You’re standing in the living room of your newly rented apartment and, looking around, are pretty pleased that you managed to find a place that fit most of your needs: one bedroom, heat included, close to work, within budget.
You aren’t necessarily pleased, though, about the paint-chipped radiator in the living room, the brown-rusted pipe jutting across the kitchen ceiling or the pea-green bathroom tile, but you turn a blind eye to these idiosyncrasies, figuring in the scheme of things, decor isn’t a top priority.
Well, as time marches on, these once minor nuances now have festered into major annoyances, and, suddenly, you wish you could eradicate the stomach-turning tile, the perturbing pipe and the clunky radiator.
As a renter, technically, the apartment property isn’t yours to alter. But signing a lease doesn’t necessarily mean you have to live with stark white walls that leave you snow-blind or with color-clashing carpeting.
You do have the option of altering the look of your rental unit to your liking simply by asking your landlord about his or her decorating terms and by following a few interior-decorating tips that will help you camouflage features you can’t change.
Apartment dwellers might be surprised to learn that it’s fairly common for landlords and building managers to allow residents to paint or wallpaper their apartments, under certain conditions.
“The rule of thumb with landlords is when you move out of your apartment, you have to put the place back to the way it was when you first moved in–at your cost,” says Linda Zelechowski, assistant manager of Four Towers Apartments, a high-rise vintage rehab on the North Side.
Many property managers, like Zelechowski, say they don’t mind residents painting a preferred color, installing wallpaper or hanging curtains, as long as residents understand that they are responsible for all the costs incurred–not the landlord.
“It doesn’t hurt to ask your landlord if you can paint, but know what you’re responsible for,” says Michael Lennox, president of MorLen Realty Corp., which manages two vintage apartments in Oak Park. “We have a paint scheme, so all the apartments are uniform; residents who paint their apartments have to paint it back to the building’s standards before they vacate the apartment.”
At Fox Valley Village Apartments and Lofts in Aurora, residents may do decorative trims to walls and windows, as well as adding strippable wallpaper to the vaulted ceilings.
“Just ask permission,” says Diane Ahola, property manager of the 420-unit modern complex. “If you want to use trim around windows or wallpaper parts of the apartment, discuss it with your landlord first and understand your responsibilities for the apartment conditions and costs.”
There are certain apartment features that renters might not be particularly fond of, but are features that landlords typically say can’t be altered, including carpeted and hardwood floors, heat and air units, radiators and pipes. This is where a bit of creativity and decorative touches can camouflage or deter the eye from features one might deem as unappealing.
“If you can’t change anything, change through decorating,” says Bill Parker of Deutsch Parker Design Ltd., an interior-design firm in Chicago. “You can change the look of a room or of an uninteresting feature and make it interesting with simple touches.” Here are a few of Parker’s decorating and camouflaging tips.
– Pipes. Paint them an attractive or wall-matching color; or drape fabric in front of them and hang artwork on the fabric, creating a backdrop that draws the eye’s attention to the artwork instead of the pipes.
– Radiators. Build a shelf over the top, with slats in the front to let steam escape; put furniture in front of the radiator to hide its bulkiness.
– Windows. Use treatments, such as mini-blinds or curtains, to hide cracked wood or peeling paint on weathered window sills.
– Built-in bookcases or shelves. Place tall, multipanel screens in front to hide them; plants also become screens; or hang fabric as a backdrop to hide nooks and crannies and other built-in architectural features that aren’t to your liking.
– Floors. Place area rugs over hardwood floors, carpeting and kitchen and bathroom tiles; on carpeting, put a non-skid pad underneath the area rug, so it won’t buckle or slide. Ask your landlord if you can tape down carpeting over hardwood floors.
– White walls. If you can’t paint or wallpaper, hang colorful, patterned artwork that fits your color scheme and taste.
Because apartment living is confined to a limited amount of space, Parker says deliberately arranged furniture can create an illusion of a more interesting apartment style.
For square-shaped rooms, Parker recommends diminishing the harsh, square edges by angling furniture or placing a screen in a corner, which also doubles as storage area to hide things behind; round furniture also makes the room look less boxy.
For studio apartments, Parker says the key to opening up the room and making it look interesting is to have a day bed, as opposed to a queen-sized bed that ends up dominating the room.
By adding splashes of color with throw pillows, rugs and wall trims, as well as angled furniture and fabrics for camouflage tricks, Parker says your apartment will reflect your personal style and will feel more homey, without damaging property that’s not yours.
When Liz Rohan moved into her one-bedroom, vintage Rogers Park apartment five years ago, she wanted to create a country-antique decor, but didn’t want to commit to expensive furniture or interior decorating while renting.
“It was up to me to create the motif,” says Rohan. So, Rohan gathered some ideas from home-remodeling magazines and used fabrics to transform her 1920s dwelling, with wall cracks and antiquated appliances, into a more updated country-style place with an antique flair.
Her decorating scheme included taking an undecorated day bed and, with a blue color scheme in mind, adding dust ruffles and pillow shams to fit her country-style motif. “I didn’t want to invest in big-ticket items since renting is temporary for me,” explains Rohan. “I only invest in furniture that I’ll eventually want in a house, such as my antique rocker, the wooden storage bench and the bookcase.”
Other furniture, like the day bed, and knickknacks were purchased at discount stores or flea markets, with the intention that the items can be donated when she moves out of the apartment.
Another tactic Rohan used to dramatically change the apartment without altering what’s already there was making curtains with fabric remnants to hide the peeling paint on the windows and also covering her small desk with patterned fabric to achieve the country-style motif in the bedroom.
“The day bed symbolizes my apartment philosophy of `temporary,’ ” says Rohan. “If I somehow end up moving into an apartment with brown and orange carpeting, I can redo the pillows and shams to fit into that decor and only bring with me the furniture I invested in that I’ll eventually want in a house.”
For Rohan, like most apartment dwellers, renting an apartment doesn’t always mean you have to settle for an apartment’s annoying idiosyncrasies or unattractive features. With a bit of money and a splash of creativity, residents can incorporate their own personal pizzazz without marring property.
