apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I always thought it would make an interesting feature or contest--along the lines of the 'small spaces' features I see all over-- How about some examples of what renters can do with all the limitations rentals may have? How can we work with white walls when we aren't allowed to paint, for example? Most interiors that I see getting lots of play in magazines and on design sites feature great wallpapers and paint colors and such that aren't options for many (or most?) of us.

there used to be a tv show here in canada called "design to go" which was all about re-decorating/designing in a rental.

You mean "Home To Go", surely? It had some great ideas, but they always do some hardcore wall-painting. There was a certain amount of repetition to it, though, that I thought a drinking game could easily be fashioned for it. For example, Peter Fallico's enduring love for crown molding, carried over from his projects on "This Small Space" could be the marker to down a shot every time he reached for it again. Maybe two shots for every time the team would abuse the word 'art' by calling whatever objects of canvas and paper and paint slapped together got called "wall art".

Other than that, fab show about how to make dreary rental spaces a tad more personal.

Grab some old wooden picture frames (without the glass) in different sizes at thrift stores. Head on down to the fabric district (or even to JoAnn, ebay, or reprodepot.com) and pick out some coordinating fabrics: solids, stripes, patterns, whatever. Wrap the fabric around the frames, staple it to the back, and you have nifty little blocks of color. Hang them in a grid or at random - it's a way to add temporary color, and you can always change them out if you get tired of them.

Or, if you think you won't get caught, go ahead and paint anyway. Home Depot's Swiss Coffee is the most common apartment interior color because they sell it premixed in five-gallon drums. Start a month before you move out - I got my whole deposit back. They never even realized we'd painted every wall in the house.

My landlord told me we couldn't paint but I painted my bedroom anyways, with the intention of repainting when I moved out.
She liked the color of my bedroom so much, she painted the other bedroom the same color after I moved out. You never know...

The orange art on the orange wall is really working for me. Love the spray-painted chandelier.

I hope we see whatever you decide for your living room in this year's color contest.

I had a landlord who wouldn't even allow me to hang my own pictures. I was allowed 1 hole per wall and, if there wasn't an existing one, had to make an appointment with the landlord for the hole puncturing. (Yes, he was crazy, and mean.)