15 Homes That Prove Decorating Rentals Is Worth It

In today’s housing market, it comes as no surprise that people in cities across the country are settling — deeply — into their rentals, despite the idea that it’s not “worth” (or even possible) investing in decor and style updates in a temporary home. I absolutely love the creativity and cleverness that comes with personalizing a rental, and there have been some pretty impressive transformations this year. Plus, I’m confident that any of the below renters would agree that the changes they’ve made are 100 percent worth the happiness it brings them every day to live in a space that reflects their style, even if it means painting it back to white at the end of the lease. And if you’re looking to try some of these ideas out in your own rental? Check out this handy guide for approaching your landlord about minor renovations; you might be allowed to do more than you think.

Small apartments don’t mean you need small furniture. In fact, larger furniture helps make a space feel more grand and established, as evidenced by Colby Kern’s Springfield, Missouri apartment. Colby, who works in interior design and photography, has made a historic apartment his own by adding DIYed large-scale art, gallery walls, and sticking to a neutral color palette to keep things cohesive. “It may seem backwards,” he says, “but don’t fill a small space with small furniture. Of course there’s a balance to be met, but large scale furniture can actually make a tiny footprint feel visually larger.”

To see Luna Lindsay’s bright and happy Toronto apartment now, it’s difficult to picture it as a plain white box. But, she says, “when moving in, my now pastel palace was the complete opposite of what she’s blossomed into: gray walls, black trim, acrylic gray paint painted over original pastel pink tile in the bathroom (my absolute favorite feature of the apartment),” a stark contrast to the layered, colorful space it is now.

The laundry room is a place of particular pride, and is full of rental-friendly upgrades, like a polyester floor mat that looks like tile, peel-and-stick floral wallpaper, and a locker for extra storage space where it didn’t exist before. “The before of this laundry room was horrid,” Luna says, but now, “I want to hang out in the laundry room for fun.”

Marikah and Duran’s East Flatbush apartment has plenty of pluses (spacious layout, quiet neighborhood), but all the personal touches she’s added amount to a warm and inviting home. “We did a whole 360 in my kitchen when we added those tall storage racks and it has been a game changer for us,” Marikah says. “I used different colored mesh bags to store my fruits and veggies,” and “on all the window panels I wanted a ‘window pane look’ so I saw a DIY and achieved it by using black electrical tape.”

In the bedroom, Marikah says, “we turned the corner of our bedroom to a little nursery nook, which is definitely a hidden gem and can’t be seen from outside the room when the door is open (a plus). I love that we added the wallpaper in that corner because it gives her little space character and belonging.”

Imani Keal is an advocate for doing everything in your power to make a rental your own. “My lease is pretty open on the changes that can be made and my landlord even helped me complete some of my projects by providing the labor at no cost to me,” Imani says, so she’s been lucky enough to implement some pretty cool changes to her space. So far, she’s painted a third of the apartment black, stained an IKEA bed, added peel and stick wallpaper walls and kitchen counters, installed floating shelves, and more.

Her proudest DIY, though? “I added black casings to the entryway of my dining room and it looks fantastic,” she says, “This part of my house has always been boring and I wasn’t sure what to do with it until I saw this post by Marienne Sides. I was in love with her NYC apartment and immediately went to Home Depot. I picked up some MDF boards, nails, and paint (I used “Black” by Behr). This is by far my favorite project I’ve done because I was sure that I would mess it up!”

Not allowed to paint your walls? A gallery wall it is, then. That’s what Rosie Dart did in her Notting Hill flat, at least. “My landlord wasn’t thrilled at the idea of me painting the walls, she says “so I had to think up another approach to fill such a tall, empty space. I loved the idea of exhibiting all my art and posters in an eclectic way. Each piece has its own story: artwork that I made myself, antique posters found at markets, magazine cuttings that inspire me, one of my dad’s own childhood drawings of Beethoven, and a huge 1950s butcher’s sign uncovered during a shop renovation. Everything feels meaningful and carefully selected. Some pieces are framed, some are taped, some just float happily up there — I like the variation this brings to the wall.”

When it came to a bland kitchen, Rosie employed some more renter-friendly hacks. “I created a diner-inspired, checkered backsplash with blue vinyl stickers, which made this small space pop with color and have its own personality. I also wanted to jazz up the shelving above my countertops so I unscrewed and removed the cabinet doors, creating room for a fun, quirky display. It completely brightens up the kitchen! I also unscrewed all the handles and replaced them with some cheap red versions — for such a small change it makes a big difference.”

All-white walls can be intimidating to some, but Rob Wexler was excited by the blank slate of his Upper West Side apartment. “The building was renovated in the ‘70s and definitely lacks the character of other brownstones,” he says, but “the best part about it was that it was a blank, blindingly white canvas. This gave me the chance to completely transform the space into something very personal, which tells my story.” And indeed, he’s injected a huge amount of character and personality in the space, painting the walls in dark, moody colors, peel-and-stick wallpapering, and adorning the brick wall with a ton of unique art. The biggest challenge in the apartment was the kitchen, thanks to its particularly modest floor plan. “I remedied this by pulling out the fridge and putting it in the entry closet and covered it with drapes,” Rob says, “this allowed me some space to hack a small KALLAX shelf, customizing it with drawers and casters and adding a wood countertop.”

