Should You Be Decorating And Renovating When You Rent?
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Discover budget-friendly decorating ideas to personalize your rented living space. Make your home a reflection of your style and personality.
Decorating a living space can make an area of your home a more inviting place to enjoy when you rent for your family and guests.
Where Does Your Money Go When You Rent?
We’ve all heard the saying, “The rich get richer,” which may be true, especially when we give money away when we don’t have to.
We may not be handing cash in hand, but the landlord where you rent will smile when decorating costs are not coming out of their pocket.
Sure, your landlord could potentially deduct renovations for the rental from their taxes, but why bother if the renter is paying for them out of their pocket?
We all decorate our houses occasionally, significantly when seasons change, or just a change of decor inspires us that we’ve seen on social media, media, or print.
Rental Decorating For Return On Investment
Decorating and renovating don’t require expensive handmade screen-printed wallpaper or exotic hardwood flooring.
Taking a space and decorating it can be as simple as painting, which is probably the best return on investment.
The painting will instantly brighten any room and give it that brand-new feeling.
I’ve talked about decorating your home, which renovations are better than others, and which ones we’ve done to our abode.
There are some decorating tips that I would give out that involve no decorating whatsoever and include painting or lack thereof.
Decorating A Rental When You Rent
Although painting gives you that instant pop for the cheapest possible price, it is possible to get zero return on investment. But how?
By decorating someone else’s house.
Decorating and renovating a rented house is throwing money down the drain.
It may look great after you’ve finished, but who will ultimately enjoy your care and attention?
The landlord will love you for your efforts and thank you for the extra cash they can earn once you move out.
I lived next door to a couple roughly the same age in the UK when I owned my first home.
The difference between the two homes was that I owned mine through a mortgage, and they rented theirs.
My mortgage was roughly half what they paid in rent in those days, which was terrible news for them.
They also got the first home bug and decided to decorate from top to bottom at their expense.
It looked better than mine, but I wasn’t the one losing out.
The ultimate winner was the landlord for everything they paid out and the hard work they put in.
When the couple left the house, it was instantly rented out again for a higher rent, probably because it was beautifully decorated inside.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be indoor decorating either; you can quickly use the same amount of money or more outside the home.
Landscaping A Rental Property
I used to know someone in the UK who lived in a rental property and decided to re-grade the back garden and build a retaining wall.
Believing they would stay for several years, they also re-painted and installed new lighting fixtures.
In the end, life happened, and things changed, and they moved out much sooner than anticipated.
Don’t spend your money at a garden center if you rent and have a garden full of flowers and bushes you may leave behind.
It’s not like you will dig them up and take them when you leave.
Most renters leave at some point or move to another location for various reasons.
Related: How to create a rock garden with weed protection
Decorating For Free or Cheap On A Budget
Think smart and find free plants and easy ways to save money on gardening by using everyday tips that most people don’t think of.
The cost of materials and labor were all lost to the landlord, who reaped the benefits of the improved garden or the new tenants.
Pots or hanging baskets would have been a better way to add that certain something to a rental property.
The difference is that they can be taken with you when you leave.
I know that long-term renters may disagree with me, as living for years in a completely bland white wall box of a house can be very dull and uninteresting.
It doesn’t have to be that way if you are creative and an intelligent decorator with a frugal mindset.
In my time, I’ve seen some rentals where the whole house could do with a coat of paint to hide all the dirt, scrapes, and damage that earlier renters inflicted.
Some people may live in a rent-to-own home and have the opportunity to buy out the property at some point at the end of a rental agreement.
This may make a little more sense if you insist on decorating, although some rent-to-own schemes have little to be desired.
Decorating With Money, You Don’t Have
There was a TV series broadcast on Home and Garden Television (HGTV) called “For Rent,” where a couple or small family would look at rental options.
Then, the presenter and the production team would redecorate or renovate.
They would ask the landlord for permission, which most were obliging mainly because they were getting a bargain out of the deal.
The one thing that got me thinking was these people were often looking for a rental property on a specific budget because money was tight.
Why would you spend more money on decorating or renovating the property at your expense if you have a tight budget?
We know people who have renovated kitchens and bathrooms, added on a deck or finished a basement with their own money so that they could enjoy the space in their rental.
It’s not a wise investment, but that’s just my opinion.
Of course, the landlord approved it and ensured permits were in place where needed, but he likely went home laughing about how much money he saved because they spent theirs.
Decorating Smart Without Extra Costs
There are still ways you can decorate your rental without having to lose out.
Just because it’s not your own doesn’t mean you can’t make it a comfortable space.
Wall hangings and paintings can add color and a focal point to a room.
I’d suggest checking with your landlord before putting holes in the walls.
Rugs can cover over bad carpeted areas.
Curtains tend to be easier to move from one house to another rather than blinds as they tend to be custom fit.
Don’t rush out to buy a brand new one when you can try to find free decor online or shop garage sales for cheap items.
If you insist on changing out lighting fixtures, keep the original so you can re-install it when you leave the property.
Why leave your new light fixture for someone else to enjoy and reap the rewards of your hard-earned money?
Sometimes, the shiny new effect can get the best of us and start pulling us off our path and away from our goals.
Renting To Save Money To Buy A House
We have rented short-term before to save money because bills were included in the rental, which helped us get to where we wanted to go.
In all our time there, we didn’t get the urge to decorate, let alone renovate, although it needed it.
Yes, it would have been much nicer to live in a better-looking rental, but a tight budget is what we set ourselves.
That was our choice because we knew we wouldn’t stay long-term or spend the money even if we were.
It did, however, get a comprehensive cleaning before and during our stay and the day we left.
The result of doing without enabled us to put down a more significant down payment on our house.
Set Goals And Spend Money On Things You Need
Saving on not decorating a rental apartment helped us by transferring the savings to decorate and renovate our new house.
Even if you have the mindset that you will never own your home, you must stop thinking that way, or you never will.
Put goals into place and start saving for your down payment today, even if it takes years of renting before you can get into a house.
If you insist on renovating or decorating a home/apartment you rent, accept that your money is as good as gone, with no return on investment.
Our house has been decorated to a certain extent and is currently under planning for the next phase.
The result will be money in our pockets, not the landlord’s bank account.
Discussion questions:
- Have you renovated somewhere you’ve rented?
- Why did you make that decision, and how much did you spend?
- What are some other ways you can decorate where you rent for less?
Related CBB Articles to Read
- An organized kitchen, my time, my money, my happiness
- Prepare your budget for the renovation money monster
- Green landscaping with optional goat rental
- How to start your spring garden using odd containers
- Landscaping on a budget
- How we renovated our first house for under $25,000
