If you rent instead of own your own home, you may be resistant to do any home improvement projects. After all, the property doesn't belong to you, so you don't want to spend money to improve it. Still, it's always nice to live in a home that you enjoy, so decorating to match your tastes can give an otherwise stark rental that personal touch it needs to feel like a home.
Luckily, with a little ingenuity, you can have the best of both worlds. The following three projects will spruce up your place to make it feel more like "yours," without making any permanent changes or spending money that could upset your landlord or investing in real estate that you don't own.
"Paint" the walls with fabric.
Adding some color to the walls can really make a house feel like a home, especially since most rentals come with white walls. However, many landlords ask that you re-paint the walls white when you leave, so you could be throwing money down the drain, not to mention wasting a lot of time with a paintbrush in your hand. Instead, head to the local fabric store and purchase enough material to "paint" a focal wall in your room. Simply purchase enough to cover the entire wall as though it was a huge window, screw a few brackets into place to hold the fabric, and hang the material to add color that can go with you when you move.
Change the light fixtures.
Light fixtures can have a lot of personality, but in rental homes, most are boring, generic, and really cheap. Take down those plastic globs and ugly ceiling fans and replace them with fixtures that better suit your personality. You'll be making an investment, but like with the fabric, when you move, those fixtures can come with you to the next place – simple reinstall the originals that were provided with the unit. Vintage shops, yard sales, and flea markets are great places to find fun, unique light fixtures if you're on a budget, and never underestimate what a bottle of spray paint can do to an otherwise ugly fixture.
Bring the outdoors in with plants.
Check out any issue of your favorite home décor magazine and you know what you'll find in just about every show room? Plants! Although they do require a little work, plants can really spruce up any room in your house. Consider a fun aloe plant for your bathroom, some flowers for the kitchen, or greens to stick in just about any corner of your living area. If you don't have a green thumb, check out what your local craft store has to offer in terms of faux plants – some look incredibly real. Plants in pots can come with you when you move, so the investment you make won't go to waste.
No matter what projects you do around your rental property, keep in mind that you should purchase a great renters insurance plan to protect your belongings. That way, everything from your new light fixture to your favorite fabric will be covered in the case of a natural disaster or robbery.
Allison works with RentersInsurance.org, where you can go to learn more about this kind of insurance and get a renters insurance quote for you and your family.
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