Your rented room, to be precise! Yes, when we rent, life is good – no mortgage to worry about, and depending on the contract we’ve signed up to, sometimes we don’t even have to take care of the bills! However, living in a rented house, apartment or university hall means that we can’t always decorate exactly as we’d like. Some landlords let you stick up posters and photo frames, but it’s unlikely that you’ll be allowed to paint the walls or start replacing furniture. So, how can you make a rented room your own without getting your landlord into a furious rage? Here are a few ideas that I’ve picked up after many years of renting.
Lighting
Change the lampshade to one you like if the landlord lets you, and get some fairy lights for extra brightness. They don’t have to be fixed to the wall – wrap them around your bed frame, mirror or curtain rail. You can buy plain ones (the kind you see everywhere at Christmas), or novelty shapes like ducks and hearts. A plain old free-standing or desk lamp will also provide the same relaxed, cosy feeling as fairy lights. I really love this giant Miffy lamp – too cute!
Furniture
If your bed is the main feature in your room, don’t just dress it in plain bedlinen! Buy gorgeous bedlinen – mine has pink and white deckchair stripes, and I adore it. Sprinkle your bed with kitsch, mismatched cushions and a vintage patchwork blanket. If you have an ugly sofa or an old chair, simply cover it up with a sheet or throw with a more favourable design. If you don’t like your carpet or you have bare floorboards, one large beautiful rug will go a long way!
Mirror
You may not be able to put anything on the wall, but you can stick things to a mirror fuss-free! Assemble a collection of small tidbits – photobooth strips, postcards, stickers – and fix them onto your mirror. Also, hunt down a whiteboard marker and get scribbling! You can write positive quotes and draw shapes onto the glass, and they’ll wipe right off when you fancy a change. This works on mirrors, too – just make sure you don’t use a permenant marker!
Shoes
Though storing your shoes in their original packaging makes sense, a pile of plain boxes in the corner of your room isn’t exactly an attractive feature. You could decorate the boxes with stickers, tie a ribbon around each one, stick a photograph of the shoes that are inside each box onto the top of the lid, or forget the boxes altogether and line up your shoe collection along the foot of your bed in a dazzling rainbow!
Accessories
Putting jewellery on display has two benefits: 1) You’re more likely to wear it, and 2) It looks pretty! A bunch of necklaces will look great (not to mention stay neat and untangled!) on a jewellery tree, and you can pin brooches onto a beret and rest it on the corner of your bed frame. Perfume bottles look good on display too. I love opaque bottles such as Agent Provocateur and Nanette Lepore, because they still look great even when they’re empty.
Storage
Okay, so you can’t paint the walls eggshell blue or plaster your vintage Lolita poster onto the slanted ceiling above your bed. Time to think creatively! In Sex and the City, Carrie stores her brushes in a Dunkin’ Donuts mug, and I just love Sandra Beijer’s hat resting atop a traditional spinning globe. So quirky! Putting everyday items in bright, fun containers or displaying your most treasured accessories is a really easy way to bring your personality to a plain room.
Decoration
If you’re not allowed to stick anything onto the wall, there are a few clever ways to put up posters and clippings without the use of tack or stickytape! I have a length of string running above my bed onto which I peg images, quotes and photographs. Simple! I love being able to change the pictures whenever the mood takes me. I’m also able to rest a collection of trinkets on the thick frame of my full length mirror, as well as the windowsill.
And…
Free your set of French films from their prison in the television cabinet and line them up along a shelf with the covers facing outwards. Dig out your most delicate dresses and slips, hang them on scented hangers and put them on the outside of your wardrobe door. Stock up on sequinned cushions, opulently decorated eye masks, and heart-shaped pillows. Buy a bouquet of fresh flowers and display them in a vintage Coca-Cola bottle. Sit back and enjoy your new room!
How do you bring your personality to your living space?
