furniture will usually be cheaper than new furniture, too, so it pays to be a little thrifty. If you find a furniture piece that you like, but don’t quite love, invest in a little paint and redesign it to suit your aesthetic.

Life in a rental home truly doesn’t have to be boring and uninspired. There’s a way to get around nearly any rule your landlord might have in place, without actually breaking any rules. You can jazz up your walls with much more than just paint, and you can jazz up your rooms themselves with statement pieces that show off your style in inventive ways.

Looking for an easy way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Renting furniture from CORT saves you time and money. See how easy it is to get great looking furniture without breaking the bank.

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