Most of us have had random urges to change up everything in our bedroom; however, not all of us get to actually make that a reality. If you’re a renter, you know how frustrating this can be. Rental homes have a lot of restrictions when it comes to how much you’re allowed to change, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with what you’ve got. In this article, we’ll be going over 20 of the best bedroom decor ideas that are 100% rental-friendly, so you can try them without worrying about losing your deposit.
#1. One of the best ways to update a room is to switch up the wall color. In a rental, you can’t do a whole lot here. Sometimes you’re not even allowed to paint the walls, but you can still give your wall a totally new look by getting removable wallpaper instead. This wallpaper is great because you can go all-out with it. Get a pattern, a print, or just a simple solid color. When you’re done with it, or when you’re moving out, just peel it right off. It won’t leave a mark and is a super easy, no-commitment way of switching up your room.
#2. If you don’t want to go through the trouble of lining up wallpaper, but still like the idea of a no-commitment way to switch up your walls, you could go halfway and get wall decals instead. These are basically stickers, and you can apply them to your walls the same way you would apply regular stickers on paper, but you can easily peel them off when you’re done. They come in thousands of different designs, so you’ll be able to find something for any room, whether it’s a kid’s room or your own. The options are endless.
#3. One of the easiest ways to lose your deposit is by hammering a nail in your wall. Even though you can patch the holes up, most landlords have a strict “no nail” policy. This can make decorating the walls a nightmare. Well, it turns out there’s a magical fix for your problem command strips. It may seem like command strips are too tiny to hold anything up, but in reality, they’re actually pretty strong. Use tons of these and create an entire photo wall in your rental home without ever having to poke a single hole in your wall.
#4. Whether your rental home comes with one of those plain, basic wall-to-wall carpets or has a wooden floor, either one can get boring over time. To update the look without having to make any permanent changes, simply get a rug. Match it with the theme of your room and place it under or next to your bed. This will instantly change up the space, and it can easily be removed whenever you move out without leaving any evidence that it was ever there.
#5. Most rental homes come with extremely basic wall and ceiling lights. Almost always, these lights are bright white and just make the whole space look ugly. The good thing is, there’s always an on and off switch. Keep the built-in lights off and add lamps to your room instead. Both add lots of alternative lighting and don’t require any installation. Just bring them home, place them where you wish and plug them in, and you’ll instantly have nice, soft lighting that fits your overall aesthetic.
#6. Most rental homes are very basic and empty when you move in. This also means that they lack surfaces like built-in shelves where you can display decor or art pieces. Installing something like floating shelves would mean having to hammer nails into the walls, so that idea is out the window with most rentals. A great alternative is to get larger, movable shelves that give you multiple rows of space to decorate. Gather lots of small- to medium-sized items that match the aesthetic of your room and place them around the space however you’d like. Whenever you want to switch things up, you can either change up the decor or move the entire shelf to another wall.
#7. A great way to switch up the entire look of your bedroom is to add a canopy to the bed. These used to be made out of thick fabrics, but today, most of them are very lightweight and sheer. The weight makes them super easy to put up without having to attach a hook to the ceiling. A command strip hook can easily hold one of these up without a problem. A canopy can instantly transform your bed and give it a regal look, and when you move out, you can simply remove the command strip.
#8. Rental homes tend to have oddly placed windows. They’re either a weird size or they’re in an awkward position in the middle of the room and are covered with those classic cheap renter’s blinds that can kill the vibe of any bedroom. Keeping the blinds is obviously undesirable, but putting up curtains instead can take up a lot of room and force you to decorate around them. Removing the blinds entirely and leaving the window bare usually isn’t an option either because then everyone will be able to look inside your home. Get some peel-and-stick window film and stick it to your windows. The film will prevent anyone from seeing inside your window and will give you a little nook to decorate. Plus, if you get one of the reflective ones, it will give the window a stained glass effect and fill your room with rainbows throughout the day. .
#9. Wherever you place your bed, if the wall above the bed is blank, it might make you feel like something is missing. A great way to add a little character to your room is to get a piece of art, or make your own, and hang it up above the bed. This can also be done using command strips as long as the painting isn’t super heavy, and most of the time, this will provide that “finishing touch” you need in your space. Use a painting to bring all the colors in your room together and make everything look cohesive. When you’re moving out, just peel off the command strip and you’re good to go.
