How To Make a Temporary Apartment Feel Like Home: 5 Easy Steps

Design Space - 02/21/2022

The moving process is difficult. It can be stressful and pretty expensive to move all your furniture and decor — especially if you’re heading cross-country. However, if you are only planning to move to a city for a short period of time for travel or a contract job, the situation gets even more interesting. 

While you want your temporary pad to feel like a home, you also don’t want to endure the costs of shipping tons of items back and forth. While you might feel overwhelmed, there’s no reason to be! You can easily style an apartment with just a few items. All you have to do is evaluate what is essential and get strategic with your purchases. 

Of course, there are a few hacks to make the process less of a headache. Want some decor tips on how to make a rented apartment feel more like home? Read ahead and get packing.

  1. Add Some Life with Plants
Inhabitr_Add Plants

Having live plants or even faux plants in your space can make it feel like home. Plants tend to liven up the area and give the space a comforting feel. Check out your local plant nursery for seasonal sales to find some lovely potted or hanging plants. If you have a black thumb like some of us, faux plants are a great idea! 

Some good places to put greenery are window sills, tables, hanging in the kitchen, living room, or other brightly lit areas of your home. Plants that will bloom indoors give a nice colorful look to your living space.

  1. Get Non-Permanent Decor
Inhabitr_Get Non-Permanent Decor

Just changing up your apartment decor can make your place feel more like home. You do not need to go out and purchase expensive furniture to create a homey atmosphere. You would be surprised by how just simply adding a rug here or a colorful blanket there will liven up space. 

Update your bedding to something cozy and add a few more pillows for added comfort. Nothing says “home” more than a comfy bed.

The trick to figuring out how to decorate a rental apartment is putting together easy personal touches and loved belongings here and there, creating a space you can love without making too much investment.

  1. Paint the Walls, If You Can (If You Can’t, Try Some Other Tricks)
Inhabitr_Paint the Walls, If You Can (If You Can’t, Try Some Other Tricks)

Most temp places will allow you to paint as long as you do not use dark colors. It just needs to be a color that can be easily painted over later for new tenants. Try painting an accent wall in a pretty pastel. This will give your space a pop of color and make it feel like your own. Or just paint everything a nice crisp white and go with the Scandi look. 

Add some photos in beautiful frames to your walls. Maybe try a wall sconce or some other simple artwork around the rooms of your home. Just adding a few pieces to your walls here and there can make your temporary living space feel like your own.

  1. Be Strategic with Lighting
Inhabitr_Be Strategic with Lighting

A lot of temporary places do not have sufficient lighting. Some do not even have any overhead lighting and rely on the tenants to bring their lamps. This gives you an excellent opportunity to make your home feel like your own by choosing your light. 

Floor lamps tend to make your home feel more spacious and inviting. You can also buy some cute matching table lamps to tie the room together while also adding some much-needed brightness. If you already have lamps, try livening them up by switching out the lampshades for something else. Just these little changes can make you feel right at home.

  1. The Nose Knows 
Inhabitr_The Nose Knows

If you’ve just moved, you may not be quite ready to put pictures or artwork on the walls. A faster way to make yourself comfortable is to introduce a favorite smell into your new apartment.

We tend to remember scents more than the other senses, so you’re going to make sure you have the right scent in the new apartment. Set up some plants that give off good odors, burn some candles, or set some air fresheners around the apartment. Like lightning, it’s a small, easily overlooked change that can completely change the feeling of your apartment.

  1. Bonus Tip: Renting Might Be The Answer
Inhabitr_Renting Might be the Answer

Renting furniture and decor items could let you get your dream space for smaller periods of time. Inhabitr’s apartment furniture rental packages are just perfect for temporarily rented spaces, with flexible leasing options and pocket-friendly deals. Check out our designer-curated living room furniture rental sets, for example! Or our bedroom furniture rental sets, perfect for a cozy space.

If you don’t want to spend too much money on your temporary furniture, you can find lots of smart and discounted furniture on our site. Whether you are after a crisp, elegant design or a trendy colorful appeal, you can transform any short-term rental into a suitably comfortable place. We hope these home decor tips for short-term apartments help you feel at home!

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