Sometimes a new place has tons of charm and tons of potential and it's not until you move in that you realize that the charming parts you want to keep and the not-so-charming parts you want to replace aren't the same in the landlord's mind as yours. What to do? If you're organized and a little handy, take down, store and replace!
What do we mean? Well, there are the things you can't change without making a permanent mess, like moving a wall, but there are smaller things that with some careful documentation and tool skills can be altered to (sometimes) more pleasing results that are temporary for you while you live there, and something you can replace when the time comes to move out. Some suggestions:
Cabinet doors A kitchen or bathroom cabinet door or two might be just what you need to add a little personality with open shelving.
Closet doors Awful mirrored sliding closet door or something else you just don't love? Take it down and add something you do, like a patterned fabric. Also great for tight spots where a door swing might get in the way of needed furniture.
Unneeded hardware like paper towel holders, etc. We've got this rusty, metal paper towel holder in our kitchen. We don't use paper towels. What's something you don't use that you could take down to improve the space?
Old blinds Is there anything worse than old, dirty, bent blinds or when a landlord's not down to replace them? Carefully take them down, fold them up and replace them with something else you love. Just consider what you're getting and whether it would be able to be used in a home with different-sized window openings if you plan on using your stuff again.
Handles and pulls Works best when you have new door pulls that have holes that match existing ones. Be careful not to damage the doors or drawer faces when taking off old pulls.
Old lighting fixtures Changes to globes and shades can often be done inexpensively, quickly and easily and sometimes even going bare bulb (if it fits your aesthetic) is better than something old-fashioned (in a bad way).
Remember to remove and take things down carefully. The goal isn't to break anything as you're taking it down, so if something feels stuck or delicate, leave it where it is. Just remember the aim is to be able to re-do everything you've undone, so be sure to put everything in one memorable spot. Place all hardware in plastic bags clearly labeled. Consider taking photos of the process of doing or undoing complicated hardware so you remember how to replace it.
Consider even using tape to number the hardware in any order it has to go in. Make sure you don't store these things in places that might get wet, dirty, or nibbled on by vermin, and take a peek at it every few months to make sure you remember where it is and that everything is okay (and it hasn't been buried by other things). And of course, even if these are temporary changes, you might want to ask your landlord for permission.
What temporary changes have you ever made to a rental that you put back once it was time to move out? Do you have any horror stories of trying to take something down and breaking it? Let us know!
(Images: Adrienne Breaux, and yes, I do need to take my own advice!)
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I've taken down blinds and closet doors, but the best thing I replaced was my shower head by far. Super easy and not too expensive to do, and a huge improvement in my daily routine.
I've replaced cabinet pulls in a built-in and when I moved out, just left them in with the old pulls in a ziploc bag in the top drawer. Landlord was thrilled and thanked me.
I just moved into an apartment like this. So far I have removed the closet door in the bedroom, replaced the kitchen drawer pulls, added racks in the kitchen that can easily be taken down and screw holes filled in and painted over, changed out the hideous towel racks in the bathroom, added a bigger bathroom cabinet, and filled the bedroom with a rug that's much nicer than the carpet. I plan on putting temporary wallpaper in the bedroom and adding storage in the living room with wall shelves. It's a lot of work but I think living in a space that fits you and makes you happy is definitely worth it.
I lived in an apartment that had floor to ceiling vertical blinds - the kind with 4-inch wide 'blades". I popped out the blades and found that curtain clips snap nicely into the plastic thingy that held the blinds. I clipped some fabric to the clips and instant curtains. I think the whole process took me 20 minutes to do and no damage to anything. I saved the blinds and just replaced them when I moved.
Sometimes it's a lot of trouble to take stuff down when you're getting ready to move to your next place. When my daughters moved (18 times) in college, we asked the landlord if we could leave certain things behind if we weren't going to need them for the next apartment. (Their father and I became masters at moving and re-vamping apartments!!)
The trick is to always leave the place better than the way you found it.
