craving that couch... so beautiful!

Changing out the lights really does make a difference. I took down all the hideous and outdated light fixtures in my rental and replaced them with cheap but oh-so chic paper lanterns.
In the main living spaces I put up white but in the bedrooms I put up red and blue.
It looks infinately better and each paper lantern was only $6 from world market!

I have implemented the third and 8th cure in my apartment

I despise the wall colour in the first photo.... my entire apartment was this colour when I movedin. My landlord referred to it as "bone white" but I always thought of it as more of a wanna-be white with a dirty yellow cast. It sucked all the life out of my apartment until I repainted!!!

When my husband and I moved in, there were mostly-dead vertical blinds in the living room. The manager said he'd replace them, but we actually asked him not to. Instead, we just hung inexpensive (like, $20 the pair, woo) ivory-colored Ikea curtains. So much nicer, and when they need cleaning I can just pitch them into the washer. I've been thinking about adding trim of some kind but haven't gotten around to it.

Except for the kitchen lighting, a bathroom fixture that is at least not actually hideous (faint praise), and a not-bad fixture in the hallway, we have no overheads. Cheap but awesome Cost Plus paper lamps to the rescue in the bedrooms and the living room. Also a few occasional lamps from Target.

There's not much we can do about the kitchen lights, sadly; there's no way to switch out the lame recessed fixture we've got over the sink, feh, and its (I kid you not) spring-loaded glass cover got painted in place before we arrived. It was a dead loss, as we had to pry the sucker off to switch out the bulb, which was dead, and the spring broke. (Er... Come to think of it, I should call and see what the landlord has to say about that. Oh dear...) The other fixture isn't that obtrusive, as we have nine-foot ceilings. So I've let well enough alone.

And thanks to AT, I now have an awesome denim-blue dresser in my kitchen. It holds ridiculous amounts of linens, bakeware, storage containers, and odd-sized items like my food processor blades and my food scale. I love you, Craigslist. (Funny; I spent equal amounts on the dresser and on lovely new brushed-nickel drawer pulls that completely transformed the look of the dresser.) I never would have thought of this without you guys, so thank you!

anyone know the source of that L-shaped sofa in photo #5?

@Kpaige13: I'm pretty sure that sofa is from Copenhagen (or Denmarket, if you have one). I own the couch version of it. Wasn't horribly expensive as far as couches go but the padding is kinda sagging and losing its modern lines.

Personally I love that green kitchen!

I am digging that couch!!! :)

If artwork isn't too heavy, I use straight pins to hang them...straight pins leave holes in the wall that are pretty much invisible. I also often prop heavier art pieces on higher furniture, such as an armoire, instead of hanging on a wall.

Does anyone know the brand of the ceiling light fixture? The ebay store is empty. That specific light fixture would be perfect in my living room!

Thanks

Yes, I am dying to know where to get something similar to that ceiling fixture in #9!

I would also add that NOT having a bed with a box spring can be super helpful as well. A high frame with a mattress eliminates the need to move a box spring, and it can provide a lot more storage under the bed.

I absolutely love that second photo, and the fifth. The best advice I was ever given was that if I invest in a few pieces of quality furniture, any apartment I'd put them in would look pretty good. I don't have a ton of expensive stuff: two red Barcelona chairs and a Noguchi coffee table were the only big purchases. On top of that, I bought a clean-lined brown leather sofa from Ikea, but that's the only "cheap" thing we have. I didn't run out and buy a fiberboard bed for $1,000 from Pottery Barn -- I'd rather have just the mattress set on the floor than have cheap crap just to fill a space. The small amount of furniture I own would fit into any environment, and thanks to the red chairs, I've never felt the need to paint my walls anything but white.

And to clarify, by "cheap crap," I mean the quality, not the price. I'm amazed that Pottery Barn and Ethan Allen and its ilk can charge as much as they do for a lot of their items. And the suburbanites just eat it up.

I find we're really restricted in our apartment building. They've adopted a new property management company that has been making a lot of small changes and implemented a "you can't do anything" policy. They switched out our toilet and shower head with low-flow models (which was fine, I guess), but they've replaced all of the light fixtures with ugly, boring pieces. Now they're painting our balconies and there have been talks of replacing kitchen appliances, but we have no control.

The parquet floors? Buy a rug or deal with it. The wood panelling on all of the cupboards? Too bad. The awful bathroom tiles? Live with it. The non-adjustable thermostat/radiators and grey walls and everything else we've come to hate? Can't change anything.

I'm very lucky when it comes to renting, the apartment manager here doesn't care what we do so I've been able to do things I'd never be able to do in another building, like painting my kitchen cabinets pink, use gold spray paint for room dividers on the floor where the previous renter had painted some of the floors a darker color with no care taken to edge it off nicely, and painting my bathroom purple and then black.

On the other hand it's also impossible to get him to fix anything. I moved in to one outlet in the kitchen and lights that didn't work. My best friend says she feels sorry for whoever moves in when I move out, she says they'll come in and see ceiling fans, chandeliers, and all the shelving I've put up and come back when they move in to the old fixtures, and all the other flaws I've managed to cover!

