Autumn is here, and Spooky Season is quickly approaching with all of the other holidays lining up right behind it! Decorating your home for the holiday season, or even just decorating your space in general, can be intimidating when you don’t own your home. So today we’re going to discuss some easy decorating tips that are fun and won’t cause any damage to your landlord’s property.
The Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tubeman
Let’s get the easy ones out of the way first. If you’re living in a rental space that consists of just you and your family, inflatable lawn decorations are easy and super fun. Places like Home Depot and even the Spirit Halloween stores have tons of different inflatables to choose from, for every holiday imaginable. One word of caution, keep them on a timer so you don’t run up your electric bill!
Any lawn decorations that don’t require more than hammering in a small stabilizing post are perfect for rental homes. If you’re living in a rental space, like an apartment complex or a home that is split, definitely get permission from your landlord and an OK from the other tenants living near the decorated space!
Lights, Candles, Halloween...or Hanukkah...or a Tuesday!
Fairy lights have become popular with the dorm room crowd, but there’s no reason you can’t hang them around your apartment to set the mood for any holiday you celebrate! You can secure them with
Command Strip hooks that peel away from the wall without damaging paint or drywall when you’re ready to take your decorations down. These are almost a must-have when planning to decorate your rented space.
If you’re someone who loves candles, but you live in a rental property, we recommend using small tea lights, like
these from Amazon. They’re a renter’s dream come true when trying to create that soft, warm glow of a real candle, without the fear of setting off fire alarms in the middle of the night - or burning the place to the ground!
Don’t want to use fake tea lights in place of your candles? No worries, we have another alternative. For smokeless, flameless, candle enjoyment, check out
these awesome candle warmers! It’s an electric “lamp” that heats up the top of your very real candle, allowing the scent of the candle to diffuse throughout your space, without lighting the wick! They’re very stylish, and you can buy your own scented candles to use with them.
Craft Stores
Craft stores are wonderful places to pick up little, non-invasive, types of decorations.
Michael’s Craft Store is a popular choice when it comes to holiday themed décor. They have a huge selection of fake flowers, wreathes, mini Christmas trees, mini Menorahs, gingerbread houses, etc. Basically, if you can think of it, Michael’s probably has it. And crafting your own decorations can be really fun and rewarding once they’re on display in your home.
Places like this can also offer year-round decorations to make your rental space truly feel like your own. A nice, easy way to start decorating your home is to buy a welcome mat to place outside your door. Even if the entrance to your apartment is within another building, putting a mat in front of your door, that resonates with your personal style, sets the mood for walking into your home after a long day.
Wreaths and door ornaments can easily be found at craft stores, as well as other home goods stores, and they can easily be switched out seasonally. Command hooks also work on wood and on metal, so hanging up front door ornaments or cute signs is a piece of cake.
Vinyl Decals
Remember the cute, peel and stick decals in the shape of cartoon turkeys we used to stick to the windows of our classrooms in 4th grade? Well, good news! They’re not just for windows anymore. They’ve evolved into elegant home decor items, and there are even some made specifically for indoor walls.
These ones from Square Signs are affordable, fashionable, and leave no residue behind when you choose to peel them off.
Plants
Do you love taking care of little, green, plant babies?! It can be difficult to grow and care for plants inside a rental property, but places like
Wayfair and
Amazon sell some pretty amazing-looking stands and holders for plants. Many of these types of stands are intentionally built with space-saving in mind. So if your rental property is small, or perhaps that area that gets the best lighting in your rental property is small, these stands would work perfectly as functional decoration.
Maybe you love plants, but you have a hard time keeping the real ones alive for more than a couple weeks. Fake plants are also a great way to add some freshness and color to any space.
Pillows and Blankets
Decorative throw pillows and blankets are super simple, but also super chic additions to couches, reclining chairs, and even cozy corners on the floor. These can range in price from affordable to incredibly expensive, so the options are endless. For pillows, they’re even quite easy to make. You could buy the materials from a craft store to make them and decorate your couch with your own artwork! The same, actually, goes for throw blankets. Buying fabric squares and tying the ends together to make little tassels is a popular way to make homemade throw blankets that bring color and personality to your space, and they’re also easily available for a comfy, afternoon nap.
At the end of the day, styling your living space is about creating a place that feels like you own it, even if you don’t. There are hundreds of ways, today, to make changes to your rented space without causing damage to the unit. The tips provided in this post are just the starting point for what modern technology allows us to do with decorations and personalization of our homes. Whether you’re looking to spice things up for the holidays or you’re just looking to create an aesthetic living space, you can do it all with these few introductory tips.