We've replaced switch covers, shower head, door knobs, blinds, and toilet seat (luxury - wood never gets cold and we don't control our heat!). I always wonder if I should replace them when we eventually decide to move and the landlady shows the place to new tenants? I don't want to false advertise the space when we'll be taking the upgrades with us to the next place.
I'd love to remove a fugly brown ceiling fan in my living room and replace it with almost anything else, but haven't been brave enough to try yet.
I replaced all the bulbs with CFL - it keeps my energy bill down, and when I move out, I'll replace all the CFL bulbs with the old ones that were there. I also switched out the ugly globe on the ceiling fan with a drum shade. It looks super-swanky now.
@EMMYL: Taking down a ceiling fan is super easy. Just make sure to turn off the power first! Go for it!!!
As an example of another door to replace, my kitchen pantry is the best place for my cat's food and water dishes, but leaving the door open a little all the time for her would look bad and block off a corner of the kitchen. So I took it off and replaced it with a curtain, and felt like a genius problem solver. Every few months I check the door in my basement storage locker to make sure it's okay and check to make sure I still have a baggy labeled "pantry door hinges" in the kitchen junk drawer.
The showerhead is the first thing I replace in every new home. I bleach the apartment's stained plastic crap, store it in a ziploc bag under the sink, and install a low-flow head that's made out of stainless steel or something. It does a lot for the appearance of the bathroom, actually.
Also, if you don't want to store horizontal blinds, you can keep them permanently rolled all the way up and just cover them with a cornice board or valance. Saves you a little time at move-out.
These are all great tips for people who are moving into their first home and need quick/easy/affordable ways to make the place feel like their own. I've been in my home for over a year and have yet to take down the ugly white blinds because I haven't decided what I want to replace then with "permanently". This has given me the push to just get rid of them once and for all! Any replacement would be an upgrade.
I'm all about the reversible changes - the shower head is one of the first things that gets switched out (and goes directly to the back of the bath cabinet for safekeeping.)
Most recently, my husband and I switched out an ugly overhead light with the disco ball from our wedding. I hate overhead lights, so I didn't miss it at all. With a flip of the switch, pretty little reflections swirl around the room. This decor may not be for some, but we love it (as did our friends' little girl), and it's completely reversible.
I took down my vertical blinds (after 6 years!) and replaced them with curtains on rings. But I don't plan on re-mounting the blinds when I leave. They are safe in a large plastic bag and will be lying neatly under their window when the moving truck rumbles away.
Happy to see comments from landlords that aren't frightened by this idea :)
The biggest upgrade I've done is putting in a kitchen backsplash using corrugated plastic "For Sale" signs cut to size, hammered into the wall, and covered with nice vinyl adhesive tiles. It still holds up after two years, it was a big improvement over the bare wall, plus I can easilty dismantle it when I move. I've also changed door handles, switchplates, curtain rods, the wall color, and furniture (apt. was partially furnished). The key is to have open communication with your landlord about what you can and cannot/will and will not change. If you can have clear terms written into your least, that's even better.
We just moved to a new apartment in January. We have already replaced both shower heads, installed filters in every place water comes out, replaced the chandelier in the dining area and added a dimmer switch, added a sconce to the breakfast nook also with dimmer switch, replaced all fluorescent lighting with full spectrum bulbs, installed several shelves in our walk-in closets and the living room, and added blackout curtains to the bedroom window. We have ordered curtains for the breakfast nook and dining area and are waiting for those to arrive. We may end up painting all the kitchen cupboards. It sounds like so much work and I don't really mind them the way they are. My bf hates them more than I do. We also have some snazzy wall tiles that we want to put up in the breakfast nook, but we can't seem to agree on how to best orient them.
When I used to rent I would replace the shower head and toilet seat first. The shower head left with me, I left the toilet seat and bought a new one for the next place. I had a nice kitchen faucet I used to use at all my apartments- nice high goose neck faucet. If I was up high, I would take down some of the blinds and put them in the closet.
Funny to see this when I am literally going upstairs to start my apartment wall painting. I was going to paint the actual wall, then decided that it is too much of a pain to paint over later and try to match that perfect off-white tone they used everywhere. So, I decided to get a huge piece of canvas and make a portable mural/tapestry of what I actually wanted to put on the wall. I hope it comes out the way I want. At least I can take it with me when I move out! See the progress <A HREF="html://devonsharon.blogspot.com">here.</A> Pics will be up after March 5th.
