How to Make Your Rental Space Your Own

My house is my canvas, my studio, my creative inspiration and of course, my family’s beloved home! If you’ve been tuning into my Instagram channel, you know that we have just undertaken quite the massive renovation of our century-old Riverside home. It’s a big deal; there’s budgeting, architectural plans, design mood-boards, finding somewhere to stay, packing up the house (and kids!) and that’s all before a drop of work on my business has started!

I’m excited to guide our old house through it’s new stages as it receives it’s update, but there’s something important to do along the way.

For a renovation like this, we’ll be out of our place for almost 6 months. So it felt really important to turn our temporary space into a home as well. Here are my tips for making your rental space your own.

Tip 1: Hang Artwork.

Not so surprising for an artist and art lover, but this will immediately make white walls look more personality laden. Especially if you’re bringing work over from a previous house or rental there’s an instant sense of familiarity. A lot of protests around doing this are centered on making holes in rented walls but refilling holes is easy. There are plenty of easy to follow visual guides and instructions and whole aisles in your local hardware store with inexpensive options to get the job done. So we embraced a few holes and a patch up job before we move out and have hung some of our favourites up in the new space.

Tip 2: Incorporate Plants

Another recommendation that stays true to my traditional values is to bring plants into your space. Besides being a good interior environmentalist, they’re truly great temporary décor, leaving even less of a footprint than the artwork when you move out of the rental space while adding immediate homey, cozy vibes!

Tip 3: Think about Texture, Fixtures & Fittings

Again, these are items that screw in and out and leverage your (or your family’s personality) where there previously were just standard items. Can you replace a lightshade? Can you add some texture or colour to drawer knobs or door handles, or a piece?  I always love a preloved furniture piece, especially in a new and modern house. Any efforts will immediately create a tactile experience in your new space.

Tip 4: Vingnettes & Shelfies

 If you’re sensing a theme, you’re right! Many of these suggestions have to do with creating impermanent areas of your temporary space where you can add a lot of charisma quickly. Keeping a few favourite coffee table books and some small ‘props’ out of the packed boxes will allow you to style bookshelves and corners that are probably a lot emptier than the ones in your home (given most of your stuff is likely sitting in a box!). You already have these items so there’s no additional expense, they’re of course perfect reflections of who you are and voila; another new nook sorted.