I painted my Financial District kitchen (the only defined room in my apartment) a salmon-carnation pink.The cabinets are a hideous orange-y yellow wood, so I did what I needed to live with them more harmoniously. I figure I'll paint it back before I move out. I'm the one who has to live in the space, as long as I don't permanently damage it, it should be mine to make a comfortable and happy place.

I think it'd depend on the landlord. Growing up we lived in a house for 7 years and my mom painted every room. I don't believe she had direct permission, but when the landlord came by I remember him being happy with the 'updates.' When we moved out we offered to re-paint it all white, and he gave them the choice of $400 less back from the security deposit or we could paint it ourselves. They ended up going with the $400 less back.

My current landlord (who is also my downstairs neighbor) and the place we are moving into next month, there is no way I'd paint, since they're both restrictive about the use of things like screws. I'd be nervous about them. But my very first apartment had ugly chipping cabinets... I painted them red... without permission. The landlord complimented the upgrades on move out. So it all depends on the landlord, I think.

in my current 1bd in manhattan, one of the walls when we moved in was baby poop green. like, real gross. we lived with it for a year and when we decided to renew i picked out a muted green to paint over it. its called 'grasslands' and its doesnt make we want to hurl when i look at it. the landlord hasnt been back since we moved in (and i think we are renewing again) so im not afraid of getting dinged for it. they probably wont even know the difference. We will leave the paint can (we only used about 1/4 of it) here when we leave so they can paint spots and scratches if they'd like, but we are not repainting it back to that awful shade of green.

We once had some renters paint several rooms crazy colors, pink among them. They had permission, and they painted white over it when they moved out, but they did such a terrible job BOTH times that we still had to repaint everything. That includes repainting the ceilings. And replacing the carpet, because they'd apparently never heard of drop-cloths.

I've actually been considering painting the insides of my bathroom cabinets, all sneaky like. (And even perhaps my kitchen cabinets!) This gives me inspiration! (And I'm getting an adreniline rush just thinking about it ;)

I never did, only because repainting was the last thing I wanted to do at move out - I was always rushed to finish packing on time.

Yep, we've done our living room, bedroom, and a bathroom and even did the kitchen cabinets (huge upgrade). I'm fine with the losing the security deposit, although given that in NYC, they're required to repaint every few years anyway, I don't think we will. I'm definitely not going to repaint everything white when we move out!

Yes, almost 10 years ago, I had just gone through a divorce and wanted to really get rid of any memories my ex having lived there (moving wasn't an option for me at the time) so I decided to do something dramatic and painted the walls in my apartment's living room this pinkish-cranberry color. I loved it and it made me smile every time I walked into the place. When it was time to move out years later, I remember using a lot of Kilz to hide the color but they planned on painting a fresh coat of their paint anyway, so this was just to help. Kept my security deposit too!

I've been considering it for a while, especially since our landlord went with a very light-but-pinkish beige for our walls and it's starting to drive me nuts (especially since it's a color almost matches the tile that runs throughout the place, which is just so grrrrr...). Then I start getting a headache thinking about what color I can go with that will go with my decor and that floor and I just call the whole thing off.

I've never painted against the wishes of my landlord, but in 25 years of renting, I think I've only ever had one place where it was expressly forbidden. I've also had rental contracts where it stated I couldn't paint (a standard contract), but where the landlord was fine with me painting, as long as no 'crazy colours'.
Our current house was almost completely brown when we moved in, so secured permission to paint before signing a lease. Peanut butter brown and peachy yellow beige, with 'wood' paneling in the basement (with a red tiled floor). Blech. Now, tasteful, brighter pale greys mostly. Tempted to paint the dark brown laminate 70's kitchen cabinets to brighten things up, but sooooo much work...

If you consider that the security deposit is the only thing that could be in jeoopardy; and if the deposit is there to cover possible damages to rental property and not just normal wear and tear. Isn't painting a wall or a door way less damaging than say having a 3 to 5 year old.
When moving in to any new property my wife and I paint before we are fully settled.
It helps us understand what layout for furniture as well as understanding its relation to natural light throughout the day.
When you move in the properties are clean and have usually been primed with a nice porous white (less material needed to get it where you want).
Color makes a rented space yours.
Lets also remember that anyone frequenting "apartmenttherapy" knows about drop-cloths and general order. We are not talking about "Leave No Trace" rules.
We have lived in Dallas, Seattle and currently Mexico City.

When we put the deposit down on our apt. it had just been repainted so looked nice. However, when we moved our furniture in, what had appeared as neutral really wasn't and clashed with our things. We lived with it for a few months, but I didn't feel at home. I decided to take the plunge and paint everything without asking permission. I was really nervous about how the landlord would react. When he finally came in the apt. it was the first thing he noticed, but he loved it and was really complementary on my choice of colors and painting ability. I tried to keep it neutral (greige) with the exception of a couple of accent areas. I even painted our bathroom purple but toned it town with grey / white accessories so it was tasteful.

