Author / Stacy

Though moving into a bland rental apartment with lots of decor limitations can be a bummer, it doesn’t mean you’ve got to stay stuck with a home you don’t love — or that doesn’t express your personality. Use one or more of these proven tricks for renters for a big impact on the look of your space — without spending a lot of money, either.

1. Paint or personalize an existing furniture piece

You might not be able to paint your walls thanks to a strict lease, but one of the easiest ways to inject a lot of personality into a room is by painting on a lot personality (in the form of color, texture or pattern) to an existing piece of furniture. Remember though, that you don’t have to do a lot to bring about a big personality change — even just a well-placed design detail can be attention grabbing and put your mark on a space.

2. Dabble in removable wallpaper

Wallpaper is one of the easiest ways to make a room scream “you,” but of course, if you can’t paint, you probably think you can’t have wallpaper, either. Well, you’d be wrong. Today’s selection of removable wallpaper is more impressive and personality-filled as ever, and worth delving into if you’re looking for something to really make your rental stand out. With a bold or colorful enough pattern you wouldn’t have to even use a lot; just one wall or one part of a wall could do the trick. And of course, you could use non-removable wallpaper in non-permanent ways (like framing) to add personality, too.

3. Layer rugs

Unless you’re quite lucky, you might not have the best floors in your rental. In fact you might even have old carpet. The thing you’re going to want to try is layering rugs. Though it’s true it might come off a bit bohemian (and if that’s not your style, this might not work for you), but layering small to medium rugs over floors you don’t love gives you control over disguising those floors, and creating your own hip look under your feet. And since buying smaller rugs to layer can be more affordable than buying big versions, you can save some money. Or you can try and keep to budget by DIYing patterns on more affordable rugs, too.

4. Nail the lamp game

You’re going to want to really ace the lamp lighting situation in your rental for several reasons. One — great lighting creates an undeniably awesome atmosphere that can make even the most blandest of blank rentals look warm and inviting. And two, dynamic lighting in a space is always a great addition to someone’s style. And since you might not be able to do any drilling in the walls or ceiling to hang pendants or install wall-mounted lights, upping your lamp game is a natural and easy way to add personality to a rental. Don’t neglect upping each individual lamp, either, by tackling old lampshades. It can be a fun DIY way to add a spot of color or pattern.

5. DIY big art

Hey if you can afford to buy a giant art piece, all the more to you. For the rest of us, we’ve got to get a little crafty to add personality to our rental spaces. A big DIY piece of art is an awesome way to do that (and depending on the project idea, could be easy too). If you can’t drill into your rental walls, consider leaning your art.

6. Incorporate big mirrors

Mirrors are one of the easiest ways to shake up the kind of wall decor you’ve got in your home, reflect a lot of light and, if you play your cards right, show off your personality, too. Look to thrift stores, Craigslist or garage sales to score really giant mirrors that you can DIY the frames of to add bold color or pattern.

7. Add temporary pattern in the kitchen or bathroom

The kitchens and bathroom of boring rentals can be some of the blandest rooms of the whole home. Often small and sometimes even windowless, when you’re stuck with plain white or beige cabinets and walls, you might feel a little confused about how to add personality into these spaces. So go straight for the backsplash. There are lots of ways you can use temporary products to mimic the look of boldly tiled backsplashes in the kitchen or bathroom that will make the place look like it got a remodel.

Save your leftover coffee, coffee grounds and even coffee beans to use in  unexpected ways around the house.

-Next time you make a pot of coffee, pour some into ice cube trays. Once frozen, you can use them to chill iced coffee without diluting it.

-For smoother skin, mix coffee grounds into regular body lotion to make it exfoliating.

-Deodorize unpleasant kitchen smells (such as in the freezer or refrigerator) by placing a small bowl of coffee grounds anywhere you want odors absorbed.

-Rid stubborn smells from hands after cooking by gently rinsing them with coffee grounds.

-Coffee grounds can help clean grimy, grease-stained objects such as pots and pans – just be careful of light-colored items that might be stained.

