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7 Ways to Decorate Your Rented Flat
Here are ways to put your style stamp on your rented apartment, and turn it from drab to fab
Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar
5 July 2018
Houzz India Contributor. Internationally published architecture, design and art journalist. www.mangomonk.com
Houzz India Contributor. Internationally published architecture, design and art journalist.... More
You don’t have to own an apartment to make it yours. With a little inventiveness, you can turn your newly rented abode into a personally crafted work of art. After all, just because you don’t own the place, doesn’t mean you can’t own the space. If you’re struggling to fire up your imagination, these ideas will help you transform your rented home from a no-man’s-land to a personal, idyllic escape.
1. Invest in modular furniture
Modular furniture can be like a marvellous jigsaw puzzle with infinite permutations, meaning that you can customise your space and split up your pieces to form various seating or sleeping arrangements. As a renter, this also allows you to provide for possible future moves and gives you the option of carrying your furniture with you.
Wondering what the big deal is about modular sofas?
Modular furniture can be like a marvellous jigsaw puzzle with infinite permutations, meaning that you can customise your space and split up your pieces to form various seating or sleeping arrangements. As a renter, this also allows you to provide for possible future moves and gives you the option of carrying your furniture with you.
Wondering what the big deal is about modular sofas?
2. Embrace removable accents
Wall accents are a clever way to give your home an instant facelift, but in a rented apartment, they can seem like an impractical choice, given their traditionally permanent nature. Nowadays, a host of removable accent options are being tailored to rental needs, including removable wallpaper (although these come at a hefty price tag) and wall decals.
Wall accents are a clever way to give your home an instant facelift, but in a rented apartment, they can seem like an impractical choice, given their traditionally permanent nature. Nowadays, a host of removable accent options are being tailored to rental needs, including removable wallpaper (although these come at a hefty price tag) and wall decals.
In fact, if your kitchen comes with plain tiles, you can create your own custom splashback with handpicked wall decals that can be cleanly peeled off when it’s time to go.
3. Experiment with lights and lamps
Your home’s lighting scheme can play a pivotal role in establishing the aesthetic of your space. If your landlord has left behind tarnished lighting fixtures or even lights that don’t appeal to your personal sense of design, swap them out for contemporary pendant lamps, chandeliers and floor lamps that speak your language. And when your lease finally ends, you always have the option of taking them down and carrying them with you.
Your home’s lighting scheme can play a pivotal role in establishing the aesthetic of your space. If your landlord has left behind tarnished lighting fixtures or even lights that don’t appeal to your personal sense of design, swap them out for contemporary pendant lamps, chandeliers and floor lamps that speak your language. And when your lease finally ends, you always have the option of taking them down and carrying them with you.
4. Get creative with walls
If pictures can speak a thousand words, a wall can speak a million. A thoughtfully designed wall can pull off a major heavy-duty role in the home design department. Personal artwork, ornate frames and replicas of famous paintings are some options you could use to set out your decor. These, in turn, could also shine a spotlight on your unique preferences and passions.
If pictures can speak a thousand words, a wall can speak a million. A thoughtfully designed wall can pull off a major heavy-duty role in the home design department. Personal artwork, ornate frames and replicas of famous paintings are some options you could use to set out your decor. These, in turn, could also shine a spotlight on your unique preferences and passions.
5. Source a portable room divider
While you may not be able to change the structural layout of your home, a portable room divider gives you the option of erecting makeshift partitions, whenever, wherever. Also, such a screen holds an evergreen appeal, with the ability to fit right in with future design styles.
Tip: Invest in a neutral screen that will fit seamlessly into the decor scheme of possible future homes.
While you may not be able to change the structural layout of your home, a portable room divider gives you the option of erecting makeshift partitions, whenever, wherever. Also, such a screen holds an evergreen appeal, with the ability to fit right in with future design styles.
Tip: Invest in a neutral screen that will fit seamlessly into the decor scheme of possible future homes.
6. Switch up the little things
You can stir up variety by making easy switches to your kitchen door and drawer knobs and basic bathroom hardware.
Use kitchen hardware to reflect pieces of your personality and showcase what inspires you. Blue crystalline knobs to represent a love of the ocean, or burnished rose-gold pulls for a romantic, old-world appeal, perhaps?
You can stir up variety by making easy switches to your kitchen door and drawer knobs and basic bathroom hardware.
Use kitchen hardware to reflect pieces of your personality and showcase what inspires you. Blue crystalline knobs to represent a love of the ocean, or burnished rose-gold pulls for a romantic, old-world appeal, perhaps?
Likewise, consider giving your bathroom an artistic edge with a sculptural showerhead. While showerheads can be pricey, they can be practical investments in the long run. Being detachable, they can be removed and reinstalled in your next home.
7. Personalise your planters
Plants lovers, make merry! Plants have an undeniable ability to envelop a space in a pure, intangible, organic energy. Also, they are significant health boosters, working to purify air and lower temperatures. Apart from getting creative with the variety of plants that you pick, you can experiment with the vases and containers that play host to your plants, choosing designs that echo your favourite patterns, motifs, colour palettes and themes. If you feel especially creative, you could even DIY a planter as a fun weekend project.
Here are five plants best suited for Indian homes
Read more:
10 Clever Ways to Personalise Your Rented Bathroom
Living on Rent and on a Budget? Transform Your Unsightly Kitchen
Houzz Experts Speak: Making Your Home Irresistible to Renters
Tell us:
What tips have you used to give your rented apartment a personal makeover? Tell us in Comments below.
Plants lovers, make merry! Plants have an undeniable ability to envelop a space in a pure, intangible, organic energy. Also, they are significant health boosters, working to purify air and lower temperatures. Apart from getting creative with the variety of plants that you pick, you can experiment with the vases and containers that play host to your plants, choosing designs that echo your favourite patterns, motifs, colour palettes and themes. If you feel especially creative, you could even DIY a planter as a fun weekend project.
Here are five plants best suited for Indian homes
Read more:
10 Clever Ways to Personalise Your Rented Bathroom
Living on Rent and on a Budget? Transform Your Unsightly Kitchen
Houzz Experts Speak: Making Your Home Irresistible to Renters
Tell us:
What tips have you used to give your rented apartment a personal makeover? Tell us in Comments below.
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