Always puzzled by folks who hate mirrored closet doors. In my experience, the added sense of space is always unquestionable. Replace them if you want; I'm just sayin'...
we always replace the toilet seat with a new one
I moved into a brand new complex and was given permission to change multiple things. The company that built the complex told me as long as I was willing to undo each thing they were fine with it. I put in a wand shower head in one bathroom and a rain showerhead in the other, painted one room, installed a Hunter ceiling fan in one bedroom, put in a closet system in the storage closet and replaced the builder basic fixture in the dining room. I also put cabinet and drawer pulls in the kitchen and bath since the basic white cabinets had no pulls. Three years later the apartments were sold as condos and my new landlord decided to raise the rent substantially. I gave her a list of the changes I had made and asked if she wanted me to undo anything. She said no, she was actually happy to see I'd made upgrades. Then she charged me for undoing every last one of them.
Lesson: Get it in writing if they're okay with changes being left. Otherwise you're left with hundreds of dollars in bills and/or a court date in small claims court. Also, you lose money you spent on customizations that are tossed out.
I agree with GTTIM about the toilet seat. That is the first thing that is replaced in every apartment that I move into. This makes it feel like a new washroom.
Here is a full tutorial on how to convert drab vanilla cellular blind to custom roman blinds...without any destruction to the cellular blind.
http://www.creativeinchicago.com/2012/02/how-to-make-roman-blind-from-cellular.html
I've replaced so many things in my apartment that I've lost count. As for choosing what to replace, there is an assessment one has to do before making changes, especially permanent ones. Will the benefit derived from the change over your expected tenancy outweigh the cost and effort to make the change? For permanent changes, will the cost of the change be forfeitable? The biggest changes I've made are replacing inefficient wall air conditioners with better units, (reducing my electric bill), restructuring all the closets from builder grade hardware to wire shelving and replacing the shower/tub valves with scald-proof models. As for all the other changes and replacements, light switches/wall plates, kitchen faucet, light fixtures, shower heads, ceiling fans, etc; all those items can be restored to their original condition or I can leave them due to their low cost.
My building allows people to do almost anything they want to their unit within reason, including combine apartments. So tenants have made changes to their units that most people would never contemplate, such as moving walls.
We have those ugly vertical blinds over a sliding door. Instead of taking the whole shebang down, I pushed the blinds to the side and attached curtains over the track with large shower curtain rings. They slide just fine, and I didn't even have to break out my screwdriver!
In fact I have a big roll of window blinds wrapped up under my bed right now! Talk about an easy fix that makes a major difference.
Some sink faucets have easily replaceable handles, which is a nice fix if you have those cheap clear plastic knobs that seem so popular in apartment buildings. I just replaced icky fungus/moldy knobs with clean ones of the same model, so I wouldn't have to worry about changing back in the old ones later.
In fact, most of the time when I fix something (door knobs, toilet seats, etc) I try to get as close in looks to the original as possible, so I don't have to worry about taking it back out. Most generic fixtures in apartments are the cheap options anyway, so it's no big loss.
As another hint, if you live in a big apartment building, keep an eye on the trash bins during the big move-out/ move-in months when most changes are made to the apartments. Sometimes people will throw out fixtures that are nicer than what you currently have. I scored nice new blinds that were in better condition than mine this way, and since they were from the same plan of apartment, they were already cut to the perfect size.
I agree with those who replace the shower head and toilet seat. I ALWAYS do this, and usually leave the upgrades behind. It isn't very expensive, and I love having a fresh, clean new shower head and toilet seat every four or five years. (It's also when I replace my bed pillows and broom.)
I lucked out in our apartment. It's a renovation of a historic building, and they wanted it to be fairly true to the era, but with a modern twist. Wood blinds, maple cabinets, granite countertops and tile in the bath and kitchen. The only area they seemed to skimp was the closet systems. The one in our bedroom was not up to our clothing and as I hung the last of our clothes in it, the whole thing came crashing down. We put the pieces in storage and got our own closet system (BRODER from IKEA--super heavy duty!). I didn't mind, since everything else was top notch.