On the day I signed my lease, which stipulated that I couldn't paint anything, I immediately pulled out the two medicine cabinets in the bathroom that were rusted and dingy inside. I took them to my mom's house and spray painted the insides a bright, clean white. The landlord came by to fix one last thing while I was re-installing them. He didn't notice a thing, but that one little thing made a huge difference to me. I think it's okay if you're improving something.

I just did last night!
I painted my rental bathroom black. The entire house is painted the same super-shiny dirty-looking off-white color, and I just couldn't take it any more. There is tile wainscoting around the room, so the black is only on the upper half of the walls and the ceiling. It makes the tiles and the off-white moulding look cleaner and whiter.
No regrets here, and I'd rather forfeit my deposit than live with the ugly.

yes - of course! My kitchen, my bathroom at various rental apartments. I figured they will repaint for the next tenant and I would rather forfeit my deposit than putting up with pale beige dirty walls.

Nah, I'm too chicken if it's explicitly verboten. But I did paint three access walls in my new place because this landlord has the sort of tacit understanding that you're likely to do something like that embedded in the lease: there's specific dollar amounts for each wall that has a color on it that you'll have to pay when you leave. The leasing agent shrugged her shoulders about painted walls when I asked about it and admitted she had an accent wall in her own unit.

My husband and I own several rental units, and always allow our renters to paint under the stipulation that they return their walls to white upon moving out. We personally like brightly hued walls, but not everyone does. We have spent some real fun weekends cleaning up after inconsiderate tenants, including one who decided to SPRAY PAINT her walls with hideous metallic spirals. Understand that the security deposit is there so that the landlord can purchase paint to do it themselves if a renter moves out without repainting. This takes time and money, plus lots of sanity. If you choose a nice wall color, did a good job painting, and there aren't wall holes to patch, your landlord will likely be happy with the improvement!

I've avoided the painting without permission in places with horrid paint/ paint jobs by just straight up politely stating to the landlord before signing a lease that I'd like to change whatever, and I'm willing to do the painting, buy the paint, whatever the landlord is comfortable with.
However, I live in a small city with a bajillion students so sometimes landlords are more willing to compromise with a potential tenant who is a young professional, might be different in cities with a more competitive rental market.

Many times. I've never had a problem with a landlord or not getting a security deposit back and it has made an enormous difference to my sense of well-being.

When a resident asks me if they can paint, I tell them that the color they paint has to be cover-able by 1 coat of the color that's on the walls now, because we're going to paint when they move out anyway. I must use a fairly decent color, though, as no one's ever painted in 5 years in any of the 75 units.

Sometimes it's easier to ask forgiveness then to ask permission!

We never asked! We painted and we're gonna paint it back to white before we leave. We're pretty sure he knows though because he's come in to fix things and the purple walls are hard to miss
http://shoes-off-please.com/

I guess I'm too much of a rule follower because I never considered it in my rental years. Plus, most places I was only in for a year and didn't seem worth the effort. Of course, I was only in places with white walls, nothing obnoxious. After buying my own house, I still felt a little naughty painting a bright green accent wall. It took a while for my mind to adjust to the idea that I can paint or tear out bathrooms or anything else I want with only my girlfriend to consider instead of a landlord.

Yes... I have never been afraid of that. perhaps because I've never been burnt by it but nonetheless I ceiling mounted window treatments, painted 3/4's of the walls, and even wall mounted a television. It's my space and I'll return it back to it's original state. But chances are when I show it, the next renter will prefer the upgraded finished apartment to a white box anyway. Until the damage I do exceeds my one-month's-rent security deposit I think it's a small price to pay to feel HOME instead of DORM when I walk in. My family is all far away so I put the importance of "place" very high on my list. Be brave!

Yup! Our bathroom was an awful slate gray (and it was a flat paint in a room with no windows, so a color that could have been moody was instead just plain dirty and depressing) and one of the bedrooms was purple. Repainted them an airy green and a medium gray, respectively, and I would bet our landlord won't even notice when we move out at the end of the month.

Yup - painted an accent wall in my last apartment dark blue. Along with replacing and updating a few other cosmetic things. All without asking. My building was "maintained" by a management company and I don't think they ever actually set foot in any of the buildings. So I agree, it depends on the landlord.

I definitely left the place in better shape than I found it, but it make me happier to live with the updates than to live without. I painted over the wall when I left. And put back the nasty light fixture I switched out in the dining room.

