Rental Living Room Redo | Living Room Ideas

When you rent your home, you’re usually stuck with less-than-ideal design choices. They can sometimes even make the difference between signing a lease and looking elsewhere.

Rachel Rice almost went with a different rental because of how dreary her now-home looked when she viewed it. The living room was filled with tired taupe and yellowish beige walls, plus a ceiling fan light fixture that probably had seen better days a few decades earlier.

Rachel decided to move in any way in September 2018, realizing that paint and some smart decor would highlight vintage details, like the molding, that appeared dingy beforehand. “Because the house is almost 100 years old, there were lots of little holes in the walls from decades of wall hangings that needed to be patched,” she says, “but luckily the hardwood floors remained mostly undamaged, and the classic trim on the doors gave me the inspiration to build from.”

Overall, Rachel says she spent about $1,200 on the makeover, including the wall paint, sofa, shelf, and lighting, and she completed it within two weeks of moving in. Even without any structural changes, it looks like a totally new room!

Later, she decided to paint her fireplace mantle in the dramatic green paint (Sherwin-Williams’ Coriander and Olive) that she had leftover from another project. The bold color helps call attention to the fireplace’s pretty wood details and helps create a natural focal point in the room, too.

Rachel’s biggest advice for others, especially those who are renting, is, to begin with, a vision board. “Although this space and many others in my home are constantly changing,” Rachel says, “having an overall concept of the style helped me not only when it came to painting color, but selecting big pieces and then accessorizing.”

Inspired? Submit your own project here.

Check out our Living Room Decor Ideas

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