You might not own your place, but you still want it to feel like home. Problem is, a lot of apartments are bland and cookie-cutter. As a renter, you can’t exactly take down a wall or upgrade the appliances in your kitchen, but there are, however, a few easy, landlord-friendly upgrades to make your rental feel more like home.
Replace your faucets and shower heads
Table of Contents
Most of the appliances in your apartment probably aren’t easy to replace, but you can get away with swapping out some fixtures, which can give those appliances a whole different look.
For example, you may not be able to replace your entire kitchen sink, but it’s easy enough to replace the faucet. It comes down to just a few main steps:
- Make sure the configuration of your new faucet lines up with the sink. Most hardware stores sell faucet hole covers if the new faucet leaves holes exposed.
- Shut off the water valves under the sink.
- Remove the nuts to the supply lines of the existing faucet, then remove the faucet.
- Install the new faucet, then reconnect and secure the supply lines.
Faucet prices run the gamut, but you can find some decent buys for less than a hundred bucks, especially at places like Amazon or IKEA. You may be able to find some deals, too.
G/O Media may get a commission
It’s even easier to replace your shower head. Usually, all you have to do is unscrew your old one, wrap some new Teflon tape around the nozzle, then screw on the new head. Some shower heads are designed to screw on without the tape, though, and can actually leak if you add the tape, so read the instructions that come with it.
Install new door handles, knobs, and other small details
Small changes can make a big difference, too. Here are a few hardware details you can swap out to make a big impact.
- Cabinet handles, knobs, or pulls: You can often buy a pack of 25 of them for less than $30. Of course, the fancier you want to get, the more you’ll pay.
- Toilet seat: They’re usually between $20-$50, but being the first person to sit on your toilet seat? Priceless.
- Toilet paper holders: It’s not the most glamorous thing in your apartment, but it’s a super cheap swap that can go a long way toward upgrading your bathroom.
- Light switch plates: Make sure you turn off the power supply when dealing with any kind of electrical upgrade. Other than that, installing a new light switch plate is incredibly easy.
As small as these details may seem, they’re easy enough to upgrade, and they’ll add up to make your apartment feel a lot more personalized. Plus, they’re cheap!
Improve your lighting
Your light fixtures are typically pretty easy to replace, too. Obligatory but important word of caution: make sure the power is off before you attempt to fudge with anything electrical, and that goes for removing and replacing your light fixtures, too. This project can be a bit trickier, but it basically involves:
- Removing the old fixture and using a circuit tester to make sure the electricity is indeed turned off
- Locating the white (neutral), black (power), and green or bare (ground) wires and removing the wire nuts
- Attaching these wires with wire nuts to the new fixture
- Securing the new fixture to the ceiling or wall
It helps to have a friend for this one, because you’ll need to hold the fixture while you’re attaching the wires. The video below will show you how it’s done in detail.
Of course, when choosing your lighting fixture, it helps to pick the right kind of lighting. Consider each room’s function, decide whether you need ambient, task, or accent lighting, then pick your fixture accordingly.
You want to pick the right bulb for the job, too. Most light bulb packages should include detail about the lumens. Use this calculator to figure out how many lumens you need in each room, depending on your home and preferences.
If you’re up for it, you can swap out your entire light switch for a dimmable one, too. You can find a decent one for less than twenty bucks, and while it requires shutting off the power and attaching wires, it gives you more control over the lighting in your rental.
Whichever option you go with, the point is: you don’t have to live with the ugly lighting your apartment came with. Best of all, when you move, you can take all of these fixtures with you.
Rooms look best when there’s a mix of lighting, too. So in addition to your standard overhead lighting, add some task lighting, too. Lamps are an obvious way to accomplish this, but you can get a little fancier with under cabinet lighting. For example, it’s incredibly easy to install peel-and-stick LED lights like these, which I’ve used under my own kitchen cabinets. Apartment Therapy has a fun list of different options, too. Best of all, many of these are battery operated, so they don’t need to be wired to your electrical. Overall, mixing up your lighting will make the room feel more cozy and less apartment-y.
