Rent

Hello my fancy friends! Thank you for tuning in today. One of the most exciting portions of the interior design process, can be seeing the construction and demolition experience. Watching hammers swing, walls come down, rooms open up, and major changes happen is so exciting. But not all of us have this as an option. Maybe renovation isn't in the cards for you. This could be because of financial reasons, the timing right isn’t right, you don't have a temporary space to stay during the chaos, or maybe you're like me and you're a long-term renter. There are so many reasons why people choose to rent, and depending on where you live it might be the only realistic option. But just because you're a tenant doesn't mean you can't have a space that makes you feel amazing. There are so many ways to liven up your home that are renter friendly, and frankly these are great tips for homeowners as well because as I just mentioned, major renovations are not in the cards for everyone. This is also your episode if you or a loved one might be transitioning to dorm life soon. So today we are going to dive in to all the amazing temporary ways to make your home field like your own, and still be able to leave no trace behind when you move out.

But first, let’s talk about the Color of the Week. It has been a hot and humid week here in New York City, and I feel that my peace of mind has literally been held together by a giant watermelon that I purchased at the beginning of the week. I juiced half of it, and kept the other half for snacking and salads. But the watermelon juice I mixed in with other drinks like herbal tea and seltzer and made these fun little super hydrating potions that just kept me feeling so cool and comfortable and  just able to enjoy summer. So, this weeks color is Sherwin Williams 6607 Red Tomato. And people sometimes ask me how I come up with the number system for the color of the week. There's various is methods, but today I literally just took my Sherwin Williams fan deck and held it up to my watermelon which, is a very deep color, not the standard pinky watermelon. This color actually looks amazing as a front door color, but my favorite use for it is as a dining chair color. If you have some wood dining chairs that need a paint makeover, Red Tomato will make them feel vibrant, and even appetizing. These look especially good on a wood floor, surrounding a glossy white dining table. Delicious!

There's this really great stylist named Alison Bornstein, who went viral on TikTok because of her closet editing system, part of which is identifying three key words that describe your personal style. She also suggests that you can use this in the styling of your home, and I think this is a great idea because rather than focusing on the time period or category of the items you're selecting, once you identify your three words, you can ask yourself if whatever you're bringing into your space or deciding to do fits with all three keywords. She gave some good examples like daring, classic, edgy, minimal, graphic, casual, romantic, elegant, preppy, crafty, colorful, vintage, and so on. Although I will say, I think identifying the three words often requires the help of a friend. I've been toying with what my three words are and I can't settle on them, but even having a handful of runners-up has been helpful when I get dressed in the morning lately. All this to say, when embarking on a decor journey, it helps to have a road map, even if it’s just three words.

I’ve also seen a few DIY interiors content creators, specifically on TikTok, who get explicit permission from their landlords to make major modifications to their apartments, and if you have a great relationship with your landlord, by all means ask what you are allowed to do and not do. But for this episode, we're assuming that everything we will do can be done without permission or within the confines of a typical lease.

I want to start by addressing the obvious. You do not have to paint the walls of your apartment. That tip comes up again and again as an affordable, easy way to transform your space - and it's true. Changing the color of your walls or ceiling with a couple cans of paint, is not a big investment, monetarily speaking, and it will completely change the feeling of your room, no doubt. However, if you find painting stressful, if you tend to make a mess, or if you don't like doing it - don't. For me, when I have to move, there is no other cherry on the stress sundae like having to repaint my walls back to beige.

