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Renting ? ? RULES ?
A four year home publication
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by Hannah Schiller
Landlord Says... hen you’re renting a place out for only a year or two, your landlord calls the shots.
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Regulating everything from the amount of people you can have over at a time to whether or not you can light a candle. Your landlord is liable for nearly anything that goes wrong at one of their properties so it’s easy to understand why the rules are so strict sometimes.
I’m not responsible for stolen items!
No lofting your bed!
Those rules don’t have to put a damper on how you want your space to look or function. As I’ve learned, there’s always a round-about way of getting there. Based on my experience with rentals and a little bit of research on what dorms allow and don’t allow, here are nine common regulations that can but don’t have to get in your way.
The Fix... A
ll you really need to do is get a little creative.
If you need that extra push, I’ll give you nine cheap and easy solutions that allow you to follow the rules and still get what you want. Now doesn’t that sound like a win-win situation!
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Get a trunk with a lock on it. They can be put at the foot of your bed or even used as a coffee table. Lock up your valuables whenever you leave and save yourself (and landlord) the worry.
Figure out what the maximum height can be and give yourself some nifty storage that can be as messy as you want under the bed.
No painting! No candles!
You may have to get crafty for this one; cutting magazine images into shapes and sticky-tacking them to the wallisn’t easy but the finished product looks unique and beautiful.
There are tons of alternatives to candles that actually last longer like Plug-Ins and smelling oil. Bonus: you won’t set the house on fire.
If you lose your key, that’s $50!
Losing your keys is annoying as is and having to pay for it doesn’t help. Keep a hook right next to your door and hang your keys up every time you come home.
No damage to the walls!
Furniture with rough or sharp edges can easily bump into and damage a wall. Put plain old bandaids on the corners to create a buffer.
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No tape on the walls!
Hang posters and pictures directly on the wall with sticky tack. It actually stays longer and won’t tear off the paint.
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No nails in the walls!
Here’s the wildcard:
a random other thing you’re not allowed to do. For me it was use the fireplace.
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Use Command strips or hooks for big things that need to hang on the wall. For everything else, get creative! Display photos on the top of a window or hang scarves on an over-the-door towel rack. Getting by without nails is a lot easier than you’d think.
In my case, I used the fireplace (which I have grown to love) as decoration and earring display. Just run some string or lace across two nails (or Command hooks) and push your earrings through the string.