"The Flexibility That Comes From Renting Is a Freedom" — 6 Ways I Made the Most of My Rental Home, as an Interior Designer
Don’t put living beautifully on hold just because you’re renting — designer Charu Gandhi says bold design choices should still be on the cards
Buying a house outright isn’t always the answer for everybody. For our family, we wanted to send our son to a school with playing fields, and that meant moving out of the Central London postcode I knew so well. Drawn to a new area, we felt it safer to ‘try before we buy’, moving into a rental (and yes, three years later, we now plan to settle down here for good).
For anyone decorating a rental, though, I have a stack of advice — the things I did to make it feel like our own. It doesn’t have to seem like a temporary home if you don’t want it to, and a few decorative tricks can give the home you’ve leased a whole new lease of life.
1. Negotiate on the Contract Hard
Having the chairs relacquered was a way to make this space seem more luxe, while being a choice Charu could take with her.
First of all, we had a two-year fixed-term contract, meaning that we knew we could make some changes and not be kicked out before we’d had a chance to enjoy them.
Article continues belowWe then got the landlord to agree that redecoration work needed to be done on this tired home and that he would cover the cost of the labor, while we would pay for the premium paint brands we wanted on the walls. There was a caveat that we’d pay to have everything painted back to a neutral color scheme whenever we moved on. So, for the dining room, we decided to start with a neutral wall color so that it would be one less room to pay to have repainted when we left.
I was super-detailed with the rest of the terms, having permission to hang art and mirrors written in, and to remove decorative lighting to install our own.
2. Do the Financial Sums
In this rental property, a large rug was an easy and cost-effective way to cover up unwanted flooring.
It may seem surprising that I was willing to spend any money on a rental home, but I think it’s such a shame for the idea of living beautifully to go on hold just because you don’t own the space you’re in.
My husband and I were very mathematical about our approach to the budget. He looked at interest rates and made a broad estimation of how much we’d save by not having a mortgage and accruing fees — he totalled that those would have been £70,000 over two years.
We felt it wasn’t frivolous to spend up to £20,000 on improvements as it’s money we’d have spent and not seen had we bought somewhere. This made the idea of improving the storage with some cheap MDF shelves not seem quite so frivolous — and they made the house so much better for how we live.
3. Don't Change Everything
Charu simply rolled up the blinds she didn’t like and drew the eye elsewhere with bigger design statements.
That said, it’s folly to go all out on a rental. We inherited some unaesthetic brown slatted blinds in the living room, but instead of having curtains made, I just rolled them up and made cafe curtains, which I can take with me when we leave.
You could create your own using something like this Striped Ticking Fabric on Amazon, along with this Decorative Extendable Curtain Pole and these Metal Curtain Rings With Clips, also on Amazon.
4. Make High-Impact Choices
Benjamin Moore's Topaz is a similar color to Charu's home office wall color.
Because you’re holding back in some areas, ensure the decisions you do make count. In many of the spaces, I went for strong colors on the walls. Knowing it wasn’t our forever home gave us license to be braver. We also asked the landlord to repaint the kitchen cabinets — it’s all quite superficial, but it adds personality.
Peel-and-stick wallpaper is a great way to add impact that isn't permanent.
5. Reuse As Much As Possible
Charu’s desk was an old dining table she’d had for years, artfully covered in a runner to hide the worst marks.
Who knows where you’ll end up next — and any furniture you buy for this rental might not fit your future home. My office desk was a raggedy old dining table I’d had for years, damaged by the kids but good enough for me to use if I covered the worst marks with a runner across the middle.
I reupholstered the sofa in scraps of fabric leftover from a project, meaning the cushions didn’t match — but I liked the quirkiness of how that looked. And I had our dining chairs relacquered and reupholstered, knowing they’d come with us to wherever we ended up.
6. Think of Renting as a Joy
Artwork, plants, and thoughtful furniture choices can also create an impactful space without having to opt for something more permanent.
It really is a wonderful opportunity to test out a new area, to try out a new color trend on your wall, and be brave in your decisions for both. Society seems to think that ownership is paramount, but the flexibility that comes from renting is a freedom you can enjoy. And remember that you may be here some time, so don’t be afraid to splash a little cash, making the best of your not-forever home.
The home you live in, temporary or not, should be enjoyed; you just need to establish what your rental property permits and the budget you are willing to work with.
For more advice on how you can achieve this in your own home, these are the five renter-friendly ways to upgrade your kitchen lighting — no electrician necessary. And for more general design and styling advice, why not sign up for Livingetc's newsletter, and it will be delivered straight to your inbox.
