Before and After: A Rental Bedroom with Luxe, Hotel-Worthy Flair

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Rentals deserve love, too, and just because you’re not the one on the deed doesn’t mean that you can’t take steps to give your rental some personal charm. Designer Autumn Hachey agrees: She and her boyfriend knew their rental would be long-term, and wanted to make it feel like home. “I am a firm advocate for investing your time and energy into your rental,” Autumn says. “We plan to be here for a while so to me it was worth it to really make this space our own.”

One space that needed some serious upgrading? The bedroom. “It was very basic,” Autumn says. “Just a builder beige box with no architectural interest whatsoever and an offensive looking ceiling fan.” The rest of the apartment had nice architectural details, but the bedroom was completely plain—aside from its wonderfully high ceilings, which Autumn knew she wanted to take advantage of. “I really wanted to make the bedroom feel like a sanctuary,” she says.

Over the course of more than a year, Autumn and her boyfriend gave the bedroom a fresh start. They swapped out the dated ceiling fan for a vintage fringed pendant light, adding a charming ceiling medallion bought on Amazon for extra wow.

The headboard is another vintage touch, as well as the pink velvet bench. The peach sconces are from Anthropologie and the nightstands were purchased on Facebook Marketplace.

Autumn’s boyfriend installed all the molding himself, using YouTube tutorials as his guide. “There were definitely some setbacks when it came to installing the crown molding,” Autumn says. “We actually installed an entire side upside down and had to start over. In the future, I might hire someone professional for the crown molding specifically as it was a major learning curve and definitely caused us some stress!”

Occasionally high tensions aside, Autumn loves everything about the after. “I think it now feels like a Parisian hotel room,” she says. “It’s so fresh and tranquil.”

Autumn’s words of wisdom? “If you’re ever wondering what you are and are not allowed to do in a rental, ask your landlord,” she says. “Landlords are people too and sometimes they’re willing to meet you half way on your ideas.” Cheers to 2020 and loving the rental you’re in!

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