Secrets from a Designer: For the Renters

Have you ever felt stuck with an rental home, and wish you could make it represent more your style? It can happen, however, it takes practice. Or you maybe already lucky and have a good eye when it comes to garage/consignment shopping. It is so hard to put a home together when its a rental because either you can't paint on the walls, the tiles are horrible, no carpet, bad carpet, etc... I think you got the idea. For me, I thought about painting but honestly, I reeeally don't want to put the time nor the money into painting the walls of my rental. Besides, when the times comes to move, I'm ready to get out decorate my new home canvas! Ha ha! When I have friends and family come over, they're always really impressed at how I can make my home look so cozy and inviting. How? Well, I've learned it takes practice, patience, finding inspiration, and a good eye.

My first ever inspiration to make my home into a home, came from my favorite movie of all time. What movie is it? It is "It's Complicated" staring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin. Have you seen it? I fell in love with the homes' interior. That is where my "ah-ha" moment and inspiration came from to make my previous house a home.

 What caught my eye is the balance of the furniture, and the accessories. The furniture was either dark, or neutral in color. The accessories of this space, are where the color comes into play for the room.  

Here are the rules that you should consider when decorating your rental home:

1. Keep it simple - keep it neutral. That way, it literally can go with anything or anywhere in your home. Even if you move.

2. Keep your furniture pretty much all the same color so there is consistency. I'm talking more of the hard furniture like table, bookshelf's, side table, hard chairs, entertainment center, etc,... Couches should be neutral color as well. This makes your home feel more put together and even can make it more cozy!

3. Add color to your room with accessories - but don't go too crazy. Stick with a color that you love then pair it with a contrasting color or a complimentary color.  For example, I really loved this burnt orange as it shows in the kitchen, I'd pair with a contrasting color such as blue but with a navy blue.

4. With accessories, invest in pillows, artwork, blankets, and other nick-nacks. (Did I spell that right?)

5. Finally, one of the other best things to do to change up a room is to switch out the lighting pendant or whatever it is that hangs in your dining room now. They have fairly inexpensive ones at Ikea or World Market. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest ways to add an 30 minute instant uplift to a room or adding a bit more drama into a space. And here are a few of my favorites from these sites:

Don't you love them?

6. Take your time.  Seriously. Decorating your home can be an investment. An expensive one at that. You want to take your time and doing things right even the cheap way if you can. I do love going to consignment shops and finding furniture that has modern lines. If it is a bad color just paint over it!

7. You may have good pieces already in your home - give 'em a make over! I had shelving that was black and I wanted white. I spent only $3 on white spray paint! Then whola - white shelves.

Well, I hope this helps when it come to your rental. Also, please be sure to grab someone who knows what they're doing when it comes to swapping out the new lighting and deals with electricity. :)

I think I'll go and watch "It's Complicated" now.

Catie