Long gone are the days when you lived in an apartment you didn’t like- just because it was rented and your landlord does not allow you to change things around, or maybe because you thought, “Who even spends on a rented apartment?”

Now, what if I tell you that you can cost-effectively upgrade your rental apartment? You can turn your current rental house into a dream space for your family and yourself in a budget-friendly way. I will tell you 5 affordable apartment upgrades that are easy, effective, and budget-friendly.

1- Repainting the Walls with Accent Colors

You can always repaint your home walls, and it is approved by most landlords. You can also paint it yourself if you want to reduce the labor cost. It may take time, but it would be a beautiful memory.

Now, I know you must be confused about what an accent wall is, so an accent wall is a wall that grabs your attention in the room first and creates dimension. It breaks the monotonous pattern of a room through color or texture and helps in creating a good ambiance.

When choosing the accent wall, it is better to choose a square and rectangle-shaped wall with no breakage like too many windows and doors because then it derails the whole purpose of creating an accent wall to an extent. For instance, you can choose the wall behind the sofa and bed.

Here comes the hard task of choosing the color for the accent wall—that is the accent color. While choosing the accent color, ask yourself what kind of atmosphere you want to create here in your home. Is it a cozy, warm place? Luxurious or royal vibe? Vibrant and inviting? What kind of ambiance do you want to create? Also, your room, its lighting, and size play a vital role in deciding the accent colors. If your room has more natural light, then you can go for deeper tones, and if it does not have much natural light, then you should opt for lighter shades to create light in the room because a dark accent wall in a dark room can make your place look a little gloomy.

Accent colors can be divided into 5 categories

• Earthy Tones: In this, we have colors like Terracotta, Burnt Orange, or Sand Brown. These colors look good with wooden furniture. Mainly used for creating a cozy atmosphere. Terracotta walls also go well with ethnic artworks

• Jewel Tones: Emerald Green, Navy Blue, and Burgundy for a luxurious and timeless look. These colors have always been associated with royalty; hence, if you want your house theme with an Indian royal theme, go for jewel tones.

• Pastel Hues: Mint Green, Blush Pink, and Powder Blue. These days, it seems everyone likes pastel shades, and why not? They look so elegant and work so nicely with different tones of white.

• Bold Monochromes: Navy blue, charcoal grey, and black. In case your house has enough lights and you like these bold colors, then go for these.

• Cultural Colors: Saffron, Indigo, and Turquoise. These colors look phenomenal with Indian crafts, like indigo can be paired with traditional Rajasthani artwork.

According to the requirements of your home, you can choose among any of these 5 categories and suit yourself with a perfect accent color for your home. This is a budget-friendly upgrade to your home, and to be honest, your landlord would be more than happy with it—just choose a good rental-friendly design and say yes to non-destructible decorating.

The second point in the Renter-friendly upgrade is

2- Revamp the Furniture

Revamping your furniture is one of the most cost-effective ways to transform your rental space. You don’t need to buy new furniture; instead, you can give your existing pieces a fresh look through various DIY methods.

Usually, it’s better to buy new furniture for your home catering to the ambiance you are creating, but as we are talking about renter-friendly upgrades, it’s better to revamp your old furniture rather than buy a new one. You can be as creative as you can be with old furniture, and as they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Here are some budget-friendly ways to revamp your furniture:

• Paint or Stain: Give your wooden furniture a new life with paint or stain. You can transform dark furniture into light pieces or vice versa. Just ensure proper sanding and priming before painting. You can paint your old furniture with wood paint and completely change its look.

• Change Hardware: Replace old knobs, handles, and pulls with new ones. This small change can make a significant impact on the overall look of your cabinets, drawers, and doors.

• Reupholster: Instead of buying new chairs or sofas, consider reupholstering them with fresh fabric. You can easily find affordable fabrics at local stores or online marketplaces.

• Add Decorative Elements: Use contact paper, wallpaper, or decals to add patterns or textures to plain furniture surfaces. These are removable options perfect for rentals.

• Rearrange and Repurpose: Sometimes, simply rearranging furniture or using pieces in different ways can create a fresh look. For example, use an old ladder as a shelf for succulents and small decor elements.

These furniture revamp ideas are not only budget-friendly but also allow you to personalize your space without making permanent changes. Plus, you can take these upgraded pieces with you when you move to your next home.

3- Add Indoor Plants

Plants are the best thing for Budget-Friendly Décor. They are easily accessible, available, and also budget-friendly. Plants can be used in various ways to upgrade your rented apartment and even your home.

Different types of flower plants or plants with various colors and patterns can help you to decorate your home. Just make sure you don’t clutter your home with greenery because it can easily be overdone, so just make sure you choose the plant that caters to the aesthetic of your home as well as those you actually need and like. Adding plants on the side of the sofa or near your window is a great option.

