27 You Asked: Rental Decor and Organizing

I know I have a lot of readers that rent or who are military families that are not able to make major modifications to their abodes.

And you have asked,

Hi Jen!

I want to start by saying I love your blog!  It has given me so much inspiration to organize my home!  I wanted your advice about making a "rental" feel like home. We are a military family and we are about to be moving... AGAIN but that's the way it goes, right?  Anyway, we have decided to move into base housing at my husband's new duty station.  We own our home that we are in for the next couple weeks so it's going to be a change to be living in base housing where we have limited abilities as far as decorating etc.  Also, a lot of my current organization came from things we built in so we will not be able to do that in our new place.  Base housing is very basic, white walls etc. so I will need to brighten up the place and organize very creatively!!   Please help!

Thanks so much!

Tammy

SUCH a common and fantastic question!


Although I don't live in a rental, I understand the basics of the dilemma.  White walls and no built in storage opportunities.

First, let's chat about the white walls and decor.  It may surprise some of you to know that white walls can actually be extremely stunning.  And a great excuse to bring in great pops of color throughout the space in other ways {get ready to start spray painting my friends!}

Here are some examples of amazing white wall spaces:

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

{source}

For me personally, perusing the internet for white wall decorating kind of makes me want to snag a gallon of white paint and get painting!  Wow, such a great reminder of how great they can really be!

Here are my thoughts:

• Paint a piece of furniture in a fun color!  Or spray paint a great mirror or set of frames in vibrant tones!  {Remember, Command Hooks now have great picture hanging options for a no hole option, these are also great for leaving next to zero mark in a wall when hanging.}
• Rugs are a fantastic way to bring in great color and ground the room.  And these days, everyone is buying inexpensive plain options and whipping out the paint and a stencil to make them amazing!
• Throw pillows and throws are another way to bring in boatloads of room softening color.  Scour Etsy for pillow covers in great prints or sew some up from some inexpensive fabric {or even clothing} remnants!
• Hang floor to ceiling patterned curtain panels.  My heart always smiles for bold curtains.  Every. Single. Time.
• Accessorize with color.  If you can't paint the walls, bring in color though decorative storage boxes, lamp shades and artwork.  Have fun mixing and matching colors and patterns, it seems to work well in many of the rooms shown above!
• White on white works too!  White furniture with white walls looks so clean and fresh!  And any colors you bring into the room are sure to pop off of it all!

Second.  98% of the projects I do in my home, could be taken with us and used in a rental should we ever decide to move.  The other 2% may be built ins or wallpaper/paint projects, but I believe that if you to browse my project gallery, you may be amazed at how many of the projects and ideas can be adopted anywhere in some way or another.  Even our giant bookcase "built in" is just floating against the wall and could easily be moved.

Some organizing ideas:

• Built-ins can be "faked" and not actually affect the structure of the room/building at all.  Adding decorative trim to the storage piece itself is a great way to give inexpensive bookcases a built-in feeling.
• Drawer liner comes in a HUGE variety of patterns and is a great and pretty way to love organizing your household drawers.  However, it just peels away when you are done with it!
• Make your furniture do double duty.  Find pieces that can act as storage and can evolve as you move from home to home.  Dressers are so great in almost any space {media stand in the living room, hat/mitten storage in an entry, sideboard in a dining room, changing table in a nursery, etc...}.  Storage ottomans can hold linens in a bedroom or toys in a living room.  Bookcases can be shoe storage by the front door or toy storage in a playroom.  Armoires can hold entertainment pieces, office essentials or clothing!  It's all about picking items that will last and work no matter where you end up!

I believe that if you combine some of the storage ideas with the white wall color ideas above, you can make any home a happy and comfortable home!

Of course, I don't consider myself the expert on the subject since I haven't rented in over 10 years when I was just out of high school.  Not exactly understanding the decorating and organizing ropes back then...

And because I know that I have a lot of readers that currently rent or move frequently, that are in the same predicament as Tammy, it would be great for you experts out there to chime in and add some more thoughts and ideas on the subject!  I am now handing the blog over to you!