The chances are if you are renting then the place you are staying is just a temporary solution meaning you don’t want to invest a large amount of money decorating when you could be somewhere else in 6 months time. Just because you are renting doesn’t mean you can’t have a lovely designed interior though. Many rental properties have limitations on what you can do – it depends on what landlord you have and their rules in the rental agreement. Join in this weeks Little Ones Chat if you want to share ideas or ask any questions! Maybe I or someone else may be able to give some pointers! Here are a few Interior Design tips I have pulled together that are ideal for renters!
Furniture
Whilst working in the furniture industry for 5 years I discovered that a huge amount of people are obsessed with corner sofas! (Including me). There is something about a corner sofa that just makes a room look great; it gives you a large amount of seating, it can divide an open plan space nicely by zoning it off, it can be a great space saving solution in comparison to buying lots of individual pieces (where bulky arms can often end up taking up much more space!).
The negatives of buying a corner sofa from an unfurnished renting perspective is if you get it to fit the space you are currently living in, it may not fit your next place/ or end up facing the complete wrong way round for the layout of the room. What a waste of money that would be!
Solution: Instead of buying a corner sofa, opt for a 2 seater and 2 small armchairs, or a 3 seater and 1 armchair. This gives you so much more flexibility for amending the room layout and you will be able to take those pieces with you when you move. In most cases you can make this furniture combination work in any room setting. If one of the chairs don’t fit in your new living room, at least it can be used in a different room whereas you can’t cut a corner sofa up if it doesn’t fit!! Layering up lots of smaller pieces of furniture and accessories can give a room lots of visual interest if you can’t do anything with the walls. Take the photo below as an example; even if you take the shelving unit away, the room is really cosy despite having plain walls because there are so many layers to the room; the sofa, the lighting, the rug, the coffee table, the throw, the cushions, the footstool and the plant with varying heights. It gives the room texture! I think Made.com have the best selection of design led affordable sofas and armchairs and can’t wait until their new store opens in the Met Quarter in Liverpool mid September! I bought my purple Kubrick chair from made.com and I love it!
Painting & Wallpaper
Some landlords don’t allow you to paint the walls or wallpaper their property meaning you have to make do with what is there. Often the walls are just plain white or cream. Even if you are renting a property you may want to inject a bit of life into a room with some colour or pattern, so this can be quite frustrating if you want a feature wall or something.
Solution: Create your own temporary alternative wallpaper solution by decorating with MT Tape or Washi Tape. These masking tapes come in all different colours and patterns and you can create your own ‘wallpaper’ and artwork on your walls. This is a great alternative to a standard wall sticker mural because you can get creative and do something unique. You can buy these cool tapes from Utility, Paperchase and Hobbycraft. Both brands are a low tack masking tape so are a great temporary solution and come off really easily without damaging the wall.
Picture Frames & Hooks
Many rented properties are apartments with plaster board walls and hanging pictures can be a nightmare. You may not be allowed to drill holes etc. Or even if you are allowed to do that, they normally state in the agreement that you will need to fill all holes and repaint before you leave. Often people don’t bother putting pictures and mirrors up because of this hassle but there is nothing worse than bare walls! Bare walls are so uninviting and not homely if you keep everything else plain too.
Solution: Instead of drilling holes in walls, buy 3M Command; these velcro like strips are damage free hanging solutions and allow you to hang pictures, mirrors and hooks without having to make any holes in walls or doors. I swear by them; I have used these to hang so many pictures in my house! One word of advice is to make sure you stick it on the solid part of the frame and not the cardboard part. I stuck it on the cardboard part for a mirror that didn’t have a solid frame at the back and the next day I found it smashed on the floor because it had peeled off! They also have a great range of decorative hooks that you can use to hang jewellery, fabric, a curtain pole, a shoe rack, interchangeable art etc and still look nice! It’s amazing what you can use these strips and hooks for.
Artwork Idea using Spring Clips/ Hooks
Have you came to any challenges when furnishing and decorating your rented home?
Do you have any tips you can share with others that I haven’t mentioned above?
I would love to get your feedback. You can comment on the post below or use the hastag #LittleOnesChat over on twitter.
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Natalie x