| One of the drawbacks of renting is that you are fairly | | | | of sorts. In order for this to be effective, however you |
| limited as to what you can do to enhance your decor. | | | | need to group the pieces appropriately. First off, it's |
| Most landlords do not allow you to change any of the | | | | best to pick a theme like black and white photography, |
| wall or floor coverings so you kind of have to live with | | | | floral oil paintings or watercolors with animals. Then you |
| what you have. To make matters worse, most | | | | need to lay out the paintings in geometric patterns - try |
| apartments are bland with off white walls and beige | | | | this on the floor first to see how it looks. It usually looks |
| rugs. | | | | better if you group them in odd numbers. You don't |
| So what's a renter that wants snazzy digs to do? | | | | have to use paintings either, you can hang fancy |
| First of all, you can talk to your landlord and see if he | | | | plates, wooden masks or just about anything else that |
| or she is receptive to you giving the apartment a | | | | will stick on the walls. |
| makeover. If you present them with a good overall | | | | Another way to mask those white walls is to hang |
| plan, including colors and materials you might be | | | | rugs on the wall. A large rug can add softness and |
| surprised at what they will say. You may even be able | | | | color to the room and hide most of that plain ugly wall. |
| to take some money off your rent in exchange for | | | | If a rug is too much, you might try using room divider |
| sprucing the place up! Having said that, most landlords | | | | but instead of plunking them in the middle of the room |
| probably won't want anything too funky so you'll have | | | | set them flat against the wall. |
| to stick to something that will be easily rentable once | | | | If you really have a lot of time and energy you can |
| you move out. That custom made zebra print | | | | build a faux wall that fits in front of the actual wall - |
| wallpaper might not work, but you can paint the walls | | | | then you can cover that in whatever you want! |
| an earthtone color and put some zebra print pillow | | | | Floors |
| around the room as a comprimise. | | | | You're probably going to be stuck with the flooring that |
| Another thing to consider is that since it is only a rental, | | | | your apartment came with if it is in good condition. If it |
| you might want to really give some thought as to how | | | | is in bad repair, you will have more leverage to talk the |
| much time and money you want to spend. Of course, | | | | landlord into replacing it - make a deal with him where |
| you want the place to look nice while you are living | | | | you do the work and he pays for materials as this is a |
| there, but if you will be moving in another 6 months it's | | | | win-win for everyone. |
| probably not worth spending thousands of dollars and | | | | If you can't get a new floor, however, you can try to |
| 8 weeks to fix it up. If, however, you are committed to | | | | hide yours by using area rugs. Don't be afraid to put |
| living there for the next several years then it might be | | | | rugs on top of rugs but you'll have to be careful |
| a good investment to spend some time and money. | | | | around the furniture if the rug underneath is plush as |
| If your landlord gives you the OK to paint and replace | | | | this can cause the area rug to bunch up. |
| flooring, it's best to go with neutrals and earthtones and | | | | When using area rugs, be sure to "anchor" them with a |
| let your accessories jazz up the place, but even if | | | | piece of furniture. A rug will look better if the sofa or |
| your landlord won't allow you to paint, there's still quite | | | | chair is sitting on at least part of the rug. |
| a few things you can do to give your apartment some | | | | Finally, you can make your apartment look great by |
| pizzaz. | | | | adding shelves filled with mementos and collectibles. |
| Walls | | | | Think about making one whole wall a big shelving unit |
| Your apartment probably has boring white or off white | | | | and fill it up with decorative accessories. Even if you |
| painted walls. You can jazz these up in a couple of | | | | can't do anything else to give your apartment |
| ways. First of all, you can hang lots of pictures or | | | | decorative appeal, you can add lots of interesting |
| artwork. If you put enough up you can basically hide | | | | accessories to add unique drama to your place. |
| the boring paint and transform your walls into a gallery | | | | |