While waiting, saving, and working hard for your dream home, you may find yourself in an apartment, condo, or rental house. We at Community Lending of America know how important it is to feel at home no matter where you find yourself so we created a list of the top 10 easy and affordable changes you can implement to make your rental house feel like home.
Window Treatments
The key to any work you put into a rental is to make sure that you can take it with you; this is where window treatments come in. Curtains make any room feel, and when you do move to your dream house, you can take them with you. Try picking a neutral tone when looking at curtains because they will always compliment any color scheme that you choose which gives you the freedom to change pallets more often based on the season or the mood that you want to set.
Lighting
Lighting is something you don’t always think about as a way to decorate but believe us when you have excellent lighting piece, it can change a room! Unique lamps can quickly become a staple for a room. You can also swap out the original lighting in your rental with a piece that you love and then install the originals again when you move out.
Accents
Accents are crucial to making your style your own. From pillows to throws, to little pieces you chose to display, accents can tell a story or share your decorative taste, and if you’re in a space that isn’t exactly what you want, this can be a way to let people know more about what you like. One of our favorite ways to find accents to display in our home is to find little flea markets when you’re traveling. It’s a great way to get to know the local community you’re visiting, as well as bring something home with you that will remind you of your time. Additionally, it makes for great conversation when people ask where you found certain pieces.
Hardware
Some times rentals can have dated pieces of hardware on cabinets and doors. Adding your own hardware can accentuate your style and make the space look newer. Make sure to store the original hardware in a safe place so that when you move out, you can re-install it and take yours with you!
Rugs
While saving for your most significant investment, you can make a smaller investment in the waiting to make your space feel like it’s your own. Rugs can completely change a room for the better (and worse). If you’re picking a bold print for a rug, you’ll want to make sure that accent pieces match and that your furniture is a neutral color. Too much color in a room can make a space feel cluttered and smaller. If you pick a simpler rug, you can play a lot more with color in accent pillows and even furniture. If you’re a person that likes to change things up when it comes to decorating, we highly recommend sticking with a simple, neutral rug. However, if you want bold colors and commit to one style for a while, a fun, colorful rug is the way to go!
Display Art
We love unique spaces and the idea that someone can walk into your home and learn more about you from your space. When you decorate with unique art, you are giving people a glimpse into who you are, what draws your eye, and what is important to you. While we love Target as much as the next person, we recommend shopping local, finding artists that you can support and that will give you pieces that no one else has.
Focus on the positive
We’ve been there, waiting and saving for your dream home can feel like it takes forever. We promise, before you know it, you will be unlocking the doors to your place. While you wait, try to list the things that your rental provides that you are grateful for. If you’re in an apartment, maybe it’s the complex pool or gym. If you’re in a condo, perhaps it’s that you don’t have to worry about lawn maintenance. If you’re in a rental house, think of all the times you have had to call your landlord with a problem and be thankful that for the time being, you don’t have to pay for the new water heater, or broken AC (we may or may not be speaking from personal experience). We hope these tips for making your rental space feel like home was helpful and we’d love to see what you’ve done to your rental to make it your own. Follow us on Instagram and tag us in some of you rental projects!