-Diminish cellulite with this easy trick: Mix warm coffee grounds with any basic massage oil and rub onto skin. Caffeine (an ingredient found in many skin creams) can help reduce the appearance of cellulite.

-Repel insects (particularly ants and slugs) by sprinkling coffee grounds anywhere you want to keep bugs out.

-Many experts say that coffee is the secret to ultra-shiny strands. Brew a pot of coffee, let it cool, and then rinse over wet hair in the shower.

-Fix light furniture scratches by rubbing damp coffee grounds onto the mark. You should see an instant improvement.

-Steep coffee grounds in hot water to make a natural, sepia-colored dye for Easter eggs or crafts.

-Liven up a clear decorative vase by putting coffee beans in the bottom, then use as a holder for makeup brushes or pens.

-The nitrogen in coffee grounds can help fertilize plants that require acidic soil, such as roses and hydrangeas.

-Before cleaning a fireplace, sprinkle any leftover ashes with coffee grounds to prevent dust and ash from polluting the air in the room.

-Keep pets out of the garden by sprinkling a mixture of coffee grounds and orange peels in the area.

-Absorb odors by sprinkling coffee grounds in the soles of dirty shoes.

-Coffee grounds are great for composting.

 Apples to Apples-This is a game “filled with surprising and outrageous comparisons.” It moves quickly but is intended to keep you and everyone else laughing.

Adult Hedbanz – Wear a headband with card attached that has an object such as an animal or food on it. Everyone except you can see the card forcing you to ask questions to try to                                                               guess what’s on your card before time runs out.

The Game Of Things – These days everything comes in a box, even humor. In this game a topic card such as “things a chimp thinks about when he sees you at the zoo” is read aloud. Participants write their responses which can be anything they think of. After, responses are read and everyone tries to figure out who said what.

Scattegories- Scattegories gives each player a list with various categories. A dice is then rolled to reveal a letter. Players find words that start with the letter that was rolled and fit in to the categories on their list. For example if your list includes categories such as fruit and buildings and the letter “A” is rolled, you could write words such as apple and apartment. The catch is that you’ve only got three minutes so need to think fast!

Size Matters – A testament to the fact that for many folks size does matter. In this humorous game players “compete to determine the longest, fattest, thickest, and generally the biggest things in life!”

More Dirty Minds- In this second edition to their first game, because there are more people with dirty minds than one might think, everyone gets to see whose spouse has a dirty mind by reading “naughty clues” to opponents as they try to guess the subject. Amazon gives the following example: “Q: A man does it standing up. A woman does it sitting down. A dog does it on three legs. A: A handshake.”

Baffle Gab– Have a way with words do you? In this timed game, write your own story using five “game words” before you run out of time.

Til Death Do Us Part– Love a good mystery, good food or a good party? Then this “mystery dinner party” game is for you and, it even comes with menu and costume suggestions. “Eight guests arrive at a lavish wedding reception in the Cayman Islands when one of the guests is mysteriously murdered.” You and the other “wedding guests” must work together to expose the killer.

Would You Rather?– This funny game gives two awful scenarios in which the player if forced to chose one. Yup! You have to choose. None is not an option in this game.

What’s Yours Like? – Come up with clever and crazy ways to describe things ranging from your neighbor to hair while trying to keep the player in the “Hot Seat” from finding out what your word is.

Taboo – In this party favorite, players have to get their teammates to guess a word while not using “taboo” words. Hasbro gives the example of trying to get your team to guess “brain freeze” while not being able to say words such as ice cream, cold, or headache. Oh and you are on a time limit!

Reverse Charades – Charades in Reverse! One person has 60 seconds to guess as many words as they can while a team acts them out.

5 Second Rule – The 5 second rule doesn’t just apply to dropped goldfish crackers. In this game you do something such as “name three breeds of dogs” but you have to do it in five seconds. Will you get flustered or can you think fast? In this game, only time will tell.