The only drawback with it being a brand new space is that they want to keep everything pristine. So, I will either hide all my screwholes or pay substantially when we move. I figure it's worth it either way, so we can fully use the space while we're here.
We also put our own showerhead on to have a wand, which is such an easy-peasy change. I am trying to figure out what we can do with organizers in our cabinets that will give us maximum use and minimum fees.
Haven't done anything major in my new apartment yet. I put up battery operated LED lights in the big closet as there is no hard wired lights in any of the closets. The blinds here are decent quality and brand new, so I can deal. I've just made a habit of leaving them up 6 inches all the time so my cats won't wreck them trying to get on the windowsills. Pets and mini blinds are often a bad combo so it might be worthwhile for some people to swap them out just to keep the landlord's ones from being ruined.
I always swap out the shower curtain rings- I can't stand the plastic ones. So I slid them all off the rods, gathered them together on one ring, and put them under my bathroom sink. I've replaced them with chrome plated hooks, plain ones on the back rod (there's a window in my shower) and fancier ones in front.
The biggest thing I'd LIKE to change is my kitchen faucet- its a two knob deal and I find it very annoying. Any input on if this would be worthwhile in a place I will probably be in for two years?
I wish I could have done this when I rented. Unfortunately in Australia the landlord or his/her representative does twice-yearly inspections (more frequent in the first year) and everything has to be as it was when you moved in. So having to swap in and out my stuff for the landlords every six months would have been more trouble than it's worth.
Also, here, light fixtures have to be changed by licensed electricians - no DIY allowed. Sadly.
Lots of great suggestions here! @JooliaGoolia, @Whitepeacock and @cbreynolds, how did you deal with disguising the track of your vertical blinds? A valance of some sort?
Our apartment is brimming with vertical blinds and they really scream "rental" but are too awkward to store. I'd love some ideas of how to spruce them up without breaking the bank.
Be careful about two things:
1. Removing shades or blinds. Some jurisdictions have coding requirements that all apartments in an apartment building have the same window treatments for a clean look. If you look at a building from the outside and everyone has different blinds (or none at all), it's an eyesore.
2. Changing utility fixtures or anything that will affect the utilities that your landlord pays for. If water is included in your rent, get permission before changing out a shower head; ditto with electric and a new ceiling fan. The landlord probably won't mind unless what you are installing a power-guzzling fixture like a dual shower head.
@LadyKatey. I took out my old faucet that wouldn't support a water filter on the spout, and bought a new one at Menards for $25.00. It's the one handle type, and I learned how to install it myself from a few Youtube videos. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to install a faucet. I looked online and off, and $25 was the cheapest I could find for the one handle faucet. I'm moving in a few days, but am not taking the faucet with me.
I attached some metal baskets to the single bulb on my ceiling fans, but I'll definitely be taking those, and putting back the ugly white globes that I safely stored in the pantry. I have a more difficult task ahead trying to put up something prettier on the ceiling fans in my new place that have the multiple bulbs in the saucer-type globe. Maybe I'll look into the drum shades that have been mentioned.
I changed out the window treatments for simple, white, light-blocking curtains and blinds (they cost almost nothing in sales, I don't understand why Landlords insist on buying cheap, rubbish window treatments... or cheap, rubbish anything for that matter).
I installed things I'm happy to leave behind, like a small wall-mounted drying rack in the laundry, and an extra towel rail in the bathroom (making the total of towel rails a whopping two). I also installed a mirror cabinet in the bathroom, because there was no mirror or cabinet (despite there being one when we inspected).
@qfiffle is wrong. I rent in Melb, Australia and the standard practice is to leave the house as you initially rented it when you vacate the property. My agents haven't even mentioned the stuff I've done. As landlords, we couldn't care less what the tenants do as long as it doesn't devalue the property, and as long as they can reverse the changes if we request. We also couldn't conscientiously be Scrooge landlords. If the tenants need something replaced then it is replaced with an item of equal or greater quality. We've also done small changes at their request, which wouldn't hurt the property value (upgrading the shower heads etc). It's also a tax break, so fellow landlords, why so stingy?
