You all know the pain of renting. Grumpy landlords, shitty beds with broken slats and a weird and wonderful collection of furniture that smells faintly of the lasagne they used to serve in your school cafeteria. But by and large the most annoying thing is that you're not allowed to do anything to make your pad look half decent. Nails and screws are banned, so's a lick of paint, even if you offer to buy it yourself. And then there's the reluctance to actually spend money on anything to brighten the place up a bit if you're going to be buggering off to another place soon. Here's a few handy and cheap ways to make your rented property feel a bit more like your own home that are totally landlord friendly. **
Removable wallpaper
I kid you not. This is absolutely a thing. WHY DON’T MORE PEOPLE KNOW? Wave goodbye to that sickly shade of yellow that your taste-poor landlord thought would be a nice touch for the living room and instead get yourself a couple of rolls of this vinyl stuff that basically works like one big sticker. When you move out you just peel it right off. WITCHCRAFT. The Kate Zaremba Company make some nice ones. They're even pretty cheap.
Over the door hooks
These guys are genius. Just pop over the door and you’ve got yourself a hook without having to do any screwing in or hammering and nailing which will A) make your landlord happy but B) also means you don’t have to buy a hammer or a screwdriver. As well as using them for conventional hook things like coats and towels, use them to hang mirrors, pictures and lights too.
Command hooks
We’ve said it before, several times, but it's an important lesson to learn; command hooks are your best friends. Use these metal versions (honestly there's so many different types, just buy them all) to hang a curtain rod and light curtain from. Bet you thought you'd be stuck with those fusty, bent and broken blinds for the rest of eternity.
Peel n’ stick tiles
Ignore the QVC friendly website and focus on the fact that these, like the removable wallpaper, are the greatest works of undiscovered genius the renters world has ever seen. Stop the bathroom wall around your sink getting damp and covered in toothpaste but just sticking these guys on. Voila, wipe clean surface, no matter how shit at aiming their toothpaste spit your housemates are.
Lampshades
You can’t change where your light comes from but you can at least make it look nice. Chances are your bedroom came with the lampshade known to all renters as standard – the cream Ikea paper globe one. By now it’ll be ripped, covered in dust and super crap replace it with a new one – you’ll be surprised at how much difference it makes. We like these handmade ones on etsy but if that’s a bit expensive then check out this one with a similar vibe from IKEA
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
Picture: Rory DCS
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.