How to Add a Personal + Pretty Touch Your Rental Home

With house prices rising and work becoming less stable, more of us are likely to rent houses and apartments than ever before.

However, when you have a rental property, it can sometimes feel like you aren’t really in your own home. You often don’t have the opportunity to put your own stamp on the place, which doesn’t have to be as difficult to do as you would think. So, with this in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the best ways to add a personal touch to your rental home.

Add a Bit of Colour

Often, rental properties tend to have fairly neutral colour schemes so you may need to bring in some more colourful items to liven things up. If you have lived in the property for a while, your landlord will sometimes let you paint the place yourself so you can really get creative. If not, you can still bring in some cushions, rugs and artwork so you can at least personalise these items. Also, it’s a nice idea to have some houseplants which can also give you that burst of life you are looking for.

Wall Decor

Different landlords have different policies when it comes to what you can hang on the wall so make sure you check with them before hammering in any nails. But you can usually get around this with some temporary hooks or velcro attachments. Choose some artwork that is personal to you. Rather than going for usual off-the-shelf items, you could instead select some that are more personalised so see more humorous prints here. Another option is to choose some of your own photos that are special to you.

Lighting

People often don’t think about what a big difference lighting can make to the overall mood of a room, but it really can have a big impact. If you can’t change the main lighting sources directly, you can still add some extra lamps, candles or fairy lights. On the other side of the coin, if you find that your home is getting too bright during the day, you could try adding a retractable curtain rod so you can choose your own drapes.

Furniture

Some rental properties come with furniture already included, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t bring in some more items to dot around the place. For example, if you are looking to soften a room up, you could try adding some bean bags and comfortable stools. If you don’t feel like you have enough counter space, you could bring in some extra small tables. A common problem that people have in rental properties is that they don’t have enough storage space, so trying out some creative options can help to get rid of that clutter.

Just because you are renting a place, it doesn’t mean you can’t make it seem more like home. Try out a few of these techniques to see what a difference they could make to your place.