Making a place feel like a home in a rental is definitely a difficult task, especially when you’re not allowed to do certain changes to the unit. While jumping into renovations can make you feel better about the place you’re living in, it can also cost you the entirety of your deposit which is always good to have back once you move out.
Living in a rental, I find myself a bit frustrated for not being able to make the modifications I would like, however, there are other ways to make your house feel way cozier than it is.
Leases and renovations
Unless you have a verbal agreement, you have to sign a legal document stating the conditions of the rent contract. This lease will state the things you can and can not do in the unit you’re renting. While some landlords allow changes with previous consent, some don’t. Reading your lease can definitely save you a lot of money and headaches. Beware of scammers! Some landlords will allow you to make makeovers even if your lease doesn’t, not having this agreement written out is certainly going to cause trouble in the future, in this case, you should always lay down the verbal agreements you and your landlord might have.
If your lease allows you to change some things in the unit, you will not lose your deposit for installing shelves, if it doesn’t, you will, but don’t worry, there are other ways to feel more at ease with your place!
Rental-friendly solutions.
If your lease forbids you from doing any kind of changes to your place, don’t worry, you can still get that homey vibe we all desire.
There are two things you can do to decor your apartment as you wish:
- Fill in the holes. As long as you’re not installing shelves in a brick wall, you can always put them up and fill in the hole and paint the wall before moving out.
- Switch to no-drill shelves. Some people might say damage-free shelves are not as good looking as the regular ones but this is simply not true! There are a lot of options that can give your apartment such a homey vibe and they are cheap too! Check out these amazon favorites!
Tips for installing shelves.
If your lease allows you to install shelves but don’t know how to do it, don’t worry, we’ve made a list stating the steps to follow!
First things first, before starting the installation, you are going to need a few tools:
- Driller
- Stud finder
- Level
- Pencil
Installing a shelf is quite an easy task and no help is needed if you don’t want it, however, there are a few tips you might want to take in mind during this process.
- Mark the location of the shelf. As simple as that sounds, this can avoid possible mistakes.
- Level your shelf. No one likes a tilted stage, right?
- DON’T drill a brick wall. Trust me, no landlord is gonna look past that. Making a hole in a brick wall is irreparable damage no product can solve and it might cost you your deposit.
- Choose a fixed-bracket shelf. If you had never used a drill let alone installed a shelf, this might be the right move since floating shelves have a trickier installation system.
- Choose a shelf that supports the amount of weight you need. This can seem a bit obvious but you might be surprised by how many times someone chose a shelf only to find out the item that needed to be there was much, much heavier than what the shelf could support. Check everything out before buying your shelf.
Making your apartment feel like you is always important to help you feel comfortable in the space you’re living in and you shouldn’t give that up just because you’re renting! However, don’t forget to always ask your landlord for permission or repair the damage done while putting up your shelves!