While those who own their home enjoy home improvement impunity, those who are in lease often face the dilemma of whether they would upgrade their apartment or leave it as it is.
But we all deserve to come home to a place we love, and you can definitely turn your rental into a haven that you want to come home to using simple tricks.
Here are 5 rental rules worth breaking according to Trulia so you can transform your temporary crash pad into your dream nest:
Painting
Check with your landlord and see if you could get fresh coat of paint for you space. You never know, the landlord could even cover the supplies as long as you choose a color of their favor. Painting is one of the quickest ways to liven up a space and customize it according to your theme.
Removable wallpaper
Wallpaper in a modern pattern of your choice could completely transform the look and feel of a space. The good news is there are already self-adhesive wallpapers that don't take hours to scrape and take off. With these self-adhesive wallpapers, application and removal are so easy that you can make the space look more interesting in a matter of minutes and it won't leave ugly sticky residue on the walls when your lease is up and you need to vacate the space.
Light fixtures
Most of the time, rentals come with "typical rental" fixtures that may not suit your taste. A quick way to address that boob-like flush-mount fixture is by replacing it with a more stylish and fancier looking lighting to give the space new life. What's good about this design project is that it doesn't require anything other than just going to the nearest Home Depot or a weekend flea market to find the perfect lighting. Just replace the old one and make sure that you keep it safely stored so you can just put it back when it's time to pack your bags.
Kitchen hardware
Can't stand the honey oak cabinets but don't have much choice? Give those dated cabinets edge and character by replacing polished nickel pulls with more elegant and modern hardware that you can just easily install and un-install when your lease ends.
Window treatments
Plastic vertical blinds window treatment is a hallmark sign of rental spaces. So if you don't want to be constantly reminded that you are living in an apartment, you can take out those blinds and go for cordless Roman shades that look way better. If you prefer to hang curtains, choose an opaque fabric and install the rod slightly higher than the window for the illusion of a higher ceiling and for a more cozy effect.
