Living in a rented house or apartment can feel mundane and bland. Landlords typically don’t like renters to make alterations to the rental that are permanent or stylistic since they need to keep the rental looking in a way that will appeal to nearly everyone.
Here are four ways to achieve a customized living environment in a rental without damaging the structure or losing your deposit:
1. Change Out The Showerhead
The joys of using a luxury shower head versus a standard shower head are hard to dispute.
A showerhead with all the bells and whistles can be purchased for less than $50, and you can take it with you when you leave your rental.
A showerhead is one of the easiest things to replace in your rental. Screw the old one, and screw in the better model with different flow settings. Store the old one under the bathroom sink so you can quickly put it back into place when you leave.
2. Install a Water Filter
You don’t have to be stuck with town drinking water. An under-the-sink reverse osmosis water filter will eliminate a whole batch of chemicals and additives depending on how many stages you put the water through.
Buy a water filtration system online and follow the setup instructions.
The water will be dispensed through a mini faucet that you install in place of the hand soap dispenser. If you don’t have a soap dispenser, that’s okay.
That little round hole next to your principal kitchen faucet is just a cover for the spot where your reverse osmosis water faucet will go.
Just put the cover back on when you leave, or re-install the soap dispenser.
3. Watch TV Wherever You Want
Many rental units come with holes in the wall in the living room where the television is supposed to go. Often, an ugly, long, putty-colored cable wire protrudes from the spot, and you are meant to connect this to the back of your television set.
But why should you arrange your television set and furniture according to someone else’s ideas?
Get a wireless router and modem from your cable company and have them send a technician to set it up for you. They’ll run their wires behind the walls and in the attic to their infrastructure on the roadway. Meanwhile, you’ll have TV and Internet wherever you want in your home, and your router and modem are yours to keep when you move.
4. Apply Window Cling Film
Many rental homes are close to the next house, making privacy an issue. Instead of keeping the curtains shut all the time, you can increase your privacy and create a stylistic change to your rental.
Window cling film comes in a wide assortment of decorative designs. You can choose from abstract art that mimics stained glass, beautiful landscape motifs, or just plain shaded cling film. All of them offer enhanced privacy, and they don’t damage the window glass at all.
When you move out, peel off the cling film and go.
These ideas will help you put your personality stamp on your rental. The best part is you can still return your rental to your landlord in the same condition as when you moved in.