I have done accent walls only so I don't have a ton of work to fix later as we typically moved every year or two. Eventually I wised up and started asking for cans of whatever paint they used for touch-ups before we moved in so I had it on hand to fix holes (something I always manage when hanging heavy mirrors) we had created but also enough to repaint a wall or two if necessary. Last place was a dark tan (yawn) so I chevroned the entire entry area by simply cutting up an applying white contact paper stripes. Looked great and didn't even damage the wall :) We just bought out first house and true story- we're painting MOST of it bright white. Go figure.

All the time! I've always been told by a realtor that I am allowed to paint even though I'm pretty sure half the time they are just saying yes without really knowing. My leases always say with permission but I never ask. My current apartment is all painted prison cell yellow/cream and I can't stand it! I always go back and fourth about consulting with my management company but in the end I decided it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. I plan on staying a while, I want it to be cozy and comfortable while I am here. I also think if you paint with purpose to add to a room and not just because you think it would be crazy to have a neon green wall no matter what you do your landlord will at least not be upset. (Well, here's hoping!)

I would never rent a place that didn't allow me to paint. With that said, I've never shied away from painting any and everything. Currently, I have my entire rental painted various shades from pink to gray to black. I have hand stenciled a border around the dining room. I have painted an entire wall in the living room with black trees and I hand painted the head board over the bed, head boards are expensive, paint is not! The bottom line is, it's just paint.

Growing up, we rented an apartment with a lease that stipulated no painting but a previous tenant had painted three walls in my bedroom a ghastly bright yellow green and put on the fourth wall wallpaper with large green palm trees. The rest of the apartment was haphazardly painted in a beige or light blue and the bathroom was brown and orange (not the nice shades that work well together either). Since the landlord had no intention of repainting the place for us (or any other maintenance, as it turned out), my mom said we'd paint it as soon as we could afford it. We painted it twice over the next 6 years (always in white) and did other little fixes on our own and actually left it in better condition than when we arrived. Including light bulbs -- seems the previous tenants took every light bulb with them when they moved out (to a larger apartment upstairs) and we had to buy them since it's tough moving in the dark (it was a rainy day when we moved in and the place was quite dark in the apartment). I figured this boded poorly for our future in this apartment and I was correct.

I once had a renter move out in the middle of the night and when I entered the apartment found one bedroom painted totally in black, ceiling, walls and wooden window frames. It was a nightmare to get it all back to white. I usually always repainted after someone moved out anyway but this was much more work than I wanted. My husband worked on cleaning the oven and stove for hours too.

I got really lucky with my rental. It's painted a nice yellowy beige with white trim. Goes with almost everything.

However, the paint job is another story...the painters did a horrible job and there is paint on the floors and the ceiling. I have to just force myself to look past it. =)

I did, I told the landlord I wanted to paint the living room a light grey and she said okay as long as I put it back. I promised to.

She liked the effect so much she told me to leave it that way when I announced I was moving, and that I would be painting........

According to the law over here you may paint and wallpaper as long as it's done at a professional level and suited to "normal" tastes - ie not too crazy. I've painted several rooms in my apartment and managed to convince the landlord to put up new wallpaper (that I got to choose out of a catalogue) in one of the bedrooms.

I think you need to request permission. It's rude to change property that you do not own without it.

Yep! Never had any complaints or issues. But I'm a severely neat and clean painter.
My current place is a heritage and we are allowed to paint, we are supposed to show the landlord the colors first, after doing this for three rooms they eventually said "no need to show us any more, we trust your palette, go to town! :)
I'm currently painting a nursery a deep grey and I just freshened up all the white trim and windowsills. It's nice to have flexibility to allow us to take care of the place. It feels like home.

Yes! I didn't bother to ask, so I'm not sure if it would have been ok. When I moved in, the walls were disgusting-- a shiny, sterile white that was stained in places from I don't even know (or want to know) what. I painted my living room a very light green, my bedroom a soft peach, and my kitchen teal and then grey. My landlord has been in my apartment several times since my various paint jobs and has either failed to notice or has not cared. Honestly, given how bad the walls were when I moved in, I was tempted to ask him to reimburse me for the paint. But, in my mind, a couple hundred dollars is worth a fresh and happy apartment.

I had to have "approval" of the color before painting and I assumed they wouldn't let me paint the dark chocolate color I wanted so I lied and pointed to a light grey swatch so they'd approve.

My apartment was painted with a semi gloss white over a bunch of poorly patched cracks in the drywall. Everything, the walls, ceiling and trim all the same weird glossy white.
It was all just a bit much and the gloss seemed to highlight the terrible patch jobs everywhere. I repainted the ceiling with a matte (eggshell?) plain white, and I put some light color on the walls. It was transformed.
It's going to kill me to return it to the white when I move out (I promised I would before I painted), but I'll be sure NOT to go glossy like my loony landlords.