Champagne is a muralist and content creator living in Los Angeles, California, and her space was never destined to be blank white — regardless of rental status. Her living room alone features a green and white checkered wall mural, a pink piano, green built-in shelves, blue upcycled bar cabinet, and more. “We rent the space,” Champagne says, “so paint was an unnecessary indulgence, but I honestly didn’t care. I wanted to make the space exactly how I wanted, so if it meant purchasing paint to create murals then so be it! When we move out we will also have to pay to paint everything back white. My outlook on that is, if it will make you enjoy the space more then you should go for it! Even if you’re renting and will have to put in extra work when you move out.”

A common compromise in rental apartments is made between the roommates that live there, as their styles might not always be the same. This is the case for Pratika Appaiah and Mareya Stearns, who live together on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. “My biggest challenge,” Pratika says, “was trying to make sure both my roommate’s and my personal styles were reflected in all our shared spaces. While my style leans heavily in the thrifted, eclectic, direction, Mareya’s style is everything you might find at the MoMA store: bright pops of color, and minimal lines. I decided to not be constrained by either of our design styles and instead just surround ourselves with all the things that make us happy: plants, color, and art.”

This 350-square-foot West Village apartment has been featured twice on Apartment Therapy, but each was with a different renter, and they each have different design styles — proving just how much of a difference decor makes. In its current form, Brian Beelman has outfitted the space with earthy browns and lots of plants, but the previous renter, Lee Lenox leaned into a blue and white color scheme, giving the space a New England flair. Both designs pay homage to the full wall of windows, even with two totally different furniture layouts.

Jessica Stempel’s NYC apartment is an explosion of color and personality, from the vibrant gallery wall in the living room, to the drippy heart mural on the closet doors, to the patterned wallpaper in the dining room. “I DIYed the crap out of this apartment,” Jessica says, and “I’m proud of the art I made that hangs on the walls. I’m also really excited about the way all of the tape DIYs came out! (Headboard, cabinets, wall mural.) And the murals I painted on the doors covered up the dreadfulness that is plain white.”

To walk into Johnny Coleman’s Chicago apartment, you might think you’re stepping into an opulent pied-à-terre frozen in time, but that’s all thanks to the focused curation and decoration he’s done. Johnny (now 30) has been collecting vintage furniture since he was 14, culminating in a delightfully traditional, maximalist home. Some of the things he’s done to maximize space and add personality: striped wallpaper to increase the feeling of height, fresh flowers in every room, and keeping the bed low to the ground to increase the feeling of tall ceilings.

Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham are living their best suburban life in their Richmond, Virginia home, after leaving Brooklyn for more space and money to dedicate to their business. “We went from four and a half windows to 12 windows AND a backyard,” they say, and their new home boasts plenty of space, color, and personality. Renting in general has been the biggest challenge, since we had to really just focus on making non-permanent changes,” Chess says, but “I think mostly we’ve just been able to make the place feel like a home by decorating it with our own personal style.”

Two of their favorite rental upgrades are the living room fireplace wall, where Ash repurposed some peel and stick wallpaper from a previous trade show, and all the painted rooms. “When I move into a place,” Ash says, “no matter how long we will be staying, I need to be surrounded by colors that I don’t find boring. Even though paint can add up, it is something that I will always make priority when living in a space.”

Bridgette and Blue’s San Diego loft is a prime example of going all out in a rental. Their home is filled with DIYs, thrifted finds, peel-and-stick wallpaper, painted murals, and more. Bridgette’s secret? Facebook Marketplace. It’s “the best place to find cool stuff, hands down,” she says, “be proactive, look often, and search things like: funky, colorful, vintage, post modern, art deco, unique, irregular, bold, ’70s, ’80s, etc. ”

One of her recent marketplace flips is a striking pink panther coffee table, which she got for $40. “It was super cute already,” she adds, “but I spray painted it hot pink and now she is ICONIC.”

A family of five fitting comfortably in 600 square feet? Yep, and it’s all thanks to the smart layout and updates Heather and Michael have made to their Upper West Side apartment. The couple stuck to a neutral color palette, utilized vertical space with lots of wall-mounted shelves, and amplified natural light with a few well-placed mirrors. “We had to be very intentional about the choices we made when it came to furniture, storage, and ‘stuff’ in general,” they say, and have achieved a light and airy feeling by “maintaining some negative space and not filling every single inch of every room with stuff,” as well as frequently editing their possessions down so as not to feel like they’re bursting at the seams.

Speaking of five-person families in New York City apartments… Megan Zietz and her husband, three kids, and two cats all fit happily into this brightly-hued Astoria, Queens apartment. “It’s definitely a space that has BIG main character energy,” Megan says, and she’s made the most of the entire space with plenty of renter-friendly ideas. “The biggest challenge,” she confesses, “was making sure everything we do (and have done) is ‘renter-friendly.’ All of the wallpaper and backsplash is removable and reusable. As far as painting goes, take a weekend and a bucket of Kilz to paint back when it comes to moving out — it’s 100 percent worth it to not look at beige/taupe walls everyday.”