Are you feeling the itch to give your rental home a refreshed look and feel? As a real estate investor, coach and mentor, I regularly oversee and consult on the renovation of homes that have lost their pretty. For my husband, Tarek, and me, our whole business is turning neglected places into homes someone can fall in love with. Your home is probably not a place that could be described as a disaster. But just about any space can be improved with care, attention and a touch of style. And spring is the perfect time.
After a long season of early sunsets, short days and cooler temperatures, it’s time for a pick-me-up. There is no better cure for shaking off the winter doldrums than a style refresh, and I have a few great tips to help you figure out the ABCs of making your apartment home more stylish this spring.
First, the Fundamentals
Warmer temperatures signal a wardrobe change. Swapping out coats, boots and cold-weather accessories for lighter gear is a ritual in many parts of the country. A lot of people take the opportunity to clean out their closets about this time. But don’t stop there. Organizing your closet and storing out-of-season clothing is just the beginning of your style refresh.
Before you invest in décor, furniture, storage items or anything else, give your space a really good spring cleaning. I’m not just talking about picking up clutter and vacuuming the floors (although you should do those things too).
I’m talking about cleaning your sliding glass doors, your front door, your windows and any surfaces where fingerprints or dust have accumulated. I’m talking about dusting your light fixtures, ceiling fans and window sills. I’m talking about wiping the baseboards and the light switches and getting everything squeaky clean. Just doing this will make the whole place smell fresh and feel more appealing.
Don’t Like It? Get Rid of It!
Do you have some old furniture or accessories that you’re not in love with? Whether they were gifts from relatives or you used to love them but have grown out of them, you totally have permission to get rid of them to free up your space and make it more “you.”
If the item — like a piece of furniture or a small appliance — is yours, sell it or give it away. Someone else might love it, and you can use any money you get for it to buy a replacement that you actually like. If it belongs to the property owner — like a light fixture or the fixtures in the bathroom — put it in a well-marked box and store it. Then you don’t have to live with it, and you can just put it back when you move out.
Now that we have a couple of first steps out of the way, let’s get into the ABCs. With these three details, you’ll have a spring style refresh that will make your home look and feel amazing.
Accessories
You don’t have to buy all-new furniture to make your living room, bedroom or dining room feel fresh. Instead, just invest in a few accessories that will spruce up your space. For example, you could get a sofa cover for your old couch to give it a new look. I love how versatile neutral furniture can be, so I usually go with a gray or brown cover for the sofa and chairs, and then I dress them up with fun pillows in a complementary color. You can match your pillows with an area rug, a centerpiece on the coffee table or vase on the bookshelf.
You can also use other accessories, such as picture frames and planters, to give the room a whole new look. Look around your space and see where a few accessories might make a big difference without costing a ton of money.
Bold Textures
You’d be amazed at what you can do with texture. A textured, removable white wallpaper can create a warm feel for your living room that’s also stylish and crisp. Combining different textures in your furniture and textiles can create a lived-in look that is both stylish and inviting.
I love the idea of a wall decal of the silhouette of a tree on a white wall. The decal adds color, shape and texture, and you can just peel it off when you move out.
Throw off your heavy winter bedding and get something lighter. I’m a fan of piling the bed with a silky duvet cover and pillowcases, then adding a soft throw blanket and some matching throw pillows. My biggest tip here is to let colors complement each other and then play with different fabrics to create more dimension. The more you play with textures, the more you’ll fall in love with them.
Color Combos
White is one of the hottest colors for 2016; in fact, “Simply White” is Benjamin Moore’s paint color of the year. But decorating with white doesn’t mean that everything has to be white. No matter what the base color is for your walls or furniture, you can’t go wrong with a few splashes of a complementary color around the room. I love combining whites and grays with a pale pink or yellow, but red works, too, depending on your style. Choose a color combo that you like and see how much fun you can have with it in any room of your home.
There you go. You don’t have to spend a ton of time or cash to make your apartment look and feel fresh and amazing this spring. If you like to DIY, here are nine more ways to give your rental a pop of pretty this season. Have fun and good luck!