Either we picked great colors that people like or our tenants are very rule abiding! We own a rental property and have had 3 tenants in 7 years, none have painted or even asked to paint. It is worded quite clearly in their lease that they need permission to paint, we must approve the color and have a professional painter do the work (avoids crappy paint jobs and we split the cost with the tenant).

We left an apartment once and the landlady listed it as "newly redecorated"

I think most landlords are flexible when it comes to walls (especially if you do a good job), but for the LOVE OF GOD don't paint wood, trim or molding without permission. You can layer paint on the walls, but wood details will lose definition over time with each layer of paint - landlords don't want to spend a fortune stripping their trim, cabinets and windows down the line.

My husband and I painted our East Village studio without the landlord's permission, and it was absolutely worth it. The bland beige space was transformed into a cozy, "us"-style home, simply by painting the walls. Nothing says "This is a temporary place, not my home" more than white/beige walls, and I think it's really important for renters to make their apartments into homes.

Here's what it looked like (the paint has a greener undertone in real life): https://picasaweb.google.com/114131948894727448580/NYCApartment?locked=true#5544725808072959714

It was a little nerve-wracking the first time we had to have the super inside to fix something, but he never said a word and we were careful to paint it back exactly the color it was before.

I own a duplex that I live in one unit and rent the other. I would be totally pissed if I found out that things were painted without permission. I would be much more willing to work with the tenants to create a space they feel more at home in if they asked and discussed it with me first than if they just started making changes on their own.

I moved into an apartment where the paint colors were so fabulous that I asked management to give me the exact brand and numbers/colors so that I could reproduce it when I moved out. It was a copyrighted/designer mix but they gave me the computer codes. The walls were the color of wet beach sand*, and the trim was shell white with the barest---and I mean barest---whisper of pink (you had to put pure white beside it to see the pink). It was the most flattering color set I've ever encountered, and every color I put next to it looked good.

*That would be wet beach sand from Padre Island, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico. Your beach may vary.

I once painted a whole open living space (kitchen/dining/living of about 500 ft) a color called "mystic smoke" and my landlord didn't care. She even showed it to the next tenant, who loved it and decided to keep it.

I just finished painting my very large living room in a mustard-ish color. It looks fantastic and feels like a cozy home now. Worth losing my security deposit if it happens! Although they did say I could paint if I got the color approved, I didn't get approval first. We shall see what happens, but I doubt I'll repaint when I move. It took me way too long to paint for it to be worth it, I think (imagine fireplace, moulding on an archway, TWO doors, and 6 windows' worth of trim work).

I love this survey! I grew up with white walls and very little art on the walls, despite the fact my Dad was a painter. The first time I dared to paint my bedroom a lovely shade of lilac it was so freeing! I have lived in my little rent control one bedroom for over fifteen years and have painted the walls many times. My justification is I do a better job than the stoned handy man our landlords always hire. But check your lease first. Mine has no provisions for painting, but my neighbor who moved in below me said his lease was extremely strict about this and the walls had to be swiss coffee. He painted anyway and just painted over it when he moved, which is what I will do when the time comes. Living in a small space for all these years changing the wall color is one easy way to keep my place looking and feeling fresh and new.

I painted my 4 year old daughter's bedroom Pepto Bismol pink (she chose it, of course). The townhouse I was renting "went condo" so I had to move out (or buy it, which I didn't want to do). I put three coats of the best primer I could buy over that pink and it still showed through. I ran out of time so I left it. Luckily the bedroom was upstairs and the landlord only had one leg (true story). I got my whole security deposit back :-)

yes, always. As long you you paint it back white when you move, landlords don't care/don't notice. In fact I had one that was stoked we repainted before we moved.

I got permission and had the color swatch approved by my landlord prior to painting in my first apartment. It was a light peach color. When I moved out, the landlord said it was hideous (it wasn't), she never approved it (she did), and she kept my security deposit. That taught me to always get permission in writing!

I did paint a rental once where it said in the lease not to. It was one of those dingy apt. complexes that were cheap and terribly managed. Not that it makes it right, but whenever I rent from a complex vs. an individual person, I find that expecting my deposit back is just not realistic. So I just painted it and gladly forfeited my measly deposit!

I don't really get this whole surreptitious painting thing. If you don't own the building, you can't just unilaterally make the decision to "update". To do so is completely disrespectful and damaging someone else's property without their consent, no matter how tasteful the end results. If you want to change things up a bit and do it the right way, go discuss your plans with the landlord. In my experience, most of them are very reasonable and will allow you to make updates as long as the job is done well and won't turn off future tenants. If they say no, then either live with it or find a new place.

