Have you been thinking of painting your rental home, but your contract says no?
We know it can be challenging to customize a rented space and give it personal touches to make it feel like home. For one, your lease may have restrictions against significant changes such us painting the walls or drilling holes. Second, you may feel like making upgrades is like a waste or money because the house isn’t permanent. Third, you’d rather stick to your usual maintenance responsibilities as a tenant than to face any legal issues.
Well, there are a number of temporary yet vibrant ways to add color to your rental home without breaking your lease. We want you to feel at home, and reflect your personality through colors, lighting or furniture, whether you plan on staying for a year or longer.
But first… here are a few things you need to do before painting your walls or any rental home updates.
Tips before Painting your Rental Home
- Always check with your landlord first if you’re unsure whether or not your home project is allowed.
- Don’t spend too much on temporary upgrades that aren’t reusable.
- Safely store any furniture or items you’ve removed so you can easily put it back when you move out.
- Hire a professional and don’t DIY everything.
Now that you’re ready to start a home project, try these tips to spice up your rental home with color.
Goodbye Boring Walls
Rental walls often come in plain or neutral colors and painting your off-white walls with a jungle mural is not allowed by your landlord. Although customizing your wall is doable, it can create a problem when you move out as landlords allow you to repaint the walls but on the condition that you’re going to repaint it back to its original color. One solution is to use temporary wallpaper or paintable wallpaper, especially if you choose to create an accent wall in your home.
Create an Accent Wall
There are plenty of removable wallpaper designs that are reasonably priced and easy to install. An accent wall is a perfect way to create a dramatic impact and focus, but with minimal effort and expense. You can hang a large tapestry, add a gallery wall, or create a chalkboard wall, which is trendy nowadays.
Brighten up Sleepy Bedrooms
If you want neutral colors in your bedroom wall but want to brighten it up, you can add beddings, pillows, or comforters in bright colors. Pick your focal point in your bedroom and choose an accent color. It can be a blue throw pillow, brightly colored lamp, a large wall art, or a bright piece of furniture.
Add Indoor Plants to your Rental Home
Adding a pop of color using plants and flowers is another amazing option. Indoor plants not only add color to your home but also contribute to having good air quality at home. While most indoor plants are green, there are other indoor flowering plants or dwarf ones that can add color to your living room or kitchen.
Accessorize with Colorful Tableware
Most rental homes come with kitchen appliances, and if you have a Smeg refrigerator that comes in fun color then you’re on to a great start. But if not and your appliances come in their usual colors, you can still go big on the color in your kitchen by accessorizing with colorful tableware and a few coordinated wall art. You may choose to have an open-shelving look and display your colorful plates and glasses.
These are just a few tips that can help you personalize your rental home and at the same time, add color without actually painting it. There are numerous ways to add color and one smart way is to use what you already have. There are restrictions to what you can do when you’re renting, but this shouldn’t hinder you from making your rented space homier. As we have mentioned earlier, every big changes to a rental property must be consulted to your landlord first so as to avoid any legal issues. On the other hand, there are a few simple changes you can do that can make a noticeable difference at your rented property.
Work with Apogee Properties
Apogee Properties is Houston’s leading real estate management company. We work and live in Houston and our property managers are local. We’ve been in business for more than a decade providing comprehensive property management services in the Houston region ranging from a studio condo to a multi-family million dollar estate.
Apogee looks forward to hearing from you and sharing what we can offer to your Houston property. Contact us today to learn more!
