EASY & REVERSIBLE RENTER FRIENDLY HOME UPGRADES

my first tip is to paint your rental kitchen cabinets okay so what really is a renter-friendly upgrade well in my opinion it's anything that a does not require permission from the landlord and b is 100 reversible before you move out and as a bonus ideally you can take said upgrade with you when you leave so painting your cabinets isn't rental friendly fortunately though there are a ton of things that you can do in your rental home that will not compromise your security deposit and today i'm going to share all my favorite tips with you adding picture frame molding is such an amazing and easy upgrade that you can make to your rental that will add so so much character to your space and no of course you do not have to nail the molding into your walls all you need is some cheap lightweight trim a miter box and a saw and some heavy duty double-sided tape another obvious tool is like a measuring tape and a level you measure and cut the trim mount the molding with double-sided mounting tape fill any gaps with removable caulk and you're done once it's up you just paint it to match your wall and then you can either like fill it with some really cool peel and stick wallpaper more on that later or you can hang some cool like framed artwork inside it it really depends on the look that you're going for [Music] okay next up consider replacing your tap ware in your kitchen or bathroom or both let's be honest how many landlords actually put in like nice looking faucets in my experience not many and by not many i mean exactly zero percent i know this tip might sound a little scary but in reality it's actually pretty easy to replace a faucet there are many kind souls on youtube who have made fantastic videos that will guide you through the process step by step and you're smart so i'm sure you can handle it it's a straightforward and very impactful upgrade that you can do to your rental property without leaving virtually any signs of ever having done it so the only issue with buying a new faucet for your rental is that there's not a 100 guarantee that it's going to be compatible with your next home so it can be a bit of a gamble in that sense but i mean if it doesn't fit your next home then you can just sell it online or something buying a more attractive faucet for your rental kitchen or bathroom would be an investment i'd recommend especially if you've already made a lot of other aesthetic improvements to your space and it's one of the only things left on the list there's all sorts of great looking affordable tapware on places like amazon i've shared a few of my favorites in a blog post that i will share down below so since you're basically a certified plumber now let's take a look at your shower head next can it be improved do you really like it if your current shower head doesn't have the look you want replacing it is another really easy upgrade that you can make to your rental bathroom usually they just screw right off so that you can screw on the new one a classic rental upgrade that we've all heard of is of course swapping out the cabinet hardware if the cabinet knobs and pulls in your kitchen have seen better days or they're just like straight up outdated then go ahead and treat yourself to some nicer jewelry for your kitchen just going from this to this can make a huge difference in your kitchen the only thing you need to make sure of is that you get the correct size pulls so if your current poles have the screws at say a five inch distance then your new poles need to also have five inches between the screws because the whole point of this upgrade is to just use the existing holes in your cabinets we don't want to be making new holes because then we'd have to be filling old holes which means then you'd need to paint which means you need to ask permission because now you're painting the cabinets which means it's no longer really renter friendly okay let's talk about peel and stick peel and stick solutions can most definitely be your best friend in a rental they can look amazing but they can also look terrible that being said the first way i would suggest using peel and stick would be to upgrade your kitchen backsplash now i've seen some very interesting backsplashes in my day and i know that personally i would not want to be looking at them on a daily basis the best thing to do in that case is to cover up the bad tile with good tile something that is more to your liking the most successful transformations i've seen have been with simple clean monochromatic peel and stick subway tiles but if that sounds boring then just shop around a bit there are tons of options out there a new kitchen backsplash paired with updated cabinet handles maybe a new faucet and some fresh paint on the walls will make your kitchen look like a million bucks for a relatively low cost and it will increase your quality of life which is priceless you can find peel and stick flooring at most home improvement stores and you can find a ton more options online it's a pretty cheap renter friendly upgrade that you can do in like one day peel and stick floor tiles typically aren't that expensive and if you're doing a small space like a small bathroom or a little kitchen you probably shouldn't need more than a couple of boxes and it's well worth it all in all this rental upgrade might cost you a little more but there is definitely no denying the impact a new floor can have on a space it's a reversible update though like with any peel and stick product you may have some leftover sticky residue to remove before you move out okay the last peel and stick option i would recommend is peel and stick wallpaper so the addition of wallpaper can be incredibly impactful i would say even more than adding a new paint color in some cases but it can be a little finicky to apply it's important to remember also that removable wallpaper isn't just