I dont think it hurts to ask. Especially when it isn't a management company that has contractors and other workers at their disposal and would have to repaint themselves or hire an expensive pro. When you first move in, you generally don't have a relationship with your landlord yet, so it can be intimidating. I asked my landlord if i could repaint some of the walls, and they told me to include all of my receipts for paint/supplies and just take it out of the next months rent! My bedroom color wasn't ideal but i left it as is and coordinated around it, and ended up loving it once i freshened up the trim and the main areas.

Valspar in Frappe was a steal compared to the rest of the Ben paints i used and actually covered extremely well. Highly recommend if you are looking for a light, neutral putty color.

I currently live in a 2bd apartment, and decided to paint the bedrooms. The landlord has done inspections and hasn't said anything yet. The apartment looks way better than before we had moved in. Also, I think there are laws in california that if you've lived in a place for more than two years they have to repaint regardless.

Yes, and my landlord loved it so he asked me to pick out paints for his condos he was selling. I asked permission after having told him I was a decorator. I also left the place better than I had found it so he was grateful...rare case, I am sure.

I've never owned a home and have always rented. I've always painted. I never thought to ask for permission. Each and every time, the landlord has appreciated any improvements.

To me, as a Dutch person, it's funny how painting rentals is looked upon in most other countries, apparently. I have only lived in privately owned student housing so far and in my current lease, it states explicitly that the renter is responsible for painting/decorating the room / studio appartment. The landlord was here recently and complimented me on the choice of colours. If the next tenant doesn't like the colours however, it's his/her responsibility to repaint. For the common rooms, we can even choose any colour we like, paint whatever we want and get reimbursed for the paint by the landlord.

We share a house with my parent, and I am going to ask permission prior to us painting and show them the swatches as well in our half of the two family.

I just find it unusual, that so many people think it's okay to just do what they feel like if the agreement clearly states that you are to ask permission. Just because you think it looks great, does not mean it's going to suit everyone's taste or style.

I did, painted every room and the landlord thanked me upon move-out. He said I definitely left the place in a better condition than what I found it in. Felt pretty great about that!

I had no idea feeling on repainting would run such a gamut. I have been both renter and landlord and welcomed input from my tenants - it's only paint!

I've been informed by my property management company that not only is painting disallowed in my lease, it's actually dangerous and not recommended because the decades of lead paint layers on the walls release fumes when painted over. So I've grudgingly lived with my dingy walls.

That said, I'm pretty sure I already lost my deposit when the fire department had to (quite literally) break down my door after I forgot a pot on the stove, so I felt free to paint the hideous laminate bathroom cabinets white. In my opinion, they are much improved.

Wow... please understand everyone, it's not just about paint color and cost, but about the potential Hassle if paint gets on carpet, fixtures, etc. Fixup time and effort can be a major issue for landlords who aren't making a business of it... some like us are just renting out one unit long distance because we got trapped by falling home prices but had to relocate anyway. If there is damage between tenants, We have to eat the cost and time off work to fly back, get a hotel and handle it. We are so grateful that we feel we can trust our current tenants to talk to us about what they need and want, and in return basically anything goes.

Also, people have quite varied standards on what makes a "done" paint job, which could be the reason not every landlord trusts every tenant to paint, and perhaps you could assuage that fear by agreeing to show them a test area or showing photos from a previous home. I have seen numerous friends and even professional paint jobs that all left some of: streaks, patchy spots, color spots on ceilings and trim, and bleeding onto other colored walls.

I'm sorry but that's... a disgusting thing to say. Way to gloat that you got your full deposit back after knowingly leaving something damaged, leaving the surprise and expense for a disabled person. This is Exactly why landlords don't want people to paint and perpetuates the necessity for distrust.

I've painted rentals in the past, but always made sure that when I moved out, it was the same color as it was when I first moved in (usually antique white).

This is the post I was looking for! We currently rent an apartment and our landlord is just incredible, but I have waited over a year to paint our LR. Now, after reading this post, I think we are going to have it painted; however, my question is this: Because we live in Spain, should we simply paint the walls white (we have lots of bright colored pottery and paintings hanging, so I do not want to deter from that) or should we go with another color? Currently, our LR is basically gray and white, with touches of black and red. I am concerned that a color that appeals to Americans may not be as appealing to our Spanish landlord. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Are peoples' deposits not that much money?! Mine has always been at least $1000, so I can't imagine just being okay with not getting that much back for painting.

Heh. I just finished painting my new bedroom a silvery gray yesterday, and the living room's going to be blue by this time next week. The owners are fine with it, though-- they may not even ask us to repaint when we leave, since the colors are pale enough.