I am a big fan of a few other major surface transformations that can be removed in a matter of minutes. When I was younger we always lined the inside of drawers and shelves with contact paper to protect the actual drawer or shelf. But you can use contact paper in all kinds of different ways and one of my favorites, is to use it on the actual counter in your kitchen. This can start to look exceptionally modern if you wrap it up where your backsplash would be. I have yet to live in a rental that had a proper tile backsplash. It's always just drywall and it does get grimy easily, so the contact paper helps with that. You can find contact paper literally everywhere from Home Depot to the $.99 store and there are great patterns like faux marbles, fun checkerboards, botanical prints, whatever you like! This is an especially impactful move in a rental kitchen because countertops are typically laminate, as opposed to stone or a butcher block. Unless you really love the way the laminate countertop looks, covering it with a contact paper allows you to get more expressive in your kitchen. Plus it protects the surface below and pulls right up when you’re ready to move out, or even if you just get sick of it.

Similarly, you’ve heard me rave about the joys of peel and stick wallpaper in the episode “Pretty Paper,” but this episode would not be comprehensive without mentioning this product. Similar to contact paper, but meant for the walls, this product applies like a giant sticker, and lifts right up when it’s time to come off. Many of these can double as contact paper as well. This product is best used in small doses, one to two walls in a room, and it’s a great way to tie together your color scheme.

Another great way to impact the walls in your home is to hang curtains. You will need to drill into the walls to install curtain rods, so make sure this is okay with your landlord first, but adding long, colorful curtains adds a softness, potential for color and pattern, and a general opulence that makes a space feel homey. Make sure you hang them as close to the ceiling as possible, you want a long run of fabric to help elongate the height of your room. If you have any kind of a heating or cooling unit directly in front of your widow like a radiator or an air-conditioning unit, you can opt for a more practical window covering like blinds or a roller shade, but consider hanging curtains in another location. If you have a short wall that needs a little vibrancy, add a curtain rod and a voluminous curtain, and all of a sudden your room feels like a hotel. This can actually replace you headboard, or you can do it along the wall behind your sofa. This technique can even be done a foot or two in front of your media console or a clothing rack to help seamlessly hide storage areas. This adds a sense of luxury and ethereal decadence that will make your rental seem completely customized. Pro tip, look for drapery hardware that is fairly minimal and make sure the run of curtains goes along the full wall, which is why a short wall is best for this. I talked about this in depth in the episode “To Be Real” so make sure to give that one a listen if you want to hear more about this idea.

Another common tip for apartment and renter decorating is using artwork and wall hangings. Most people are very familiar with the Command hook and there are so many framing companies that make lightweight frames that are meant to be stuck to the wall with some kind of removable adhesive. But I want to offer you an alternative, and it's one that I personally am a big fan of, and I find it’s underutilized. I will say that it is a distinctly bohemian and casual look, but it can be very put together if done correctly. So the concept, is rather than hanging artwork, you simply lean it against the wall. If you haven't seen this before, stay with me, because I know it sounds a little oddball. But the key is to do this with an oversized piece of art. So even if you have a small photograph or print that you want to display, you can buy an oversized mat and frame to put it in. If your piece is really oversized, like four feet or taller, you can lean it from the floor. But it looks a little more polished if it's sitting on an elevated surface. So, this is a great thing to do on an entryway console, a credenza, sofa table, a fireplace mantle, or even a sturdy wooden bench. You could even do it on a nightstand. I recommend putting down something that will help the frame stay in place on the surface like a textured rubber drawer liner so that it doesn't slip and fall over. And if your piece is particularly heavy you can still use a command hook at the top for a little bit more stability. But the nice thing about this is that it allows you to actually layer pieces artwork in clusters, so you might have three leaning pieces that are all slightly overlapping each other. This technique also reduces the glare that you get from the glass plate on a frame. You can do this with full length mirrors as well, which will add visual real estate to any room. If you’ve seen the Anthropology primrose mirror, this is a leaned, oversized mirror. This is a very stylized and hiplook, it has that artist’s loft vibe to it, but it can also soften an otherwise buttoned up, traditional room.

Moving on, one thing rentals are notoriously deficient in is dynamic lighting schemes. The good news is there is no shortage of floor and table lamps, in stores today. The trick is finding ones that are the right height for your space and have an aesthetic that you love. I always create a triangle of light in any room, meaning three light fixtures that are placed fairly equidistantly around the room, creating a triangle shape. Most people will benefit from getting a floor lamp and two table lamps – the table lamps can be a matching set if you like, but they don't have to be. 

