Renters Weigh In: Are Temporary Adhesive Design Products Still Working Months Later?
We write all the time about DIY ways to deal with what the rental gods gave you, and the solutions to temporarily mask the old and the ugly. But how do they do in real life? We recently asked a bunch of people about their experiences with various adhesive products — contact paper, window film, and temporary wallpaper — and here’s what they told us!
We followed up with a handful of people several months to one year after they initially transformed their spaces with various temporary adhesive products marketed to renters. This is what they reported back to us:
1. Emily Henderson Tested Adhesive Window Film So You Don’t Have To
Last April, Emily Henderson needed a privacy solution for her rental studio space. Her Editorial Director, Brady Tolbert, covered individual panes with a variety of window film, which not only added pattern and color to the space, but also much needed buffer from prying eyes.
2. Kathryn Covered Her Kitchen Cabinets With Temporary Wallpaper & Here’s How It Went
When Kathy and her family moved into their rental apartment in Japan, they were greeted with a blank white canvas. In addition to covering their concrete walls with creative treatments like fans and Washi tape, she covered their kitchen cabinets with bold floral wallpaper. She started packing to move last week, and took a minute to let us know how it was to remove.
3. Stacy Put Contact Paper On Her Countertop & This Is What Happened
Stacy’s rental bathroom started out just fine. She had white and grey tile floors, a grey-blue wall color, and a white pedestal sink. The bathroom was tiny, but there was a separate counter and mirror from the sink, with plenty of space to store her products. The only trouble was the green countertops, which made the bathroom feel dark and dingy despite it being light everywhere else. So, to glam it up a bit, she covered the whole thing in marble contact paper, which stayed there until the day she moved out.