Making Your Rental Feel Like Home

Redecorating your rented apartment or house can help make your space feel personalized and comfortable, as well as versatile. In particular, with many individuals working from home, delineating workspace is critical to ensuring productivity and limiting distractions. The Artisen can be your go-to resource when you’re looking for design inspirations and unique products that can convert a rental into a personalized living space.

How can You Make Your Rental Home feel like Home?

While rental properties sometimes limit the type of interior decorating you can undertake, there are still some temporary design elements that work wonderfully. You might even check with your property manager to ask if you have any leeway with design measures, particularly if you're interested in making improvements that will add to the overall value of the property. If you get the go-ahead to add some personalized touches or otherwise make permanent changes, make sure your property manager gives you express written permission to ensure you are not penalized or fined for your efforts at a later date.

Finding Your Interior Design Style

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What kind of style feels best for you and your family? Do you like a sleek, modern look? Perhaps you prefer a French country style. Is comfort important, in terms of having overstuffed furniture and cozy, plush throws? Maybe you prefer to surround yourself with decor that feels stimulating or eclectic, in which case you have license to experiment with color, design, and texture. Give some thought as to the atmosphere you're trying to create, as well as your budget and your DIY capabilities, before undertaking any major projects. If you need a nudge, take Havenly’s online design quiz to narrow down your focus.

Basic Interior Design Elements to Consider

Most people want their homes to be beautiful, comfortable, and functional. Your style may morph a bit over time, particularly if you have children or pets, and as such, Houzz recommends taking practical matters into consideration. For example, even if you love the slick, sophisticated look of stainless steel furniture with sharp edges, if you have a toddler in your home, that's not going to be your best bet. Think about functionality, family preferences, and space. Once you have an idea of how you need your design to work for you, you can move on to budgetary considerations.

Where to Buy Home Decor for your Rental Home

While many of us dream of walking into a furniture showroom and selecting full packages of furniture, artwork, and accessories, most common design projects are done in one room, if not one piece, at a time. If you have the budget, by all means, look for handcrafted items, fully complementary new pieces, or whatever elements catch your fancy. If not, consider shopping at consignment stores, furniture warehouses, and even estate sales and thrift stores. Some of these previously used items might need a little spiffing up and repair, but they can also have charm, value, and longevity.

Practical Room Use

In addition to designing your home in a way that's practical for daily living, each room should also have its own unique purpose. For example, according to Advanced Sleep Medicine Services, bedrooms should be places of solitude in which you can relax, meditate, and get a good night’s sleep. If you add a computer table or TV, you could have a difficult time getting the rest you need simply because of distractions. If you’re cramped for space, retrofitted large-size closets, basements, and even garages can sometimes be morphed into additional square footage for these purposes.

Home Office Needs

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Whether you’re working from home, learning from home, or studying from home, Zenbusiness emphasizes that designated office space is a necessity. Having a room that is designed as a work area can reduce distractions, help you be more productive, and firmly delineate the line between work and home, which can be important for maintaining a high-quality work-life balance. Having a special workspace also allows you to keep things organized and in one place, which is essential, particularly if you're working partially at home and partially in an office. If you do find yourself moving work products and equipment from one location to another, a “go box” full of all of your essentials like charger cords, work files, and electronic devices can be a real asset.

Utilizing Shared Spaces

If you share your home with family or friends, even if you make an effort to carve out your own personal, private space, there are still going to be a lot of shared common areas. Make sure your design and decor are appropriate for everyone. For example, is your kitchen table a place for arts and crafts projects, homework, meal prep, and bill paying? If so, having organized alcoves and an attractive storage system can be beneficial, as well as visually appealing. Likewise, if the living room is both a place for a family gathering, TV viewing, video game playing, and working out, it can quickly become crowded. Again, attractive organizational storage can help ensure your spaces are versatile and transformative.

Bathrooms Reimagined

If you're in a rental space, it's unlikely that you'll be able to completely redesign a bathroom to fit your tastes, but there are a lot of temporary upgrades you can make that will increase your enjoyment of your property. High-quality peel-and-stick removable wall decor can completely transform a bathroom, as can the addition of custom shower curtains, rugs, towels, and bathroom accessories. Even changing out some of the hardware on drawers and cabinets can give you a new look and feel. If you have wood surfaces in your rental, you can always revive and beautify them with a restorative type of product that brings out the beauty of the woodwork without making any permanent changes.

Entertainment Settings

Even in a rental, you can still have pots of colorful flowers, a raised garden, or amplified outside space by adding patio furniture, a swing or glider, or even a cabana you can take down when you move. Things like fire pits or portable fireplaces can add a warm touch, and any investment will not be for naught, as you can take it wherever you go. Expansion of outdoor space can be great if you like to entertain. In fact, you might even be able to temporarily convert a loft into a home theater, or a large room into a game room with a pool table, poker table, or video game machines. Large kitchens can also be welcoming spaces for gatherings.

Floor Coverings

Rentals usually utilize inexpensive carpet or all-purpose durable tile surfaces as a way to save on flooring cleaning, repair, and replacement. You can still use beautiful area rugs to change up the feel of a space. Shop online deals and specials as a way to get reasonably priced home decor items, or upcycle and exchange home goods with friends as a way to continually come up with new ways to add flair to your home environments. If there is so-so flooring in your rental, particularly carpet, ask for annual professional cleaning to be included in your lease agreement.

Living in a rental property has a lot of benefits. You typically don’t have to make big-ticket repairs, and if you’re living in a city temporarily, you have the perk of being able to opt for a short-term lease. Of course, you are limited in what you can do to the physical structure of the property. However, a bit of creativity can help you transform your rental space into a comfortable and inviting home environment reflective of your unique personality.

The Artisen has an expansive collection of beautifully designed and unique home decor items that can help you turn your home into an eclectic showplace. Visit the site to view The Artisen collection and read the blog for design insights, tips, and techniques.