Not to sound clichéd, but knowing the right way to personalise your rental makes all the difference between a house and a home. As an ex-renter and current landlord (check out preparing your home for rent), I’ve experienced tenancy on both sides. I know how frustrating it can be to live in a really bland space! 10 years ago when I was renting, I was totally clueless on how to play with colour and really make personalise my rental. I just bought a load of brown and cream furniture and accessories to blend in with the magnolia walls and beige carpets… (I won’t mention the hideous brown curtains…).
Most landlords want their tenants to be happy and settled in their rented home. Finding new tenants is costly and a ball-ache, so we WANT our tenants to feel at home. Don’t be afraid to ask if you can do some decorating/paint the walls etc. they may just ask you to paint it back before you leave… same goes with picture hooks etc. The worst they can do is say ‘no’, so worth a try right? If you’re stuck with the magnolia though, there’s a clever interior design trick which will totally take your eye away from the wall and on to something far more pretty!
Linens Limited recently ran a survey with over 800 renters to find out their highs and woes of renting a home. Not surprisingly, a third said that bland wall colour was the worst thing about renting. If painting the walls isn’t an option for you – then throw some colour around elsewhere!
A top interior design trick is to take the attention off the walls by drawing the eye to the floor. One great thing about having neutral walls is that you can go mad with your cushions and throws as well as rugs.
Whilst a bright throw is ideal for brightening up a sofa and adding some texture – it’s not enough on its own to really make an impact. I love this bright teal throw from Linens Limited. The pom poms add a fun playful touch and the teal colour is rich and vibrant. You just can’t help wanting to wrap yourself up with it and put on the next episode of your current box set! If you’re a big fan of teal, do check out Teal home accessories for some more inspo.
Don’t be afraid to throw in some cushions too! Just remember that if you’re going for a bright feature rug – you may want to go for block colour cushions. Unless you’re a maximalist of course… in that case just go crazy!
I chose the Spectrum Bolero rug as I love the contemporary chevron pattern and multicolours. I’m a big fan of bold jewel toned interiors and a rug like this certainly brings character and colour to a blank space. A couple more bright block cushions and a new lampshade is all this small space needs now to really make it pop!
Natalia xo
*Thank you to Linens Limited for gifting me the items featured in this blog post.
Love the pattern of the rug and the colour. I’ve never thought to use things on the floor or sofa to distract from the walls
Oh that rug! It must be mine immediately! Great tips.
Adding colours through soft furnishings is great because you can take it all with you. I have rented houses before and I can tell you that after going to the trouble of painting the place I am not about to let a tenant come in and repaint it.
What a great idea! Soft furnishings really do add such lovely finishing touches to a rental property without making any permanent changes.
Love these ideas. Like you, I am a landlord and have rented in the past. We made the fatal error with our last tenants tin allowing them to paint some of the walls (they promised they would repaint on leaving. They never). So from now on, we are going to be tougher – it is hard though, you are right, getting new tenants is such an absolute PITA, so we want them to stay as long as they can!
We were the same when we first rented. Wanted to make it look more “us” whilst respecting the landlords property. Throws and cushions were the easiest way to get some colour pop ?
I’m so in love with that rug! Beautiful choice.
I think that rug is my fave! It looks so colourful and cheerful. Great little details!
Oh I NEED that rug. It’s amazing. I love anything that resembles a rainbow. :)
Cute items. Love that colourful rug! Gorgeous little space. Over from littleowlblogs.wordpress x
Those are great tips i love how much colour this rug brings x i am a renter myself amd been living in my home for 12 years now x
Great tips! Just because you rent doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in a bit of gorgeous interior design.
Author
Absolutely!
Some great ideas. The rug is a lovely burst of colour to brighten up a plain room.
Author
Thank you – I do love a bit of colour!
So much colour in these two pieces. Love them. I remember my renter days and not being able to hang pictures or paint walls – drove me insane,
Author
I feel your pain with that one!
I’m so pleased I don’t rent anymore. I absolutely hate magnolia and I never felt like my rental houses were home. I totally agree with your tips but it’s so hard to inject personality if you can’t even put pictures up.
Author
Renting is definitely character building! I think it encourages you to be more creative when you do finally get a place of your own ; )
Wowee that rug is stunning! When we were renting in London it was very restrictive, you couldn’t even put things on the walls! I think some landlords are thankfully a bit more relaxed now
Author
It’s so difficult when you can’t put any pictures up!
A great looking rug (love chevron and colourway) and do agree with your comment – landlords do want tenants to be happy and feel at home because searching for new tenants is both expensive and painful. a great review!
I love the zigzag rug – so colourful! We’ve always lived in rentals and yes, I have throw cushions everyone!