Whether you’re renting an apartment unit, condo, or house, you’ll want to make the space feel like your own. That can be both exciting and intimidating after signing a lease and handing over a large security deposit with the promise to cause no harm to the home.
Luckily, there are some great tricks to decorate your apartment with style and convenience and not have to live amongst stoic white walls for the duration of your lease. Here are some tips for some of the most critical parts of the house.
No one wants to feel like they live in a jail cell, but bare white walls can have that effect. If you want to hang pictures, curtain rods, or shelving units without making too hefty of a mark, consider damage-free hanging options like Command strips or hooks.
Note: follow all directions on the label, from cleaning and drying the wall before use to removing the strips or hooks by pulling the sticky tabs down exactly as specified. If you don’t, these tools may end up doing more harm than good!
You can also skip the heavy frames and add large photo prints to your walls with damage free double-sided tape or sticky pads. Better yet, some of these pads are reusable, so at the end of your lease you can take them off the walls and bring them with you to the next apartment.
Removable wallpaper is also a great damage-free option that can add some color to your space. Some paper only works on certain types of walls, so follow these guidelines from Apartment Therapy to pick out high quality paper and apply it properly.
Walls aren’t the only places that can make your house feel more homey. Picking unique, useful shelving options will help you store things like books, potted plants, sporting goods, and weather gear.
Large floor rugs are also a useful way to protect the apartment flooring underneath as well as add comfort, color, and coziness to your home. Some apartments even require that a portion of hard-wood floors be covered with rugs to protect the surface from scratches.
It’s also worth investing in some cleaning supplies now so that during moments when you accidentally knock your cup of coffee onto the white carpet, you can attack the stain immediately.
Whether your kitchen is big, small, or just right, it will typically get a lot of use and is worth protecting in advance. Liners for kitchen cupboards and drawers are an easy way to protect the wood from stains that come with food on the undersides of pots, pans, and bowls. They also keep the dishes from sliding around every time you open or close a drawer.
Oil stains, sauce splatters, and burnt food crumbs speckling the walls or the bottom of an oven can be avoided with some preventative measures. Buy a mesh splatter guard to sit on top of pans while frying food. This will both protect the cook and the wall behind the pan! Get a drip tray for the bottom of your oven to catch overflowing juices or oils. Always clean up spills with every use so that you prevent smoke and fire hazards in your cooking zone, too.
As always, follow the guidelines of your lease first before decorating and organizing. Some leases are very specific about what they allow, so pick options that will keep you in the clear, and get that entire security deposit back in your bank account.
Questions about renter’s insurance? Contact a Sea Mountain Renters Insurance Specialist today.