Make the most of a small space
If you live in a small apartment, it’s not like you can just add a room or tear down a wall to expand your space. Usually, you have to make do, but there are a few inventive ideas for making the most out of a tiny living space.
For extra storage, it helps to use furniture that does double duty. For example, an ottoman storage bench, a loft bed workspace, or a small kitchen island with shelves underneath.
Speaking of kitchens, make sure you’re optimizing all of your cabinet space. For example, I don’t have many cabinets in my kitchen, so I bought a cabinet shelf to take advantage of the full space for storing plates and bowls. They cost about $15, but it’s an easy way to instantly add storage.
Similarly, you could use a tension rod to add extra space for spices or try this DIY magnetic spice rack that doubles as a shelf. You could even build your own roll-out pantry next to your fridge. It’s not exactly an easy option, but it’s a pretty creative one.
If you’re lacking counter space, you could try your hand at a modular folding counter space or wall-mounted cutting board like this one, via Apartment Therapy. Of course, you want to check your lease to make sure you’re allowed to mount things to your wall.
If your bathroom doesn’t have much storage, you’ll have to get creative there, too. Try adding a second shower rod in the bathroom and hanging portable baskets. Mount a few wall shelves up high for towel storage. If you don’t have space for a towel rack, buy a few suction mount hooks (they’re less than ten bucks) you can put on the back of your bathroom door or maybe in an odd corner where there’s wasted space. I mounted mine directly onto my shower door.
Add a fresh coat of paint
It’s the most obvious upgrade, but it’s so effective, it has to be said. Adding a new coat of paint is probably the most impactful way to make your apartment feel more like an actual home. It’s not the easiest, because it requires a bit of prep work and some time, but the payoff is big. Check your lease to see what the rules are, because some leases prohibit painting, but most landlords are cool with it as long as you paint the walls back to their previous color. In fact, some landlords might not even require you to do that, because what you’ve done actually looks better than what they’re planning to do, anyway. At any rate, if they agree to it, make sure to get it in writing in case you run into trouble when you move out.
If you need help picking a color, learning the basics of color theory will put you on the right track. You’ll be amazed at how big a difference a splash of color can make, but that goes for picking the wrong color, too, so make sure it complements your existing furniture and the rest of your place. From there, Apartment Therapy offers a few rules to follow:
• More than one color in a room can look great, but if you go in that direction, keep it to three colors maximum. If you are going with two bold colors, the third should be a neutral to give your eye a break.
• When choosing your colors start by choosing your boldest color, and then choose the others with the first color in mind.
• Don’t be scared! Paint is not permanent and you can always change it.
Even easier, you can use online tools to help you pick a complementary paint palette, then test out those colors using a tool like ColorSnap.
If your lease doesn’t allow you to paint, not to worry—there are other ways to add color to your walls. For example, you can buy removable, rental-friendly wallpaper and take it with you from place to place. And it’s fairly affordable at about $55-$60 for each 25” wide panel. You’ve got plenty of online options, but you can also buy these at big name retailers like Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Similarly, these places sell decorative vinyl decals, too, if you want to add a little personal design without committing the entire wall.
Hide the ugly stuff
I’ve lived in a number of different apartments over the years, and there’s always some horrendous eyesore that drives me nuts, from ugly carpet to dirty, old air conditioning units. You can probably relate, so here are a few easy fixes for common rental monstrosities:
These are easy fixes, but if you’re looking for a more extensive upgrade, it never hurts to simply talk to your landlord about the changes you want to make. Maybe they’ll go halfsies with you and upgrade your appliances or help out with a renovation project, especially if you’re planning to stay a while.
If you’re just looking for some simple solutions, however, these are some of the most affordable, best bang-for-your-buck fixes that will make your apartment feel less like a temporary place you rent and more like your own home.
This story was originally published in February 2016 and was updated on March 15, 2021 to meet Lifehacker style guidelines.