How to decorate your rental property to create a home you'll love

Who said expat life was all cocktails by the pool?

Life as an expat is fun, but living in rented accommodation, often moving from place to place, brings with it its own issues.

I moved to Chicago when my daughters were three and six months old and lived in a beautiful house with big rooms and tall ceilings, making our British furniture look like it had been made for Borrowers. We then moved to Dubai, where the sun rotted and discoloured the fabrics quicker than I could replace then. Finally, we moved to Singapore, where the humidity encourage mould to grow on natural materials such as my leather sofa. It turns out that choosing furniture to match the weather can be expensive, and that expat interior design can be hard work!

We’re now nestled in a village on the edge of the Surrey Hills, in a home we own. I can paint the walls when I want, and hang pictures where I want.

One of the trickiest problems of expat life is creating a home in someone else’s space, where you’re limited in how you decorate the walls. Often long-term rental landlords allow you to hang pictures (check your contracts first!), but restrict more involved work.

So how do you decorate a rental property? At the end of the day, you’re not going to stay in a property very long if you don’t feel at home. Here’s some top tips for creating interiors that work for you.

1. Be creative with colour

Your landlord may be happy for you to paint the walls, usually on the understanding that you return the property back to its original state. Even if you’re not keen on sinking your hard-earn money in redecoration there’s a lot you can do to add cheer, investing in things you can take with you.

Cushions and throws are the easiest and most cost effective change you can make, as well as bed linen and art. If you’ve found some gorgeous fabric you can’t live without, changing the curtains will have real impact, or if that’s a step too far, how about making a wall hanging to go behind the sofa or bed?

2. Be creative with pattern and texture

Changing the carpet is a huge financial investment, but adding a rug isn’t. Used in a clever way, rugs can create zones, and the illusion of cosy spaces in big rooms. They also add warmth on hard floors and help to dampen the noise.

If you don’t want the hassle of papering the walls, there are lots of beautiful removable murals that can be added. Plants are another way to add texture as well as helping to make your home healthier. Layer them using different height planters, or use them to decorate shelves and fill spaces.

3. Centre of attention

If there are areas of your home you’re not keen on, using the artefacts you’ve collected during your travels to create interesting displays will draw the eye, whether that’s pieces of American art, Asian sculpture, Middle Eastern coffee pots or African fertility beads!

The key is to group pieces in odd numbers and display them in unexpected or interesting ways. Sometimes a simple line of pots on a shelf is understated enough to says lots, especially if it’s given space to breath. Layers of artwork leaning against a wall or on top of a sideboard adds intrigue and means you don’t have to put extra holes in the wall!

4. It’s all about the detail

You may not be able to change your kitchen, but if good interiors are about drawing the eye, how about changing the handles? Keep the old ones somewhere safe so when you move you can swap them back again.

Hate the glass in a door? Add some patterned or coloured film to create something interesting. And if you want to hide a horrible corner, it may be worth buying a decorative screen.

5. Use all the senses

How we feel in a space is not just about what we can see. Sometimes it’s about what we can’t see. If you hate the lighting add some beautiful lamps. These can be works of art in their own right, enhancing a room with colour and shape. Candles are also a brilliant way of creating an atmosphere, and a scented candle will also excite the nose as well as the eye.

Moving again? If you’re moving house soon, the Packing up chapter in the book Do they eat soup in England? Insights and advice for expats struggling to find their identity abroad may be useful. The book is available from Amazon in paperback or for Kindle.