How to add personality to your apartment and follow the rules

Personalizing your apartment home can be difficult while having to conform your style to rules against permanent fixtures or changes.

However, there are some quick do-ityourself projects that allow you to add your flair and personality to any living space. After spending months working or attending school from your apartment home, chances are a little flair will help liven it up.

A DIY project that requires some crafting is a trendy plant hanger that can act as a room divider. This is perfect for smaller spaces, especially a studiostyle apartment. All you need is a wardrobe rack that has a shoe shelf on the bottom, hanging planters. Rope and spray paint are optional. Macramé planters can also be incorporated.

First, if you choose to, paint your wardrobe rack to match your aesthetic. Using spray paint and painter’s tape, you can paint the rack a solid color or create a design. (Always make sure you paint in an approved and open area).

As the paint dries, use the rope to decorate your hanging planters. A simple way to do this is to wrap the rope around the wires of your hanging basket, hot gluing each wrap as you go. This also can be done to your pots, or they can be painted to add color. Or go with a more natural look by using the rope and leaving a clay pot unpainted.

Once everything is dry, hang your pots at different heights from the top bar and place a few on the bottom shoe rack. Now, place your wardrobe rack garden in a corner near a window or use it to create two spaces in one room.

Bed slats can be hung on walls to create more space in all rooms. They are not light and you want to keep your things safe, so make sure to use hooks that can withstand heavier weights.

Hang caddies with over-the-door hooks or zip ties on your slats to declutter your bathroom. This also works for utensils and recipes to clear up kitchen counter space. In the bedroom or office, the slats can be used as a calendar or a memo board.

For smaller DIY projects, contact paper and wallpaper are a renter’s best friend. Wallpaper can be used for its known purpose and be put up for a statement wall. It can also be placed on the outside or inside of cabinets for a surprise of color or used to create a wall calendar.

Contact paper allows you to upgrade your counters in minutes. A marble contact paper will take your kitchen to a whole new level. Just measure, cut, line up the edges and push out air bubbles as you go.

Before making any changes or applying wallpaper or contact paper to any permanent surface, please make sure you get approval from apartment management to avoid any surprises at the end of your lease.