for your walls some of the more creative spots that i've seen it used is inside closets on the back walls of cabinets and bookshelves on ceilings as temporary flooring on furniture and in drawers okay and before we move on from the peel and stick category let's talk 10 seconds about using peel and stick contact paper on countertops so i have spoken about this before and i'm not going to say not to use it but i will say that i personally tend to stay away from it because i don't have the patience to apply it properly and i feel like if i did try it would just turn out looking like a dog's breakfast but if you can apply it seamlessly and you think it's going to make your counter look better than it does currently then more power to you if you're not interested in using wallpaper because you don't want to go the peel and stick route because you don't have the patience for it i don't blame you of course there's always paint all the rental units i have ever lived in have always had really dingy white walls that just basically looked like they had primer applied to them and that's it which probably that's what it was in some cases my old landlords didn't even bother to patch up old nail holes or they left like screws on the walls um yeah thanks and other times the previous dweller may have been inspired by things like wild accent walls and you know while they may have considered it beautiful the colors may not be to your liking the chances that you absolutely love your wall color when you move into your new rental are pretty slim the thing we all love about paint of course is that you can do it cheaply and quickly and let's be honest it's pretty hard to mess it up if you can return your walls to the same color they were when you moved in then i would always opt to paint there is nothing that compares to paint when it comes to fast cost effective completely transformative results i know right now some of you are saying but my rental contract says i'm not allowed to paint on the walls i've also had rental contracts that said that no painting was allowed and i have always painted this is not me encouraging you to go out and break your rental contract look i understand rental restrictions i really do i have been a tenant but i've also been a landlord lady anyways i've had tenants and while they didn't paint any of my walls they left my place a flea ridden disaster with gaping holes on the walls that they had made for their cable management the way i see it from a landlord's perspective is if you can do a decent job with the paint and you can revert it back before you move out i don't care what you do first of all i want my tenants to be happy but more selfishly i want them to take care of my home because it's my property and from a tenant's perspective i mean i can't speak for everyone but personally i've always left my rental units looking better when i left than when i moved in so i have a problem with unreasonably stringent rental restrictions when i'm paying to live there and i'm taking incredibly good care of their property and at the end of the day if the landlord does want to take a portion of my you know damage deposit because i painted a wall or hung a picture which has never happened by the way then it's a price that i'm willing to pay to make my home the way i want it in the time that i live there anyways i might just edit this all out later um paint is awesome and i think you should just do whatever is best for you and your situation and uh and comfort level i'm sure you'll make the right decision on a less controversial note replacing the towel bar towel ring or toilet paper holder in your rental are other easy upgrades that cost very little but make quite a big difference don't be afraid of buying what you really like as you can bring all of these items with you when you move out so swapping out your lighting fixtures definitely has potential to be one of the pricier upgrades that you can make to your rental unit lighting can get expensive of course there are thousands of affordable options out there so you don't have to spend a fortune by any means whatever your budget is though it's a win-win because not only can you take your beautiful fixtures with you when you move out but they will dramatically improve the way your rental looks i would 100 recommend it replacing wired lighting like a sconce or a bathroom vanity light takes a little knowledge but it's not hard again youtube is your friend and if you have any doubts whatsoever with electrical stuff get help also if you have any light switch plates or electrical outlet covers that look like i feel old damaged and ugly then definitely swap those out they they're very cheap upgrades that you can buy the hardware store for like a dollar this is a small detail but nonetheless it's an important one if your landlord put in very cool neon feeling bulbs then definitely you'll want to swap those out for warmer bulbs with a lower kelvin i've already explained how it works in other videos so i will spare you the ins and outs of light bulbs oh also use smart bulbs if you can they're just better okay that's it for me today i hope that some of these tips help make your rental a little bit more epic and if you did find this useful please like share and subscribe and i will see you next time thanks bye

Channel: Vivien Albrecht

Views: 353,175

Keywords: interior design, decorating tips, decor, posh pennies, decor tips, get the look, affordable decor, design tips, renter friendly, renter friendly apartment makeover, rental friendly decor, renter friendly kitchen makeover, rental friendly home decor, peel and stick, picture moulding, best renter friendly decor tips, renter friendly diy, how to decorate your rental apartment, rental apartment decorating ideas, renter friendly makeover

Id: yMzCsjQAgvw

Length: 10min 27sec (627 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 10 2021