Renters looking for rental property decorating tips that won’t cost a fortune or risk their deposit have practical guidance to draw on from B&Q chief executive Graham Bell and interior designers Lara Clarke and Lydia Lloyd. With higher average mortgage rates and hefty deposits putting homeownership out of reach for many, more people are renting for longer, and making a temporary space feel genuinely personal has never mattered more.
The good news, according to the three, is that a free weekend and a modest budget can go a long way. None of their suggestions require knocking down walls or angering a landlord.
Start with the tenancy agreement
Before picking up a paintbrush or a drill, Bell says the first step is to check what the tenancy agreement actually allows. Many landlords may be open to sensible improvements, particularly where something is being upgraded rather than fundamentally changed, but getting permission in writing first avoids an expensive argument when the time comes to move out.
Planning matters just as much as permission. ‘The biggest mistake is that people don’t plan enough,’ Bell says. ‘It’s all the planning that goes into it that’s important, making sure you have everything. My dad would tell me to always measure twice and cut once.’ Bell recommends deciding exactly what you want to achieve, measuring the space carefully, and buying everything needed before starting. Online tutorials, he adds, can help with relatively simple DIY projects.
Choose rental property decorating tips you can take with you
If spending money on improvements that stay with the property feels wrong, the focus should be on temporary changes. Bell points to renter-friendly products such as stick-on tiles for the kitchen, suction storage products for the bathroom, and expandable blinds that fit without drilling. Clarke suggests looking for affordable vintage oil paintings, exhibition posters or framed sketches at antique markets, then hanging them with command strips so they come away cleanly without leaving holes in the plaster. Artwork, she says, ‘instantly makes a space feel more occupied and finished’.
Layer the lighting
Lighting is one of the quickest and most cost-effective changes available. Bell says rentals often come with ‘bright, bright lights’, and swapping bulbs for warmer tones, or experimenting with strip lighting in the kitchen set to a softer glow, can change the entire atmosphere of a room without touching the fixtures. Rather than relying on a single overhead light, Clarke recommends building up several sources from around the room. ‘Mood lighting really helps make a space feel more cosy and homely,’ she says. ‘Add table and floor lamps too and there are plenty of battery-powered options around now so you don’t have to worry about finding a plug socket.’ Pairing warmer lighting with floor-to-ceiling curtains and scatter cushions in different colours and patterns, Clarke adds, pushes the effect further.
Vintage over flatpack
Lydia Lloyd, a home designer at Marks and Spencer, says making a rental feel personal does not need to cost much. ‘Books, framed photographs, decorative objects and houseplants help tell your story and can make even a temporary space feel more personal and lived in,’ she says. Clarke takes a similar line, urging renters to avoid flatpack furniture and instead source pieces from online marketplaces or antique markets. Characterful items, she argues, make a space ‘feel more lived-in and curated over time’ in a way that identical off-the-shelf units simply cannot.
Don’t underestimate scent
Lloyd’s final suggestion is one that costs relatively little but delivers an outsized effect. Candles, diffusers and room sprays, she says, are a ‘simple but powerful way to make a home feel inviting’. She recommends fragrances including sandalwood, cedarwood, cinnamon and cardamom as ‘perfect for bringing a sense of comfort into the home’, particularly as temperatures drop. Layering texture through cushions, throws and blankets in materials such as velvet, boucle or chunky knits works alongside scent to complete the effect.
Bell’s overarching advice, backed by the rental property decorating tips from Clarke and Lloyd, is available via B&Q. For further reading on the cost-of-living pressures driving longer renting, BBC News has covered the housing affordability picture in depth. The starting point, all three agree, is always the same: read the tenancy agreement before touching a single wall.