I would caution not all sectional couches look good broken up into smaller pieces. When buying, I would actually try it out in the store to see how versatile it really is.

I had one rental that looked really great and new except for the drapes. Someone had tried to spray bleach or something on them and they were disinigrating (white fiber stuff everywhere) with a ton of holes. They weren't going to put in new ones so I ended up putting in my own (& because it was hooks not a rod, it was more expensive than just cheap cute curtains). When I asked the prop mgr if I could just throw theirs away, he's like no, just put them back them up when you move out! I was trippin...why do you want such a brand new rental to look crappy because of window coverings? Well this is why, when they showed the place, my stuff was in it and what did the tenants see? Nice, beautiful faux silk to the floor drapes. Of course those were gone when they moved in.

I have one more suggestion. Personally I've never been in a rental where I could hang stuff on the walls or paint. Another option would be a big cube storage unit (like multiple sets of cubitec or ikea expedit). You can then place your art, stack beautiful coffee table books and ceramics on one big wall in your living arrea.

Some art or mirror are also made to be able to lean or be hung. I've got a 6 ft tall mirror that has a frame with substantial dept so it can also stand on the floor leaning against the wall.

I second Ms Melly on the green kitchen - it's totally adorable.

Where do these wood floor apartments exist? All I've ever had has been that terrible grey carpet that seems to come standard in every apartment.

Anyways, these are all lovely examples! The green kitchen is pretty cute.

Thanks for the great ideas! I posted some more 'rental renos' ideas on my blog last year here...Rental Renos.

I am planning to add a new segment or two of my crazy ideas soon(as we have recently moved to ANOTHER rental!).

Ah! Where can I get that awesome utensil holder in the last photo? That's way cooler than sticking your forks and knives in some random drawer! And then I could use the random drawer can be used to hide something else less pretty like boxes of parchment paper and aluminum foil.

Are decals out now? A full wall mural of a cherry blossom tree, with a few hanging rice paper lamps, and a shoji screen really made my living room feel more like mine, without painting. I also can't say enough good things about the 3M products for hanging stuff without damaging walls.

Lafftaff: the oak floors in my ghetto apartment is about the only thing it has going for it. oh, and the gas stove. i think they're mainly found in older apartments from the 50s. the same era will also get you a bigger patio sometimes. i keep wanting to move to get away from my douchey landlord, but despite the peeling paint, the inside is quite nice.

@alaylam I have something similar in my rental right now and i want to die. Its that horrible "magnolia" paint color that every landlord seems to think makes a "warm and inviting" apartment to potential renters. It just makes everything and everyone that comes into the space look sallow.

My landlord

@ M. Lee- the cute utensil caddy is from IKEA; we have a rail with hooks & containers that is almost identical from there!

I don't see any "kitchen" in #2. Just cabinet doors & a picture rail.

Woo! Thanks Sarah W.! I had been searching everywhere...except, apparently, IKEA. :)

Painting an apartment is mandatory for us! When we are ready to move, we just "return it to its original condition." Life is to short to live in white. Especially porous construction grade rental white :)

@ARCHDARLING: F*** your Noguchi coffee table! ;)

http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/

Love the kitchen. the kitchen alone would be a selling point to take the apartment.

O H M Y! THAT GREEN KITCHEN...I own so I can. :o}~

But my last rental was with the kindess landlord around. I could do just about anything and he'd pay for the supplies. Draw back was that the windows were really, really old so my gas bill was really high in the winter. The windowsdid not keep out the cold; in fact, they were so old, you could feel the wind coming through.

So this might be a ridiculous question.. I'm moving into a new apartment tomorrow and on the top of my list is taking down the window blinds!! BUT, where do I put them?? I obviously have to rehang them when I eventually leave, but my apartment doesn't have a ton of storage. Ideas??

After living in a box-in-a-sky apartment with plain white walls, parquet floors, generic fixings and (gasp!) popcorn ceilings, where I wasn't allowed to change *anything*, I finally moved about 18 months ago into a large, open, sunny rental condo in a great neighbourhood. The landlord's a bit of a deadbeat; she never answers calls and won't fix anything. On the other hand, she doesn't care what I do in the space; it's pretty much anything goes, and she never visits.

So I've painted the kitchen bright yellow, the bathroom bright turquoise and the office a sage green... why? Because I can. I've put up lots of artwork, draperies on all the (many - yay!) windows, and and I've done my best to make some of the not-so-nice features of the place... such as the horrid imitation-hardwood vinyl floors and the not-renovated-since-the-80s kitchen.

My philosophy is that I'm not just renting as a temporary thing until I buy a place; I rent because I prefer it -- economically, and from a lifestyle perspective. So this is home for me, so I don't mind spending a little bit to fix it up. I'm not about to make any major investments that I can't take with me when I leave, of course. But a bit of paint and a couple of area rugs can go a long way.

Thank you HORROR VACUI. I got/am getting so much joy out of that.