You can also create a terrace garden if you like gardening. You can use plants as a centerpiece in your hall and other places.

If you are someone who can’t manage plants you can use easy-to-maintain plants such as money plants and snake plants, no need to overburden yourself with responsibilities.

Here are some additional easy-to-maintain decorative plants for Indian homes:

• Succulents – These are mentioned as low-maintenance options that can add beauty to your home.

You can place these plants in various locations like:

• Entrance area
• Near the bookshelf
• By the windows
• As centerpieces.

To make them more decorative, you can personalize the plant vessels by painting them or creating designs – this is both affordable and attractive.

Here are some more easy-to-maintain indoor plants:

• Peace Lily
• Jade Plant
• Aloe Vera
• Lucky Bamboo

You can use money plants in creative ways to hang around your window so that it looks beautiful and refreshing. It is a renter-friendly upgrade.

You must have seen that if you strategically use plants it creates magic in homes, workplaces, and anywhere. This Budget-Friendly décor can help you alleviate your rented apartment.

Here I am adding some pictures, where you can see how by using only a few plants you can upgrade your apartment.

4- Create an Art Gallery.

Usually whenever we hear the word, “ART” we think about expensive things, but there’s no need for art to be over the top, it can be simple and sober yet still feel rich and beautiful.

So how do we even create an Art Gallery? Well, it’s not as hard as one might think it could feel.

First, choose which wall will be your art gallery. It can be a plain wall in your living room you do not know what to do with, or it could be an empty corner you were wondering how to decorate.

Once you have chosen the wall, take into consideration what color frames and which artwork are you going to use, so that you can paint your wall with a contrasting color. That would make your gallery pop out more.

Coming to my previous point art doesn’t have to be expensive you can frame your and your kids drawing if you like. You can choose a good picture online that fits your house’s criteria. Or some traditional Indian art forms can give your personal space a new makeover.

An art gallery is a good rental-friendly upgrade and even budget-friendly you can add your creative ideas while creating an art gallery so that you feel connected to your home a little more.

Here we have some traditional Indian art forms listed for you.

• Madhubani paintings \ Mithila paintings
• Pichwai paintings

These traditional paintings can add cultural value and character to your space while being budget-friendly. They work particularly well with cultural colors like indigo, which can be paired with traditional Rajasthani artwork.

Remember one thing don’t start drilling on a wall just because you got inspired by an article in a rush, make sure you have checked all the frames whether they look good together or not. Check whether all the frames go well with each other, and plan a careful frame layout, easy way is to take a picture of the wall and all your frames edit the picture of frames on the wall and see yourself whether it fits right or feels right. Once you are satisfied then only you should start drilling and decorating the frames. This is a budget-friendly and Rental-friendly idea to upgrade your home.

Moving on to the next topic.

5- Using Mirrors to create an Illusion of Space.

Mirrors have reflective surfaces that help us create an illusion of space and help us make

our rooms look a little bigger.

Now just because I suggested mirrors, doesn’t mean you should go and fill your house with mirrors. There are various kinds of mirrors that you can use for different purposes.

First is the wall mirror, use these mirrors in compact places such as foyers or passages. rather than using a simple mirror, you can use rose gold or bronze mirror to make your home luxurious.

if the height of your flat is quite short, which is the case in most modern houses nowadays then using a ceiling mirror is good for creating the illusion of height.

Buying mirror furniture like coffee tables, side tables, and cabinets provides a minimalist ambiance for the home. you could also buy an accent mirror to decorate a plain wall, and if you pair an accent mirror with some decorative furniture it will give comfy vibes.

But please be careful with mirrors. There are long stand-alone mirrors for the corner of your rooms as it would help you in creating dimension, plus who doesn’t like a little mirror selfie spot for fit checks.

If you think these above recommendations are yet expensive for you, you can go with simple mirror with frames and later on you D-I-Y decorate it or you can paint as per your need to fit your apartments demand.

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CONCLUSION

Transforming your rental apartment into a dream space is easier than you think. With budget-friendly upgrades like accent walls, revamped furniture, indoor plants, art galleries, and strategic use of mirrors, you can create a personalized, stylish home without breaking the bank or violating your lease. These simple, renter-friendly ideas allow you to turn your space into a cozy, inviting sanctuary that truly feels like yours. Start small, get creative, and enjoy the process of making your rental feel like home!

These were our 5 rental Friendly Upgrades in budget for you.

Hope this Blog helped you in solving some of your problems regarding upgrading a rental apartment. feel free to let us know whether you liked this blog. Connect with me through my YouTube channel and Instagram.