Make Your Place Feel Like Yours With These 3-Rental Friendly Improvements

In life, there are homeowners and there are renters. I’m myself a renter in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the country, so unless I chance upon a winning lottery ticket or an inheritance I don’t yet know about, I’ll likely rent forever. It’s fine by me, since home ownership isn’t a life goal of mine.

But had it not been for the lockdown in 2020, I never would have confronted the actual meh-ness of my living situation. The apartment I’ve been renting for the past 13 years is comfortable but still feels like a "temporary space," and obviously isn’t a true reflection of my taste or aesthetic. So over the past few years, I decided to fine-tune some of the interior details that I did have control over. These upgrades fall within my own limitations as a renter—my rules included no hardwiring, no painting, and no hiring a TaskRabbit (I want to be able to complete every project on my own). As it turns out, the smallest of DIY tweaks have seriously uplifted my space—as well as my mood.

Upgrade the hardware

Last year, I restored all of the Art Deco-era door knobs and door backplates in my apartment by removing the decades-old paint from the hardware. Bringing back the luster of the vintage fixtures was immensely satisfying and relatively simple (albeit time-consuming).

But if the original hardware in your rental isn't worth restoring, an even easier alternative is to swap them out for non-boring knobs, pulls, and handles. You can even replace light switch plates, towel bars, and any knobs from furniture pieces. All you’ll need is a screwdriver.

Content creator (and renter) Brigitte Muller, who specializes in DIY home projects, recommends House of Antique Hardware for affordable reproductions of vintage-looking hardware. You can also search on Etsy and eBay by typing in "hardware" along with a combination of words like "cabinet," "knob," "drawer," "pull," and "vintage."

For a design-forward moment, the newly-launched hardware retailer Petra, founded by Sight Unseen’s Monica Khemsurov, has handmade options from independent artists like Fort Standard, Pamela Love x Guillaume Pajolec, The Perfect Nothing Catalog, and Atelier Jonathan Cohen.

Let there be (new) light

There’s not much you can do when it comes to original lighting fixtures—unless you want to go through the hassle of taking out the lights you already have and then re-hardwiring a new one. Hardwiring is not an impossible DIY task, of course, but it does involve several cautionary steps like knowing what gauge wires and amp circuits your rental is equipped with, how to identify the hot wire (this is the wire that will shock you if it’s live), replacing wire nuts, and untwisting and retwisting various wires. Plus, it’s crucial that your hardwiring job is up to code and won’t be a fire hazard, especially in an older home.

Not a MacGyver? Neither am I. Luckily, there are many non-hardwired sconces, pendants, and light coverings in the marketplace. When it comes to installation equipment, the most you might need is a drill, a level, and maybe a ladder.

The easy-install, rechargeable Poplight, which adheres right onto the wall, is a quick way you can add mood lighting to a space. In my bedroom, I’ve got a plug-in Gantri wall light installed above my bed, which is a nifty space-saver if you don’t want a lamp. In a pinch, pendants and hanging lights can also illuminate specific areas—like above a dining table or reading nook—and the versatile Color Cord has budget-friendly options starting at $30. For hiding unsightly boob light fixtures or bare bulbs, Tulip Shades are a renter’s dream.

Get shady

My apartment windows originally came with those old-school vinyl mini blinds where the cords often become lopsided. (The technology? Terrible.) The vinyl was hideous, janky, and dusty even before I moved in. Some of the blinds had straight-up broken off.

During the pandemic, my former roommate went to Home Depot and bought cordless cellular shades to replace the vinyl blinds. It was a simple gesture that significantly upgraded the apartment. (Measure your window widths beforehand so you can get the shades cut to size at Home Depot.) To install, all you need is a power drill to secure the top brackets—the shades just click into place. And if drilling is too much of a chore, you can always opt for no-drill blinds, which utilize an adjustable top headrail with a built-in tension that tightens in between the inner frame.

From there, you can further dress up your windows with grids that channel country-house energy or draping homespun curtains that add personality.

Top photo by Aleksandar Nakic/Getty Images

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Restoring the Vintage Fixtures in My Rental Is an Easy—and Satisfying—Improvement