I painted three different rentals, usually several rooms, during my rental career. I never asked. Only had to repaint one when I left.

I have a great landlord who's let me do as I please with paint. However, I tired of my "oh-i'll-just-paint" coping strategy when I got the itch to move or some other life event was occurring that was out of my control (at least I could choose my own darn paint color!). So, I had the 600 square foot studio painted professionally, calmly, and with the input of a designer. It's felt great, and as we all know, put me at ease....till the next flurry of creative color spasms!

I have a great landlord who's let me do as I please with paint. However, I tired of my "oh-i'll-just-paint" coping strategy when I got the itch to move or some other life event was occurring that was out of my control (at least I could choose my own darn paint color!). So, I had the 600 square foot studio painted professionally, calmly, and with the input of a designer. It's felt great, and as we all know, put me at ease....till the next flurry of creative color spasms!

I have a great landlord who's let me do as I please with paint. However, I tired of my "oh-i'll-just-paint" coping strategy when I got the itch to move or some other life event was occurring that was out of my control (at least I could choose my own darn paint color!). So, I had the 600 square foot studio painted professionally, calmly, and with the input of a designer. It's felt great, and as we all know, put me at ease....till the next flurry of creative color spasms!

wait. what? Seriously? I am absolutely flabbergasted at this posting and the comments. It has seriously NEVER, not ONCE, occurred to me to paint or modify my (oh-so-many) apartments without landlord permission. How incredibly rude and disrespectful. If I did not like the place before I moved in, I just kept looking.

I DID paint in one place, after asking the landlord. She said we could paint as long as the colors were neutral, and definitely no trim work. She came over to approve as well.

Now, I am a landlord, and like someone mentioned above, this was not the plan, simply life and economics. My previous tenant asked and was given permission to paint one of the bedrooms, after I had come over and approved the color. She then took it upon herself to paint the other bedroom a disgusting puke lime green without permission (and argue with me at move-out time that I had approved it). She did a lousy job, too. Had to have professionals come in and paint many coats over the green and repaint the ceilings in both rooms to compensate where the lines between wall and ceilings were not fresh. This was not cheap. It was annoying. And, it was rude. My poor new tenants have a lock-tight lease now (though, they are, so far, fabulous!).

Hee hee, I didn't mean to offend any disabled people, it was just a funny and true story on topic. Don't paint your rental bright pink... And if they had charged me for repainting that would have been OK. The truth is that they were getting greedy in 2005 right before the housing market crashed and thought they could cash in on some seriously in-need-of-updating rental units by selling them and kicking the tenants out on a short timeline. Now they are worth less than half of the amount I was offered to buy that place. And, just to ease your mind, the disabled guy wasn't the owner and in no way was harmed by the slightly still pink room, I promise.

I think it exceptionally rude to do anything substantial to a rental property without permission.

I started sneak-painting because the building changed owners after I'd already been here a few years, and no one knew what permissions I'd been given. I know, bad. I did the dining room, kitchen, and entrance hall. The new owners wound up liking what I'd done so much that they bought me the paint to finish the rest of apartment. I've stayed here over 16 years because they let me make my apartment feel homey. The owners came to realize the psychology of painting everything apartment white made people see their suites as typical short-term rentals instead of homes. Now the owners are starting to paint all the other apartments in nice, warm neutrals, in order to draw and keep long-term tenants, and they don't mind if people want to paint something different, as long as it is light enough to be painted over after they move.

Yes, I just painted my bathroom. I could no longer deal with the Brown/Gray/Beige scheme. (http://www.rearrangeddesign.com/2013/01/bathroom-redo.html)

It looks a million times better, we did a better job painting than the people our landlord hired before we moved in and I doubt she'll even notice. We did all white, I suppose it's a different issue if you paint something in a color like red, green, black or yellow.

In my last apartment in LA, my roommate decided to paint an entire accent wall with black chalkboard paint. Before we moved, I had created an extensive mural (in chalk) and left it on the wall, explaining to my landlord that the next tennants might want to keep it (it seemed like more effort to try and sand, prime,and repaint - so we decided to bite the bullet and let it come out of our deposit if they decided to repaint). Not only did they keep the chalk wall, they also kept my mural! And our landlord didn't charge us to repaint!

Yes...every apartment, actually. My current landlady asked that I run color choices past her so that she could okay them, first, since I'd expressed interest in painting. My intentions were good, but after picking up some samples pots, I got carried away, and before I knew it, I'd painted the entire place without ever telling the landlady. I was afraid to have her see it, but finally, after a few months, I had no choice, since she had to get into the apartment for something while I was at work. I left a note on the door that said "hope you like the place, and that it isn't too much of a surprise". She left me a one word response..."gorgeous". She's since asked me if it's okay to use it as a model for perspective tenants, so I guess it worked out fine.

