11 September 2014
Typically, when renting, it can be hard to make yourself feel at home. Landlords and properties can occasionally come with a heavy-hitting list of rules, regulations and conditions. Such rules can minimise the impact that the renter can have on their living environment. Of course, it’s essential to make a house a home in order to feel comfortable and settled.
The benefits of renting needn’t be saturated with certain stipulations. Fortunately, renters can easily and effortlessly imprint their personality, interests and character upon their home without breaking any rules. Our walk-through guide will show you a few ways to make a home your own without causing any damage to your property.
- An obvious and immediate way to make your rental your own is to add knickknacks and paraphernalia such as family photographs, ornaments, paintings and decorations that reflect you. The key is not to clutter in a desperate attempt to make an impact. Instead, a few well-placed items go a long way.
- It’s relatively easy to make a strong statement using day to day essentials such as bedding, blankets, curtains and cushions. Naturally, neutral and plain items can make your rental home feel leached of life, so inject your favourite colours and designs and patterns that make you feel like you!
- Re-arranging furniture doesn’t take too long and it can help really revolutionise a space. Don’t like the layout of the chairs and table? Move it! Make the most of the space and size to find your own style. Take a photo of how things look beforehand so that if you want to, you can always move things back into place. From here on out, it’s about experimenting and adding a little feng shui to see what style suits you!
- Candles, potpourri, mirrors, room oils, rugs and wind chimes are all great ways to add scents, colours and emotions to your home in a temporary but fast-acting manner. Add fresh flowers for colour and artwork for creative inspiration.
- If it’s allowed, paint your walls. This is one way to dramatically change a room into a place where you can feel comfortable. It’s also relatively inexpensive but goes a long way. Most landlords are on board with this because it’s very easy to just paint it back to its original colour when necessary and if you have a long lease it works well.
