little home improvements that will make you feel like you own your rental

With the ‘Australian dream’ feeling as unattainable as owning a Birkin bag, my guy and I have decided it’s not the right time for us to be buying property in Sydney right now and we’re happy renting our very own 2 beddy in Sydney’s inner-west.

We’ve been in our place for a little over 18 months and when we moved in I didn’t know how much our place would reflect our personal style. When renting, it can be hard to really make it feel your own without a coat of paint and drilling a few holes; on top of that, getting home after a full day at work calls for dinner in front of a Netflix and not much else!

Just because I love myself a good list, here are my little home improvements that will make you feel like you own your rental:

Create a Pinterest board- this will help you establish what style you’re going for and you won’t come home with half Parisian apartment and half industrial.
Work with what you’ve got- we flipped the furniture in our living room and the room looks completely different. Sometimes you just need a little rearranging.
Shop on a budget- think stores like Kmart, Spotlight and Bed, bath and table to buy little decor pieces.
Read how I did it below…

Earlier this year I decided to give the apartment a bit of a sprucing and did what I do best- went shopping! I am by no means an interior decorator, and my Pinterest board is as varied as a bowl of fruit loops but that didn’t stop me.

Homeware shops are an exciting yet dangerous species of store and you begin contemplating if you should buy items you previously didn’t even know you needed; magazine rack, yes, please! An extra four throw pillows for the bed, well you can never have too many.

I know I have a shopping problem and once I start I can justify buying pretty much anything, so I thought why not buy more for less and head to factory outlet Birkenhead Point.

The centre was my go to growing up and the recent refurb gives a sense of luxe, at discount prices. Stores like Bed Bath and Table and Spotlight are great as they have so much variety you’re able to grab a basket and start bringing looks together aisle by aisle.

Our feature wall in the living room is a duck egg blue (look it up, it’s a colour) and I wanted to complement within the room.

Seeing as I no longer am a uni student chained to my desk, we decided to move it to the living room as an entryway table and added three decorative vases with some greenery.

If you read my post on how to decorate your desk on the cheap, you’ll know I love popping a plant here an there to make space feel a bit more lively. Stack some books and you’ve got yourself a stand for your little succulent buddy.

I was lucky enough to inherit this beautiful jazz festival poster from a colleague of mine and as much as I love it, I’m too nervous to hang it up as the thing weighs a tonne! Instead of putting our 3M hooks to the test, we decided to rest it against the wall.

This idea came from a late night scroll through my Pinterest feed and I thought it’s a perfect way to avoid drilling into the walls and be trendy at the same time; win-win!

I think I’ve hit my word limit of pretending to be an acclaimed interior decorator but I’ll share a few more images of little things you can do to make your place feel more like your own.