I have to disagree with comment #8. If you get rid of the blinds on the windows the landlord provided you, you better be ready to leave your nice ones behind or buy new ones to replace the ones you've tossed. Better idea would be to leave the landlords blinds alone (for privacy) and just hang some 'off the rack' drapery. You can find standard lengths at any home improvement store these days. If you're really crafty, add your own touch with some ribbon or beef it up with 4 panels instead of just 2 per window. :)

I love the green kitchen! I mean LOVE! I would take that kitchen in a heartbeat. LOVE it! Did I get my point across?

Oh, and I have been thinking about painting my apartment. The landlord is OK with it as long as I paint it the original color when I move out. The apartment itself is very nice with lots of updates and decent light fixtures. Of course it has wall to wall beige carpets, but the laminate floors in the entry, kitchen and bathroom are very nice!

I love the first photo. I really can't get enough of mid-century modern (especially anything Adrian Pearsall). Please though, more walls of bright colors or some tile, stone, brick, wood, or a mix. I am getting tired personally of predominance of grey, beige, and white painted walls. The 5th picture has wonderfully done walls.

I'm laughing so hard that people would actually not hang artwork because their landlord said they couldn't.

@abbeygaily, we stored ours under the couch.

Store the blinds under the bed? I've done that before and I've also got lucky once with a place that had storage above the kitchen sink, which was too high to access regularly but perfect for storing blinds.

Love this post! I've always done my best to make a rental feel like home so paint, along with a few DIY furniture rehabs are usually my first tricks but the smallest thing - good, comfy bedding - is a great place to start!

so.... about the wall to wall carpet....
the apartment i now live in is what i like to call "the beige box" because there are beige walls, beige carpets, beige beige beige.... my problem is that area rugs don't reall work because it's too soft, crappy carpet - they replaced it when we moved in, but the original carpet had turned pink. beige to pink - yuck.... but area rugs on it just don't look that great. and when you have that light colored carpet, i feel like area rugs can make the space looks smaller - with phot number 3's darker grey carpet, an area rug can bring color in but without shrinking the space - is there anyone else out here on the internets that has found ways to deal with the beige box? i find that this cheap carpet can cheapen the look of many different kinds of nice furniture - i.e. the tip today about painting your shelves a bright color - they would look like cheap furniture i picked up on the side of the road in my apartment (although, when i again get to have hardwood - even parquet - floors, it would be lovely)

I have to agree with the absolute loving of the green kitchen. My kitchen in my new rental is so small and depressing despite my efforts to cheer it up (first order of business was unscrewing the huge buzzing fluorescent overhead lights and setting up some little lamps, but now it's like a cave :\ ) I wish I could paint my walls bright colors but I never know how long I'm going to be in a place so it doesn't seem worth the time if I'm staying less than a year.

The craziest thing I'm thinking of doing is using over the door storage of some sort on the inside of my front door.

My main concerns are possible damage from the hooks moving and/or the hooks somehow jamming the door shut, especially if I use a bit of foam tape or non-slip shelf liner to keep the hooks in place.

Still, the possible storage space gained from the this dead area of my tiny rental continues to tantalize.

I took off my kitchen cabinet doors, labeled each door, and stuck them in a closet. Papered the back of the cabinets the wall color, to make it look like open shelving. People are ALWAYS commenting on how great it looks.

*I have all clear glass dishes, so it makes for a nice "display"

I am in love with that sofa! I've been sofa hunting and haven't found anything I really love- this is what I'm thinking of!

As far as blinds... read your lease. Some leases specify that you must keep the blinds up for "a uniform appearance from the street". When I lived in a high rise in a big city, that was the case. I hung floor to ceiling white sheers, which still allowed in the light but softened that hard look (and gave me much-needed privacy!) It's still my go-to trick. I use the sheers with a little pattern or texture so it's not just white-white.

PLEASE someone tell me where to find the ceiling fixture in #9.

I would love to find a cute little sofa like the one in #6. My spaces are really tiny.

I've been searching for something like this for months but the ebay seller is out of business. Does anyone know a brand name or another place to buy them? It's kind of frustrating to keep seeing this post only to be reminded that it is an impossibility in real life!

One of the best things we did was to install (not super cheap @ $40-50) privacy sheer cling-ons in our living room where we didn't want to pay for shades or blinds. Got it at Lowe's and it goes on with a squeegee and a little soap/water primer combo. Makes such a huge difference and we still get light but there's no privacy issue!

SHould've specified that the clin-ons were applied to the actual windows;)

I love the green kitchen too! I'm reminded of the lime green modular storage unit that i hang over the pantry door to maximize storage space. I actually keep all the pet food there so the small kiddos know what "not" to eat! Got them at www.offthefloorezstore.com

Do you think http://brabbu.com/upholstery/maya.html could be useful in personalising a rented interior? :)

Paint over those horrific white walls with colors you love but make sure you use colors that can easily be painted back to white when you move out.

The ceiling fixture while very trendy will be a pain to clean. Something to keep in mind if you hate cleaning.

Many times you can ask the landlord to add what is needed especially cabinets, new fixtures and easier to clean surfaces that will appeal to many renters.