10 Quick and Easy Ways to Update Your Rental Home Decor
Decorating can be a lot of work. You may have to rethink an entire room and change the style of everything in it. It's especially hard with rental home decor since you're greatly limited in what you can do to a property that you don't own.
However, there are ways to keep it simple. Many quick tweaks can be made that make a big impact.
1. Repurpose what you’re already using
Just rearranging your furniture or moving around the decorations you have can make a big difference. Hang a picture on a different wall, put the couch in a different part of the room or move around the lamps to light the room differently. You can do a lot with what you already have.
2. Take advantage of what you aren’t using
We know you have those things sitting in your closet you’ve never gotten around to using. Pictures to hang up, some furniture you never built, etc. Try taking one of those out and see what you can do with it.
3. Paint (if your landlord allows)
No, not the entire room — you don’t need to start there. If your landlord allows it, try painting a single wall a different color. Accent walls can make a big difference to the look and feel of a room. You can try repainting more later but start with just the one wall for now.
4. Spray paint your furniture
If you can’t paint the walls, switch to the furniture. Try painting your bookshelf or chairs a different color and see the impact. Use spray paint and experiment with a range of colors to give your room some pop.
5. Use alternative wall decorations
There’s a lot you can do without painting the walls. Hanging up artwork and using temporary wallpaper are just a few ideas.
6. Change the lighting
Good lighting is hard to do, but we have several tips on how to get it right. One of them is focusing less on overhead lights and more on lamps/accent lighting and task-specific lighting.
7. Take down doors to open up the room (if your landlord allows it)
If there’s a door between the kitchen and living room (or any other two rooms) that’s making space feel small, try taking it down. Run it by your landlord first and make sure to keep the parts to reassemble it later. This trick also works well for closets, making them look more open. Without a door, a small closet can feel like a walk-in one.
8. Hang some curtains
Are you just using the basic blinds that came with your rental? This can easily be changed. Even adding some curtains over the blinds can make an impact on the room.
9. Use plants
A few houseplants can make your entryway, kitchen or living room feel very new. Make sure to select plants that can survive indoors and keep them well-watered. If well-maintained, they can make any room feel brand new.
10. Change the linens to update your bedroom design
This might be one of the best high impact, low effort things you can do. Swapping your current linens for different colored ones can make your room feel completely different. All you need is a new set of sheets and pillowcases, and maybe a different comforter if you really want to change things up.
Updating your rental home decor doesn’t have to be a massive, expensive project. Do you have any other quick tips to make your rental home feel new again? Let us know in the comments!
