15 Temporary Décor Touches to Make Your Rental Feel Like a Home

Try these easy tips to quickly lend personality to your space.

With so many DIY home shows serving up renovation inspiration, it can be frustrating for renters not to be able to take a sledgehammer to a pony wall or rip out outdated bathroom tile. But homeowners aren’t the only ones who get to enjoy the thrill of transformation. Renting offers its own makeover magic as blank, empty walls and bare floors come alive with your unique taste and personality.

Just because you’re renting doesn’t mean you have to sublimate your brilliant sense of style to the wall-to-wall carpeting and sad white refrigerator you're stuck with. Make your rental your own with these clever ways to personalize even a temporary space while ensuring you will get your deposit back.

Meet Our Expert

• Liz Williams, interior designer, Liz Williams Interiors

• Michael Habachy, interior designer, Habachy Designs

Related: 13 Easy—and Impactful—Home Upgrades That Cost Less Than $100

Go Modular

A sectional sofa is easier to get into a smaller space in pieces and can be reconfigured according to the parameters of your room, says interior designer Liz Williams of Liz Williams Interiors. She recommends using coordinating ottomans with convenient storage for throws, remotes, or other clutter. Ottomans can be moved around and also employed as coffee tables (just place a pretty wooden, lucite, or woven tray on top) or seating when needed.

Keep Walls White

Yes, a moody color can bring a lot of design impact. But Atlanta interior designer Michael Habachy recommends saving yourself potential clean-up trauma. "I would say if you are painting and you have to paint it back, dark is going to be a lot more of a headache getting it back to its original color," he says. Plus, white walls can make a smaller space seem bigger.

Harness the Power of Mirrors

Hanging one or several framed mirrors using clear fishing line, a ribbon, or chain on top of the standard plate glass mirror in your bathroom is a great way to add personality, says Williams.

Swap Out Kitchen Cabinet Hardware

A quick, inexpensive upgrade is swapping out boring bathroom and kitchen hardware. "You could go out and buy a bunch of knobs and change the whole look of your cabinets," says Habachy. And don’t feel like the knobs and pulls have to match your faucets. "We use so many different materials and finishes and we have no problems mixing finishes just like you would with jewelry," he says. He’s especially keen on matte black knobs and pulls. "It just adds a little more high contrast, a little drama," Habachy says.

Related: 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Kitchen Without Renovating It

Try a Bluetooth Lighting System

Bluetooth-controlled light bulbs are a quick and easy design hack, says Habachy, and an instant way to bring some ambiance to your home, set a party mood, or shift to relaxation mode. Turned on from your phone, they can ensure you never come home to a dark home.  "And you can literally turn them off from bed. That’s luxury!" says Habachy.

Soften With Window Treatments

Habachy is not a fan of the ubiquitous, dust-catching Venetian blinds that seem to come with so many apartments. "They're not attractive. So I would always opt for removing the blinds, storing them, and then putting up some really pretty window treatments," he says. Most big box stores offer lots of options, but try to choose something with some gravitas. "What I would recommend for a very luxurious look and feel is the wider panels," says Habachy, or doubling slim panels to mimic that look.

Use Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper

The great thing about wallpaper is its myriad uses that can give both furniture and whole rooms a bespoke look. Try putting peel-and-stick wallpaper behind the medicine cabinet as a statement wall in a powder room, or use it to glam up the space between shelves on a ho-hum bookcase. Want to cover up a less-than-appealing appliance? You can even wallpaper your refrigerator. Habachy often uses solid wallpaper on ceilings in his high-end home projects. "It could be a pretty texture that looks like silver leaf, that just softens the ceiling," he says.

Embrace the Power of a Throw Rug

Throw rugs are a great way to add warmth and personality to your rental, says Williams. "Make it feel like your own by using throw rugs rather than just existing with the carpeting that's already there," she says. Rugs of various sizes are also a great way to differentiate space with an open or studio floor plan.

Related: These 12 Washable Area Rugs Are Budget-Friendly and Perfect for Every Room in Your House

Create a Cloffice (Closet + Office)

Even a small space can offer work-from-home potential with a closet makeover. A shallow desk that will work in a standard two-feet deep closet, battery-operated puck lights, and some storage can transform an ordinary closet into a WFH superhero. Remove the doors or leave them on to hide away your work when not in use. A stool can be tucked under the desk if space is especially tight.

Design With Size in Mind

"I'm a big big believer in scale," says Habachy, who suggests finding a sofa, coffee table, and other furniture that will be compact enough to make your space feel as spacious and light as possible.

Use Lamps to Distract From Standard Fixtures

The overhead lighting that often comes with apartments can be generic. But you can instantly add style and warmth—no drill or nails required—by skipping overhead lighting altogether and using lamps placed strategically in the living room, bedroom, and even the kitchen. There are also plenty of chic sconces that don’t require hardwiring for bedside tables and to flank your sofa. Place the sconce low enough behind a bedside table or sofa, and you won't even notice the cord.

Install Peel-and-Stick Tile

There’s no better way to make tired linoleum or tile that has seen better days feel fresh and new than removable peel-and-stick tile in a funky pattern from a variety of online and big box stores.

Related: 26 Easy—and Impactful—Bathroom Upgrades That Cost Less Than $100

Use a Gallery-Style Hanging System

Afraid of all the holes created with a gallery wall but want a way to display your favorite artwork or photos? Try a picture rail. Look for a wood, metal, or brass exhibit-style hanging system that only requires a few nails to hang.

Master the Art of the Lean

If you’ve toured a designer show house or checked out a shelter magazine recently, you’ve undoubtedly seen how often tastemakers are using collections of oversized wooden cutting boards, large seagrass trays, and vintage artwork leaned on kitchen counters, living room floors, or even above door frames to strike an eclectic, curated look. Add a stack of leather bound books and a vase filled with olive branches and you have a stylish vignette. Better still, an artfully leaned wooden bowl or vintage black and white photo can hide an ugly outlet or cracked tile or other unpleasant imperfections. Lean an oversized mirror with an ornate frame in the living room for impact you can move around and take to your next home.

Create a Plant Vignette

Nothing brings literal life into a home like houseplants, which can also help you design your space. A draping golden pothos or philodendron plant placed on the top of a bookshelf or kitchen cupboards adds vertical interest and make the ceilings seem higher. Create a plant wall divider in a studio space with a strategically placed bookshelf filled with plants of various types. Clustered in an unused corner at varying heights, hardy plants like monstera, lucky bamboo, and dracaena add interest to wasted spaces.

Read the original article on Martha Stewart.