I've been a renter plenty of times and, in the not so distant future, I plan on being a landlord. Here's my take:

There are a lot of things I've seen people do their units on Apartment Therapy that would violate a common lease (if they landlord actually cared). I'm thinking about 90% of the time it's an upgrade and really does contribute to the space and the landlord would be cool with it. But if someone were to paint my rental unit salmon pink and didn't do a great job of restoring it to its original state, I'd be pretty bummed and would probably use some of their security deposit to make it right. If they went farther and replaced plumbing fixtures or made changes that can't really be reversed, then there would be trouble. They'd be in even bigger trouble if they did a poor job of installing a faucet and there was water damage from a leaky pipe.

Read your lease agreement. Talk to your landlord. Chances are you'll probably know just by the state of the rental and the vibe of the landlord if you can make any drastic changes. I'm guessing most of them want to be able to having the unit in rent-worthy condition when/if you should move out, and whatever they have to do to make that happen is going to come out of your deposit.

Yes, I've painted without permission. In Boston, with landlords who were barely a step above slumlords. No one with any authority ever came into the apartment; the maintenance people didn't care.

One place, when I moved in, had a Wedgewood blue living right next to a burnt orange dining room. I painted both rooms off-white and when I moved out, the landlord thanked me.

Ideally, landlord should have a chance to make sure you are not just slopping paint over the outlets and switch plates, too. All this painting and repainting makes it really ugly after awhile and future tenants will not appreciate squinty little plug receptacles jammed with paint.

People are terrible painters on average.

@Kristy from Spain - I would just ask my landlord or show him/her the colors that I was contemplating painting and get the landlord's opinion. If they say no and you can't move, then just try to work-it within guidelines and make it as nice as you possibly can with things you truly love.

Yeah.. also: I stripped off 10 layers of paint from the all the trim to reveal wonderful stained mahogany. it was a TON of work.
I roto-tilled, added manure and reseeded the green way between the building and the street, replaced sprinkler heads, trimmed the bushes and cleaned up a ton of trash/cigarette butts.
I repainted front steps taking care to sand them for icy days.
I put together planters for my windows and any neighbors (5) who wanted them.
I got the swamp cooler working (Had to break into the access route to the roof)
and more...
Never told the landlord. (oops)
Finally, realized I should just buy a damn house.

I love white walls, so I don't understand why anyone would paint and risk losing a deposit.

@Kristy from Spain: white would be the safest choice in continental Europe. You don't often see brightly coloured walls in homes.

My husband would be so mad at me. I really want to paint the kitchen cabinets white though. Maybe if I bake some chocolate chip cookies for the landlord he will let me.

Mm, we were told we had to have any colors "approved" because former tenants had done crazy things like paint the glass in the windows black. We got the red we painted the living room approved, but not the black we painted above the fireplace as an accent. I was afraid the landlord would freak out about it if we mentioned using the color at all. He's been inside the place since and hasn't said a thing about it...

I've had white walls since I've been a renter...up until this most recent apartment. I'm SO happy with my sand colored walls and multi step white crown molding. The apartment came this way so I had no need to paint it. I made due with my white walls in previous apartments- it was just easier. Couldn't deal with it painting and repainting something so temporary.

Honestly, I'd be thrilled if landlords would just paint a place in good quality, non-glossy, bright white. I've never seen an apartment that was anything other than glossy, dirty-looking, off-white or some sort of awful pinkish beige. Blech.

It's really not so hard to ask. I rented an older townhome for a short time. I asked and received permission to remove the wallpaper in the bedroom and paint. I was very conscientious and did a good job on the wallpaper removal. I washed the walls thoroughly to remove the glue, but even so, the paint took a bit strangely in some areas where I believe there was residual glue. It wasn't super noticeable, but I did feel bad it wasn't perfect. I think it's a good example of where someone with otherwise good intentions can in the end potentially cause harm. The landlord was fine with the outcome, and I think he was said to see me go.

I've been a home owner for years but back in my younger day . . . yeah, I painted what I wanted. It never occurred to me not to paint "my" place.

We've lived in our SF apt for 10 years now, & we painted most of the rooms about 4 1/2 years ago. We agonized for several months on the colors. There were swatch spots painted all over. When we finally decided, we were so excited we went ahead & totally did not think to check our lease. Turns out we were supposed to ask for permission. I was a bit freaked out about it at first, but my husband pointed out that (a) the loss of our deposit is likely the only thing that would happen, & that becomes less consequential the longer we stay, & (b) our landlord never comes over (& he hasn't, all these years later). It has made such a huge difference to paint, I wish I'd done it sooner! With the such high real estate prices in this town, we'll probably rent this place forever. But I do feel a bit guilty about not asking 1st. That said, we used really nice paint in non-obnoxious colors (from Benjamin Moore's Affinity collection, in Aura eggshell, low VOC - highly recommend!), so I'm hoping our landlord will see it as an improvement.

