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The days are slowly getting longer and tulips are pushing up. As spring emerges so too does even the most reluctant DIYer, ready for some changes at home. The joy of decorating these days is that it doesn’t have to be a huge project. Likewise, even if you don’t own a home there are so many easy and cost-effective changes you can make as a renter. Here are 7 removable products that every renter really needs to be in the know about – we’re all for encouraging you to think outside the box.
1. Command Strips and Hooks
OK, so yes these are one of the most well-known removable products to use when adding personality to your home. No more getting in trouble for blutac and drawing pins. Instead, from pictures and photos to kitchen utensils and bathroom tidies, Command have a range of tools readily available at most DIY shops including Wilkos, and Hobby craft you may find on the high street. With different sizes available, you can hang pictures of differing weights but just be careful to make sure you use the right product for the right weight and as a little tip, sometimes sanding down the back of your frames can help them adhere more easily.
Other uses these removable products have around the home are especially in the kitchen. You may not always have the biggest amount of space in a rented kitchen so maximising what you do have is key. Think about using hooks and clips for everything from utensils to aprons and tea towels, or the inside of cupboard doors (as seen below) They can be easily peeled off when the time comes without leaving any marks
2. Tile Stickers
Tile stickers are one of the most reasonable removable products which can also have the biggest impact. Bathrooms and kitchens aren’t always the most modern or personality-filled spaces. Tile stickers offer the ideal solution and there’s now so much choice. The best way to use them is as a splash back in the kitchen, but they’re equally hard-wearing on a bathroom floor. Even better, compared to paint so long as you pop the stickers on carefully you won’t necessarily need to update the grout and when you’re finished, simply peel the stickers off.
3. Removable Wallpaper
This has to be one of the best inventions!! No getting covered in wallpaper paste, or pulling off walls of plaster when you take wallpaper down. Removable wallpaper is one of those removable products that’s ideal for just about any room. And before anything says otherwise, feature walls definitely aren’t dead! Try using removable wallpaper anywhere from alcoves to a nursery/playroom, there are so many endless possibilities. See here for our favorite places to buy removable wallpaper
It’s not just walls that you can use it to enhance though. Think about popping a small sample inside a cupboard or drawers, or even be adventurous and use it on the floor in your entrance way. Sometimes it’s not just the products that are ingenious but how people decide to use them.
4. Contact paper
Also known as sticky back plastic for the uninitiated, contact paper is such a game-changer when it comes to removable products, meaning that even if you rent you can dramatically change the appearance of your home. If you’re not familiar with using contact paper, it can be used from anything to changing the colour of your picture frames to covering shelves and mantel pieces. It takes a bit of practice to get perfect and eliminate air bubbles.
No doubt the biggest impact with removable products comes from contact paper’s ability to completely transform a kitchen. Budding foodie but nowhere to take your insta-friendly required food pics? Grab some marble or granite effect contact paper – the king of removable products – and voila! Beautiful new work surfaces which look chic and expensive but for a fraction of the cost and can be taken off easily. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that no-one would want to take it off at all.
5. Window Film
This may not be the most obvious choice when thinking about home improvement. Despite that, the market for window film has expanded hugely lately and there are some stunning patterns if you want to smarten up your windows. As with most of the other removable products we’ve talked about so far, window film is easy to use, pretty inexpensive, and can also be easily removed.
It’s also been used in other clever ways including sectioning off glass shower screens and in more modern homes where there may be a lot of glass, using the window film can create a bit of interest or privacy.
6. Washi Tape
This isn’t a new product to the world of creatives, but again it all comes down to how you use it. Long adored by stationery aficionados, it used to be exclusively aimed at wrapping presents and decorating notebooks. Now though washi tape is a bit of an underdog when it comes to removable products. From everything to plant pots and small ornaments, to creating striking borders when decorating entire rooms, washi tape is every renters key “think outside the box”. Grab a roll and get playing!
7. Vinyl Flooring
Often flooring is one of the first things to suffer in most homes, because well, wear and tear. Whether it’s pets, children or day to day living it’s impossible to keep flooring immaculate and so finding useful, hard wearing alternatives is always a good solution. Removable products therefore don’t come much more useful than vinyl flooring, in a click and lay format.
Ideal for any room from living rooms to hallways, bathrooms to bedrooms, the way the vinyl is fitted by click and lay means that it doesn’t need any damaging adhesive laid underneath and so if it’s ever removed it shouldn’t damage the underlying floor.
Hopefully this has given you some helpful ideas when thinking about filling your rental property full of life and personality. You never know, don’t rule out chatting to your landlords/letting agent because there are increasing amounts of examples where landlords are more flexible than we initially give them credit for.