How to Make your Rental House Appealing

As anyone who has ever rented a studio apartment in London can testify, rental properties are not always beautifully decorated and furnished!  Some are homages to the landlord’s ‘quirky’ taste in interior design, with chintz sofas from the 1950’s sitting alongside the most hideous orange and brown 1960’s carpet you have ever seen!  But fear not, there are a number of steps that you can take to put your personal stamp on your rental property and make it more appealing.  After all, you might be living there for quite some time, so it’s important that it feels like home.

 

Personalise your Space

Check with your landlord if it’s okay to hang pictures on the walls – if so, then putting up some photographs of family and friends or a couple of pieces of your favourite artwork will make you feel instantly more at home. Feel free to bring your own stuff from your home. Bring your home with you wherever you go. remember that a house is not just a place to sleep for 8 hours, but a place to live. Spend time in it, customise it and show it off like a new pair of shoes.

 

Cover the Hideous with the Beautiful

Just because your apartment has a horrible carpet, doesn’t mean you need to despair.  Buy a large, deep-pile shaggy rug in a stunning shade (chocolate brown or deep aubergine both look great) and cover up the 1960’s horror in style!  Nobody need ever know what lurks beneath your beautiful new rug.  Purchase throws for your chintz sofa, or get creative and whip up some sofa covers using fabric purchased online and your sewing machine.  You can find some really unusual and unique fabrics, so you could even make your own curtains and cushion covers if you felt so inclined. Personally, I think that a lava lamp looks cool in any setting .

 

Swap the Furniture

Some landlords will rent their property unfurnished, and this is a great way to put your own personality on the place, as you can buy all your own pieces.  Even if an apartment is fully furnished, it’s sometimes possible to ask the landlord to remove a couple of pieces if you don’t like them or had something else in mind – of course, it depends on the individual landlord and how much space of their own they have available or whether they are willing to put items into storage.  Never be afraid to move your furniture – it’s your property.

You can often find second hand furniture on websites such as Freecycle and Gumtree, or head for your local charity shops where you can pick up a bargain!  Tired wooden bed frames and chests of drawers can be given a new lease of life with a coat of varnish or paint. If, like me you have an artistic hand, craft your own trinkets and baubles to really make the house your own.It’s easy to make your rental property more appealing from the day you move house, and by following the above tips you will soon start to feel at home.