Decorate around what you hate: boring walls

Many renters can appreciate the unique predicament of being surrounded by boring white walls.  You’d like to fix your rental up, but at the same time it is a rental and you might not be allowed or willing to make any major alterations to the space.

But if you plan on staying put for a while you’ll want to make your place your own.  For a person who loves color or who desires to put his or her personal stamp on things, try short-term solutions to do away with white walls.  

Group artwork together to add energy to white walls

Art:  One of the easiest solutions to bare walls is artwork.  Unify your photos and artwork with frames of a single color.   To capture the feel of a gallery group black and whites together and create a separate vignette with color photographs.   Add professional polish to your photographs with mattes.  You can create your own with heavy paper stock and a craft knife.  Take it a step further by tying your artwork together through theme: urban landscapes, nature, people or famous landmarks.  The possibilities are endless. 

Shelves create architectual interest

Architecture:  A floating wall shelf is a renter’s best friend because it adds architectural interest to rooms that are commonly void of any real character.  A floating shelf also frees up the floor space typically taken up by display tables and floor shelves.  The trick to this look is to keep your accessories simple and mix up their heights.  If you’re not sure what to display or how to display it, use a theme or color: antique cameras, glass vases, vintage perfume bottles or anything blue.  It’s all about what you like.

Anchor your room with a floor screen

Floor screens are also another way to inject personality into a lackluster space.  They have a dynamic effect on a room because they instantly change its physically lines.

Paper:  Wallpaper is usually off limits to most renters.  And because of the time and expense, traditional wallpaper isn’t a good option for a place you don’t own.  But you can still get the cool look and pattern of wallpaper by creating your own.  Just take your favorite paper sample or photograph down to a copy store and have them blow it up onto larger sheets.   A staple gun is an easy and quick way to mount the paper to the wall but you can always experiment to find your own method.   Keep in mind that a paper pattern with dark colors will best disguise the staples.

Photos by Tara Etienne