DUBAI 15 January 2018: It is hard to get comfortable in a rental, especially if you just moved in. There are, however, a couple of things that you can do to make yourself feel more at home.
ServiceMarket, one of UAE’s leading marketplace for home services, looks into various hacks to customize a rental. It has compiled a list of what it thinks are the easiest to implement and landlord-friendly.
Start with a clean base
No matter how much the place was cleaned before you moved in, it will stress you out because you didn’t do it yourself or weren’t around to supervise the cleaning. So the first thing to do as soon as you move in, is to clean your new place yourself. It will also give you a better feel of the layout and the storage space you have to work with.
Dress your windows
The next thing you need to do is figure out how you want to dress your windows. This is especially important if the rental came with ugly blinds. So take down the blinds, store them away carefully (you will need to put them back up when you move out) and hang up curtains according to your taste. You can choose anything from lace to black out drapes in various colors to brighten up your new home. The right window treatments can make any room look like an art piece.
Add life through furniture and artwork
Artwork, furniture and photographs can showcase your personality to guests and make your new place feel like home. Just remember to ask your landlord about drilling any holes in the wall. Some landlords might not be on board with the idea. You can also lean artwork against the wall and put photographs in frames that you can arrange on a table. Furniture is also useful to break up a room into different spaces and provide storage. Plus, every time you get bored with the look of a room, you can move things around and swap stuff with other rooms in the apartment.
Invest in area rugs and mirrors
Did you end up with a flooring style that is a sight for sore eyes or an apartment that is really compact? No need to worry. The ideal fix for awful floor tiles and ugly carpets is to invest in area rugs. Plus, rugs are something you can easily take with you when you leave. A fix for compact spaces is to put up mirrors that can make the place look bigger and brighter. Along with furniture and artwork, you can use rugs and mirrors to hire and/or disguise flaws.
Create a gallery wall
Tired of bare walls? The best way to showcase your personality is to create a nicely balanced gallery wall. Put up photographs of your childhood, family and travels. Showcase art that you have collected over your travels. Ideally, the gallery wall should be the first thing you and your guests should see when you enter your apartment. If you are an artist yourself, it is the perfect place to put up your own work so that your guests can admire it. You can also display your child’s artwork on this wall.
Introduce greenery
One of the best ways to make a home feel more homey is to introduce plants to the environment. You can put up some fresh flowers in vases around the apartment and buy succulents for the living room since they are the easiest to take care of. Plants are always a soothing sight for the eyes especially if you live in a concrete jungle. Moreover, air filtering plants would be an excellent asset to improve the air quality inside the apartment.
Swap out the old
Simple updates like swapping out old door and cabinet knobs and drawer pulls will make you feel more content in your home. You will of course need to store the old ones carefully so you can put them back when you are moving out. Some people even replace outdated fixtures such as showerheads and lights. Just make sure that a certified electrician takes care of any electrical works around the house.
Upgrade appliances
If you don’t mind spending the money, also consider upgrading appliances. We aren’t suggesting that you buy a new fridge, but your favorite coffee maker might be just what you need to make the place feel like your own. You can take any upgrades that you bought with you when you move out. If your fridge is particularly old and ugly, try disguising it with patterned removables cut to its size.
Paint a wall
While it may seem like a bad idea and some landlords do have a no paint policy, it doesn’t hurt to ask if you could paint the walls. It isn’t as expensive as you might be thinking and you can always get them painted back the way they were when you are vacating. Even if you don’t want to paint the whole place, painting a single wall a bright, cheerful color can make a huge difference. And if your landlord does have a no-paint policy, look up removables like wallpaper and wall decals in the market. They can make any space look interesting and cozy.
Feeling comfortable won’t happen overnight, even if you implement these hacks, but our suggestions are sure to help make the process go faster.