It always bugs me when my friends put up with their beige rental walls, and then complain that their homes aren't as cute as mine. After college when I was living on my own in a rented studio, my first design decision was to paint my walls Benjamin Moore's "Wales Green." I painted before I'd bought any furniture, aside from a mattress and box spring. It instantly made me feel at home, even though my bedside table was a cardboard box turned upside down.
Apparently, decorator Nick Olsen is with me on this one. He recently shared his biggest design mistakes with The Washington Post, and first on the list is being afraid to paint. "If you're not willing to paint, you're really not willing to do much in terms of decorating," he says. "Being safe will get in the way of good design." I can hear your response already: your landlord won't allow it. Nick says, "I know people will say that they signed an agreement and they are not allowed to paint; fair enough. But every situation is different. I painted every single surface of my first apartment studio and only lost $200 of my security deposit, so it was totally worth it." Worth thinking about.
No Romeo
wow .... I liked it ,,,
1I just don't understand people who don't paint! Colour is your friend!
2Yeah, I can't paint my walls not because of the landlord; it's because I live in an old apartment and the walls are so bad. My walls are textured (I don't think that was the look that the landlord was going for) but I think there are at least 10 coats of white paint on the walls. The only walls that are decent to paint are the bathroom and kitchen.
3I love to paint walls. My only problem is that I'm impatient and I always end up getting too messy. Next time I decide I want to paint, I should probably hire someone to do it for me.
4I have always painted & am a renter. I've never had any issues from my landlords about it.
5I would love to paint the walls in our rental home but always come back to the excuse of...we are not going to be living in it permanently so why put in the effort for someone else. I know....lame! LoL
6I just re-painted a new orange in our living room and we love it! See photos here: http://houseinsideout.blogspot.com/2009/06/living-room-re-do.html
7I lucked out in my rental...the people who lived here before me painted them a gorgeous mossy green (which perfectly compliments my rose-colored furniture). The landlord figured it was easier to keep it and I have the best walls in the whole building! Yay!
8Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.