Category: makeover

When you live in rented accommodation, you can often feel as if it isn’t really your own home, particularly when it is a short-term rental and you can’t add the reclaimed wood furniture you want or decorate it to your own taste; and a quick read of your rental agreement will soon show you all the things that you cannot do. It can often make it harder to relax and unwind in a space when you feel you can’t stamp your own mark on a property. However, all is not lost. Read on as we explore the clever hacks you can do to make your rental feel more like home.

Consider your furniture

The right furniture is a sure fire way of helping to add your own style to your rental. If you don’t have much space, pick a couple of key pieces that will work well. Rustic furniture is a great way of adding warmth and character to any property. An industrial bookcase will not only provide you with a good storage solution but will also offer some display opportunities that will help to make your rental feel like home. Another key piece to consider is a wooden sideboard – it will afford you some much-needed storage and again, a surface where you can add your own personality and style.

Incorporate some plants

Studies have shown that adding greenery to a space can help to improve your mood, so invest in some plants to place around your home. Opt for a range of different-sized pots with different types of foliage from succulents to a larger palm. Hanging plants are popular, but use strong removable hooks to hang them. If you don’t have a great track record with plants, opt for fake ones or dried flowers and grasses make eye-catching displays.

• Read more: Make your home beautiful with flowers
  

Try removable wallpaper

This is an incredibly versatile way in which you can add your own personality to your rental without damaging the walls. It is super easy to put up, and more importantly, easy to take down as well! You don’t need to limit its use to the walls either. Use it to add a splash of colour to the front or insides of a wooden wardrobe or even the back of a bookcase. As its removable you can be as bold and daring as you like.

Image credit Shutterstock_Jafara

Add some artwork

If you want to hang artwork on the walls then remember to use a product like picture strips. They’re strong enough to hold your artwork but gentle enough to be removed from the walls when you leave without leaving a mark. You could also consider removable stickers. These are an increasingly popular choice with people looking to add a touch of personality to a wall, whether they rent or not.

Another option is to make use of a surface or mantlepiece and layer prints and artwork against the wall or for more of a statement, place oversized frame or mirror on the floor and lean against the wall.

• Read more: Pro tips to style a sideboard with interior stylist

Let lighting change the mood

The right lighting can make all the difference to a room. Remember though, that good lighting is about more than just replacing the shade, or adding one where there is only a bare standard bulb (although this will instantly make a difference). Lighting can also be improved by replacing a harsh bulb with something softer. A simple change like this can alter the entire mood of a room. You could also add a small lamp to somewhere like a mango wood side table to create a different mood if you’re stuck with something on the ceiling that you’re not so keen on.

And finally….accessorise

Lastly, a very simple way to make your rental feel homely and welcoming is to add some good quality accessories that express your personality or even a particular style you are trying to emulate, such as rustic, industrial or farmhouse. Look for cushions, rugs, curtains and other textiles that will work well with the reclaimed wood furniture you may have selected to help make your space feel like a place that you can really call home.

How are you going to bring character to your rented home? Don’t forget to visit our Ideas and Inspiration for more great ways to improve your home. Or sign-up to our newsletter below and get a weekly dose of inspiration to your inbox.

The coming long bank holiday weekend could be the perfect time to tackle those home decorating jobs you’ve been putting off all year. With this in mind, we have put together a handy guide to help you to get started, with tips on preparation, colours, furniture and trends.

What you need before you start decorating

The key to being efficient when it comes to decorating is to spend time preparing beforehand. If you are simply looking to refresh your rooms, be it your living room, dining room or bedroom then painting is the easiest way to do this.

Make sure that you have all the right equipment; paint trays, rollers, brushes masking tape, decorator’s caulk (in case you need to fill in any small cracks), sugar soap and cloths, dust sheets – either plastic or fabric, and ladders.

If you are planning to put up any wallpaper, then you will need paste, a pasting table, a small roller (for air bubbles), a ruler, scissors and a knife.

Prepare your space

To make your decorating go as smoothly as possible, you can do much of the preparation in advance. First, check your walls and fill in any small cracks. Wash your walls down with sugar soap to remove any dust, debris and grease – this will make it easier to paint.

Don’t forget to move your rustic dining table and any other reclaimed wood furniture away from the walls and cover them where necessary to avoid the damage caused by stray drips of paint.

Consider your colours

Picking the right colours for your home is, for many, one of the best parts of giving a room a makeover. If you are just refreshing your current colour, then this can be a very easy task, however if you are thinking about really changing things up with a completely different look then there are a couple of things to consider.

If you have an industrial coffee table, for example, then think about what colours will work well – neutral colours fit the industrial look well, but so do bold and dark colours. For a pretty industrial look consider pastels, for a more bohemian industrial look then consider a monochrome palette. Why not check out our blogs from Little Green and Earthborne Paints for more colour ideas.

Make sure you get enough paint

There really is nothing worse than seeing the finish line with your decorating only to find you don’t have enough paint. Some brands of paint recommend more coats than others so once you have chosen your shade you will need to measure your room to work out how much you should purchase. As long as you haven’t purchased a specially mixed shade, you can return unopened cans to most good DIY stores.

Painting trends

The last thing to think about when painting and decorating your home is the other areas you might want to paint. Painting the ceiling is very on-trend, but can be tricky. Do this first so you don’t get splashes on your newly painted walls and remember to cover furniture that can’t easily be moved like a solid wood bed or a wooden sideboard. You may also want to think about picking the same colour for your skirting and coving – this decorating trick will make your rooms appear taller.

If you liked this, see more ideas and inspiration, including styling tips.