#10. In the past couple of years, neon signs have been everywhere. They’re one of the most Instagramable things ever, and they add a splash of bright color to your room. Regular neon signs, however, can be pretty heavy, and you’d have to get them bolted to your walls, which isn’t the most renter-friendly way of decorating. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a neon light in your room, though. Get one of these neon nightstands lamps instead of a full-on sign; it’ll give you the effect you’re after without any sort of installation. Best of both worlds.
#11. If you’re just looking to update the look of your room ever so slightly without having to paint anything, a great option is to switch out the hardware on your existing furniture. For example, change your regular drawer pulls for something more interesting, like gold hook pulls or maybe crystal ones. It may seem like a very tiny change, but it can make a world of difference for the overall look of your home.
#12. Almost every home that’s been built in the past few decades has lots of flush lights scattered throughout the house. You might feel like you don’t have the expertise to mess with the light fixtures and you’re stuck with the lights the house came with, but that isn’t the case. You can use a recessed conversion kit to easily attach a pendant light to the same hardware the flush light was using and attach the light you want there. When you’re moving out, they’re easy to remove.
#13. When it comes to windows, most people tend to stick with boring blinds or regular curtains, but those aren’t your only two options. If you’re from a city with a great skyline like New York, or you just want to add some city vibes to your place, take a piece of that skyline wherever you go with a skyline curtain. The holes create the shape of the skyline, and when the sunlight shines through them, they light up, making you feel like you’re looking out of a New York high rise.
#14. You might like an all-white, simple bedroom, but that can get a little boring after a while. Plants are a great way to add a pop of color and incorporate room decor that’s actually good for you. Having plants around is good for your mood and reduces stress levels, and they just look really nice too. Either hang them up all over your room or keep it simple with just one or two potted plants and build up your little jungle at your own pace.
#15. When it comes to bedroom decor, you need to make sure that whatever you add to the room serves a purpose and is functional. A popular piece of functional decor is wicker baskets. These come in lots of different shapes and sizes, so you can add multiple baskets all around your room. These can be used to store all the clutter that tends to pile up in your space, and they give your room a little boho touch.
#16. If you want to switch up the entire theme of your bedroom but don’t really want to splurge on a whole new bed, there’s an easy solution. Reupholster your old headboard with a fabric that matches your new theme. You can easily do this with fabric and a staple gun. What’s even better is that if you’re good with tools, you can even reupholster a bed that didn’t have fabric on it to begin with. This can help you bring in all the color you want, and there’s no damage to the house itself.
#17. If you’re trying to up the cozy factor in your room, you can do so very easily with string lights. This is one of the cheapest ways to redo your room. One of the best things about string lights is that you can use them however you want. Hang a string across your room or get a string light drape to go behind your curtains. Take the same string light and keep switching things up according to your mood. You’ll get lots of lighting and a new cozy look without putting a single hole in your walls.
#18. If your room is more of a long rectangle shape, you might have trouble decorating it. This problem can be solved very easily by bringing in a room divider. Get a plant divider or a simple wooden one, whatever fits the theme of your room better. These give you several smaller spaces instead of one really long one, and they look good doing it.
#19. Mirrors are a great addition to any room, but they can be especially great in a bedroom. A large mirror can help make a small room look bigger and make it a lot easier to put your outfit together in the morning. One thing about large mirrors is that they’re very heavy to hang, which makes most people think they can’t be used in a rental, but they can. You just have to lean them against the wall instead of hanging them up. This also allows you to move them around to different parts of the room whenever you want. No power tools required.
#20. A lot of rental places might have space in the bedroom, but the closet is designed in such a way that only a baby’s clothes would fit there. This can be incredibly frustrating as your personal wardrobe expands. One way to remedy this problem and make your room look like it’s straight out of a magazine is to use clothing racks instead. These can hold your clothes and, since they’re not nailed to the wall, create a little fitting room next to your mirror, and none of it will break any rental rules. It’s a smart, functional, and rental-friendly way of adding a little something to your room without worrying about your deposit.
And that’s a wrap for 20 bedroom decor ideas that are totally renter-friendly. Which one of these was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below. Make sure to give this article a thumbs up, and subscribe to our blog for more articles like this. See you in the next one.
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