When you own your home, you can make almost any change to your property you want, as long as the renovations aren’t against the law. However, when you’re renting a place, you have to be a bit more careful about any changes or renovations.
Depending on the terms of your lease, you might not be able to make many changes. These policies make sense because you’ll likely only stay in the apartment for a while. If you make more significant changes or end up damaging the property, this can make it hard for the owner to rent out the unit or home again.
But, if you’re like many renters, you still want to personalize your space and make it feel like your own. Luckily, there are often things you can do to individualize and customize your rental while still keeping your landlord happy.
Follow these tips if you want to make some changes but want to avoid issues down the line.
Tip 1: Get More Information On The Rules
While some people say it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, this isn’t the case when it comes to rental policies. While it might seem like you can just make renovations with no consequences, you might owe money for them once you move out.
Instead, it’s better to know the concrete rules for your particular rental. Everyone will be much happier if you reach out to your property management company to learn what’s acceptable.
Tip 2: Use Gentle Methods To Hang Things Up
While most landlords and property managers understand that some normal wear and tear is expected, they won’t appreciate you putting huge holes in the walls. So, instead, try to use discretion and be careful with the process. You can use something like command strips. And, for items requiring nails or screws, follow instructions to hang things correctly.
Tip 3: Swap Out Kitchen And Bathroom Finishes
While your landlord might want you to avoid painting or making bigger changes, you can upgrade a space in smaller ways. One excellent option is to replace things like cabinet knobs, shower heads, or door knobs. However, when you do this, make sure to keep the old ones. You’ll want to know you can switch things out without ruining anything. This is because you’ll want to put the original ones back before you move out.
Tip 4: Plants Can Be Perfect
It might not be possible to change things like flooring, but you can change the look of your apartment through decorating. And, if you want to feel like you’re making some significant changes without doing any sort of renovations, try adding some greenery to your rental. You can do this both inside and outside, and you can even choose plants that fit your decorating design style. Greenery also brightens up the space and can be mentally refreshing.
Tip 5: Utilize Curtains
Even if your rental already has window blinds, you can change the look of the room by putting in curtains. Because you can pick your exact style and color, you can cover up blinds you don’t like and completely change the interior design of the room and the entire rental.