Yep, after over 10 years as a tenant, I did it a year ago but I'm convinced I improved the property. All the walls andbaseboards had been painted with flat white paint before I moved in. All the wood trim and the kitchen walls had originally been painted with an "white-ish" oil base paint that had severely yellowed over time. I primed out all the wood trim - including baseboards and kitchen - and painted it with white, high gloss paint. I painted the walls a basic, neutral white, (Behr's Antique White). 400% improvement, no lie!

I painted quite bold colors in my college apartment (deep red, green,and royal blue to go with all of my gilded super baroque style at that age). I used drop cloths/good tape/rollers, I knew it was not allowed, but I figured if I was being charged $1200 a month for a two bedroom serious piece of crap (water stains, popcorn ceilings, yellowing 70s linoleum, bathrooms with seemingly permanent mold) I would beautify it as much as I could and hope for the best. The landlords quickly found out (you could see the red from the street) and just as quickly started using our unit as the showcase unit for all future tours. Most common thing we overheard "Ohhhh we can paint??" "No." :) We asked before we moved out if they wanted us to paint it back and they said the renters requested we leave it up.

Now that I'm a non-college kid/semi-adult I see where this could have gone horribly wrong and was fairly inconsiderate, but I don't know if I can honestly say I regret doing it? I stayed in that apartment for two years and I had some great times in my overdone boudoir 70s hole of an apartment :)

Many building managers/landlords will allow you to paint as long as you paint the unit back to the colour of their choosing upon your moving.

I've painted almost every rental I've lived in. In my case though, I've generally painted it white from puke green, dark brown, and neon yellow. Which also means that none of those landlords ever painted their units back after the old tenants left. I should also add, that I've never actually had to pay to repaint. In New York landlords have to repaint every few years, so I've been lucky enough to deduct it from my rent.

My last NYC apartment, we painted one room in light green. We lived there for 8 years and never requested the landlord repaint the walls, but I made sure when we left that I painted over the walls carefully back to white.

My current apartment I went to town and painted the living room and bedroom. But I have every intention of painting it back to neutral (though probably not the awful beige flesh tone they used when I moved in) when I eventually move out. I think it depends on a few things: 1) are you careful when you paint and do things right like taping, putting out drop cloths, and removing face plates? and 2) Will you make return the place to the same condition you found it in when you leave? If you can do that, then I think you're within your rights to paint.

I had one landlord say we couldn't paint, but I protested that my bedroom looked like I was living in a sepia-tone picture. It was an old greystone in Chicago with oak crown molding and trim that made the yellowish-white walls unbearable when light reflected off of them. He ended up agreeing that it was dingy, letting me paint AND paying for supplies as long as I did a good job - so I think it's best to ask.

After that my landlord painted a wall for us and my current apartment management company offers a palette of colors to chose from. They paint one wall for free and additional walls for $60 each, including a repaint to neutral when you move out. More places should do that.

lol @ all the landlords having fits in here over tenants painting. I think we all understand why there are sometimes rules about painting a rental and why it's not really right to break them. But if it makes you feel better to breathlessly lecture everyone, by all means :-)

Agreed!

And keep in mind, there are plenty of absentee, lacklustre landlords who don't stick to their end of the lease by keeping the property in good repair. Of all of my landlords I've had in the past (live in our own house now), I always sought permission before any changes and figured out rather quickly which landlords take care of their properties and which do not.

I wish in the past I had more landlords who actually took care of their rental properties because it means better living conditions and safer surroundings.

Once I covered a 'once-a-fireplace-then-just-a-hole' with cardboard, which I painted white. The letting agency never realised it!

my landlord actually painted my last studio apartment in the colors i chose, because he was planning on repainting anyway and decided to go with my choice in colors. he even painted it back when i moved out. i also changed out the medicine cabinet (and left it behind for him), and mounted my TV into the brick wall (covered up the holes when i left).

in my new apartment, my landlord is willing to let us paint if we agree to paint it back. no idea if we're going to follow through with it - we signed a lease that is good until june 2015, so i'd love to feel at home (especially if we stay longer), but the prospect of painting twice in a couple years is rather daunting.

The woman who lived here before us pained the bathroom neon purple & refused to paint over it when she left therefore we were told that she didn't get her security deposit back.

What I don't understand is that if the landlord has to give the apt a new coat of paint before the new tenant moves in why make the old tenant do unnecessary work??!!!