Lamps can add a lot of personality to your space while also simply performing a necessary task, and they don’t have to be investment pieces to work well. One of my favorite sections in IKEA is the lighting, they have so many great affordable options. And the same is true with garage sales, and big chain home good stores, lamps are everywhere. If you want to really create a moody atmosphere, you can get an LED projector light which casts the color of your choice onto any wall in your home. You can change the color with an app to suit your mood, and it's a great way to change up the color of your space in an absolutely no commitment way. I talked in detail about the mechanics of lighting a room in the episode “You Light Up My Life” and the art of decorative lighting in the episode “Blinding Lights,” so check those episodes out because lighting is a whole thing. 

One little trick I do want to mention, is the use of wall sconces. These may seem completely out of reach for renters, but with  some heavy duty removable tape and a battery powered light, all of a sudden you have the opportunity to create a very cozy look in any room of your home. Wall sconces are particularly great if you love a little bit more of a traditional look, but they can also be very cute over the nightstands in your bedroom as an alternative to table lamps. Just make sure to place them over a piece of furniture so there's no chance of you bumping into them.

If you're shopping for new furniture for your rental, a great thing to keep in mind is height. In my opinion, the taller the better. Our furnishings carry so much of the weight in terms of design in a rental, so don't be afraid to pick out what feels like a lot of statement pieces. A tall headboard or even a dramatic full height four post bed is almost all you need in a bedroom to have it feel chic and delightful. A tall wing back chair will bring a visual focal point to your living room. A high bookshelf suddenly becomes an opportunity to prominently display artifacts that bring you continual dopamine. Don't be afraid to get impractical with your bookshelves and show items that are not books. I love displaying collections of antique glass vessels and vintage finds that just make me happy. It can be also very lively to throw in some plants on a few shelves. Just make sure you read the manufacturers instructions to see if you need to anchor your tall shelf into the wall.

And for those things that you want to store that aren't necessarily artful objects, this is where decorative containers become your best friend. Organizing a collection of baskets, vases, bowls, jars and other containers can be a beautiful way to hide knickknacks like dog leashes or the five remotes your media set up requires. Clutter is a common foe in rental life, as it always seems there isn’t quite the right place to put certain items, but what will differentiate our spaces is our ability to creatively use beautiful containers to store everyday, unsightly objects. Keep your eye out the next time you’re at a flea market or even a place like TJ Maxx where containers seem to grow like wild mint.

And lastly, we end on the floor. Some landlords actually stipulate that tenants must have area rugs, but aren’t you lucky because you were going to do that anyways, right? Area rugs bring texture, softness, the cozy factor, and acoustic support to our rooms. Check out the episode “Magic Carpet Ride” for detailed run down of all your area rug options, but my number one rule is - treat an area rug like a tray for your furniture - everything is either fully committed and on the rug, or it’s off the rug. No half-on/half-off dangling items. This is an easy way to keep your rental feeling organized and chic. But keep in mind this often means getting a larger area rug than you might anticipate. In many rooms, rugs look best when they are just inches away from the wall, so consider going big. That’s one of the reasons I love carpet tiles so much,  they allow us to completely customize the size and proportions of an area rug, but if you want to stay in the world of roll-out broadloom, you’ve got to measure your space beforehand and get a clear picture of where the rug will sit.  And yes you can layer area rugs over wall-to-wall carpet. Just make sure the two carpets have distinct differences in color and texture, and you use a good underlay to prevent slipping.

Well, that’s the full kit of interior design fixes for us renters. Moves like these will get you in to a glamorous home and out with potentially your security deposit back. No promises though. Happy renting, and I hope wherever you are, you are treating yourself like the head of the household. I’ll talk to you in the next episode.