@EmmyL I've even seen plastic clip on type covers for changing the appearance of fan blades and a can of spray paint can work wonders. A ceiling fan can be really useful so don't rush to remove it permanently. Renovate it!
Amazing how a few small (and inexpensive changes) can really improve a place! I've had friends who knew their way around a woodshop build new medicine cabinets, shelving and other pieces out of exotic woods for very little cost.
This article reminds me of a piece we just wrote called "Lipstick on a Pig: What can be fixed in a rental you think you love?" at http://blog.livelovely.com/2012/01/31/changes-you-can-make-to-your-rental/
My last place was soooo run down (it was the only place I could afford at the time), I had to finally replace a lot of things on my own because the landlord didn't care. As long as it "worked", he didn't see a need to replace it. (He also was 85 years old.) So, over the course of 4 years, I re-grouted the tiled kitchen counter, replaced the flooring in the bathroom, replaced the old rusted medicine cabinet, removed the cruddy glass shower doors(but stored them carefully if the landlord wanted them put back), replaced the moldy caulking in the shower, removed all of the mismatched towel bars in the bathroom, replaced all the leaking sink fixtures, replaced the blue toilet seat with a white one to match the toilet, replaced some kitchen cabinet hinges that were so painted over, the doors refused to latch closed, pulled off all of the gross painted over CONTACT paper past tenants had put up in the kitchen and bathroom, to find that it pulled most of the plaster off, so I had to redo the walls too.
Even though the place was a rental, I figured it's better to fix up some small, inexpensive things so I could enjoy living there (and the landlord said I could do anything I wanted except knock down walls.) The next tenant actually thanked me for all of the upgrades when she moved in. Everybody wins.
My very first house I rented with my girlfriends in college was part of an old duplex built in 1885. Within the first two weeks, we were so disgusted by the carpet, we tore it up to find the old hardwood floors underneath. I can't believe how lucky we were that it worked out-- there could have been anything under there, old plywood sub floors, floor insulation, etc. The landlord even commented on how nice it worked. The only drawback was that the cracks between the boards were so wide in some places that when the basement light was on, it shone up into the living room.
in a quad-plex, post-war era (in other words: cheap construction).
No storage in bath, so I put an over-the-throne unit & attached it to the wall & put chair sliders on the bottom to keep the woodish material off the floor. replaced the shower head with a wand-type & put a small cabinet & shelf up on another wall. Also added a cheapish towel rack, nice but inexpensive. (took the cabinet when I left, but shower-wand & the rest stayed behind.
closets were miniscule, so I put hooks & additional rods up.
Only lived there a year, so the size & shoddy up-keep was bearable.... just.
landlord never was around, so when he saw how I left it, clean & better than move-in, he was very happy & offered to be a reference for future landlords!!
I'm lucky that my apartment complex has done most of the upgrades for me... cheep plastic blinds were swapped with 2" wide white wooden ones, florescent light in the kitchen was swapped out and trimmed with crown molding, and they're re-surfacing my kitchen and bathroom counters in a few weeks.
In older apartments I've lived in, I've re-caulked the tub/shower, changed the blinds, painted walls, installed a window unit, replaced toilet seats, replaced outlet covers and light switch plates...
My number one priority though is to clean the heck out of it first ;)
My last apartment had an old mercury bulb thermostat that was not installed on the level (extremely important in the old mercury bulb thermostats). I also didn't have a heat pump and couldn't remember to turn down the heat when I was going to be out for a significant amount of time. I went out and bought a programmable thermostat and installed it. It was fairly simple to do, and I made sure to get a really good one, where each individual day could be set by itself (in case I have a work schedule that is odd) and that could work with almost any system. When I left, I put the old thermostat back in, and mine is with me, so when I get a new apartment, I can put my thermostat in again, since programmable thermostats don't seem to be a priority in most apartments.
try this tempo shade www.temposhade.com