Being a renter can make you feel like a renter.
After a while, the cheap flooring and outdated kitchen can start to get to you, and you might find yourself wishing you just owned the place so you could fix it up.
But, renters can personalize their space too. In fact, you can make quite a few improvements to a rental without breaking your budget – or your lease.
Throw some paint on the walls
A coat of paint can completely transform a room. For example, my last rental was nearly perfect – except that the landlord had painted the walls the color of yellow snow.
After trying to live with the horrible color for a few months, I finally invested $50 in some light gray paint and covered the walls in a single weekend. It was like living in a brand-new apartment.
Swap out the light fixtures
Light fixtures in rentals are usually cheap, brassy, and ugly. Fortunately, if you’re handy with tools, you can swap out the ugly fixtures for ones you like – and then just pop the ugly ones back in when you move out.
And you can find cool, cheap light fixtures at resale stores. I purchased two wrought-iron chandeliers at the Habitat ReStore (http://www.habitat.org/restores/) for about $50.
Freshen up the light switches:
Replacing the light switches is a dirt-cheap and quick way to spruce up a room, especially since rentals always have the cheap plastic ones. You can find different styles at any hardware store.
Etsy also has handmade light switches. You can buy if you want a funkier look.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Please follow Your Money on Twitter and Facebook.