Emily Miller is the guest author of our latest blog post. Emily is a dog mom who loves to travel. When the pandemic hit and she was unable to travel she focused more on her writing and learned that she had another passion and she could “travel” through her writing and share experiences with others.
The global coronavirus pandemic has meant that we are all spending a lot more time at home these days. From shopping online to hanging out with friends over Zoom, home has become the setting of most of our daily interactions. But being at home and feeling at home are not always the same thing.
Whether you have just moved into a new apartment, or you have been renting the same space for years, there are always ways to update your living space to make it feel cozier. You want your rental to reflect your personality and your needs; if home is where the heart is, then your home should make your heart sing. You’ll just want to make sure that any adjustments and decorative touches you add are not permanent; you don’t want to break your lease contract after all. Still, there are plenty of creative ways to spruce up your space.
So, let’s take a look at five top tips for making your rental feel like yours.
Lighting
The simplest way to customize your home zone is to make sure you have plenty of lighting options available. Choose options that can create a variety of moods; strings of twinkle lights can make any room feel instantly cozy while a sturdy free-standing lamp can illuminate your living room for reading, Zoom calls, solving puzzles, or making art.
Place lamps carefully in the corners of each room, so you can adjust the vibes from soothing mood lighting for the evening to ample lighting for a productive work from home day. Make sure you include different lighting options in your bedroom as well. A reading lamp on your bedside table will help calm your mind and get you ready for sleep at the end of the day.
Plants, Plants, and More Plants
We cannot emphasize enough how much indoor plants can change the atmosphere of your apartment. Even small plants that require minimal care, like succulents or tiny cacti, can really enliven the vibe of any room. They provide an extra vivid splash of color and have the added benefit of naturally purifying the air.
Some people may be nervous at the thought of needing to care for finicky indoor plants- after all, we don’t all have green thumbs. But there are plenty of lovely low-maintenance options that can tolerate neglectful plant parents. Succulents require almost no watering and grow in even intense heat, so if you love to crank your indoor heating, these could be a good option. Rubber trees help clean carbon dioxide from the air and are easy to care for, even if you forget about them for a while. And Snake plants, which naturally filter out chemicals in the atmosphere, thrive in nearly any climate.
Surround Sound
From listening to music or podcasts while you cook dinner to cranking up the surround sound while you watch a movie, sound can be a great way to customize your home atmosphere.
If you want to take your home sound system to the next level, you can easily set up some simple smart tech additions to upgrade your audio. All you need is a super fast Wi-fi connection to make sure your music streams seamlessly. Then use your smart speaker to tell Alexa or Siri when it’s time to start your own private dance party.
Paint Your Furniture, Not Your Walls
Take your inspiration from global travels, or your favorite movies, and completely customize your furniture. Check out Pinterest for pattern and color palette ideas. You can print out decals of your favorite movie and TV characters if you are not the artistic type and attach them to the furniture, so every day you will wake up and see your favorite things around you.
You can paint your furniture in the style of a famous cultural landmark from a place you’d love to visit. Or design a mural of a peaceful location. The best part about this DIY project is it will make your space completely unique to you- without making permanent changes to the walls.
Savvy Storage
Choosing furniture to furnish your rental can provide you an opportunity to customize the look and feel of your space, and to increase your storage capacity. Creating custom ways to organize all your stuff can help personalize your apartment. A coffee table with hidden storage can create extra space in your apartment, so you have more room to exercise or work on projects in your living room.
You can also think about storage as a chance to customize your walls. Utilize wall space to create savvy shelf arrangements- you can even use old wine boxes or other prefabricated shapes, so long as they have a flat surface. Then place all your books and treasured objects on display for any visitor to see. You can take a similar approach to creating a unique, customizable space for your TV- so all your books, house plants, and knickknacks neatly surround your HD flatscreen and your high-quality smart speakers in one pleasing wall arrangement.
Make It Yours
The most important part of customizing your apartment is to make sure it works for you. Think about how you use each space in your apartment and then arrange the furniture, lighting, sound system, and decorative objects accordingly. That way, as soon as you walk in the door, your apartment is all kitted out and ready to accommodate your needs, from work to play. With a few easy tech adjustments, careful choices of furniture, and some DIY decorations, your apartment will soon feel familiar and intimate. Even though you are renting, your home will really begin to feel like your place.