Your apartment might not be your own place but you still want to make it feel like home. However, rental spaces are not always the way you want them to be. The moment you acquire them, they may come dull, or sometimes even eerie.

Since you do not have ownership, you cannot easily upgrade the walls, floors and kitchen appliances without proper notice. Thus, expressing your own personality and design style is not really that straightforward when you are just renting a space. Yet, there are simple rental hacks which you can do to make your apartment feel more like home. Here are some ingenious and easy rental upgrades which you can do yourself.

1. Install new faucets and shower heads

If you want to refresh the look of your kitchen, you do not have to necessarily replace the entire kitchen sink. That would be very costly and laborious. Instead, you can replace the faucet to give a new spark to your bland kitchen space. There are several types of faucet designs you can choose from and opt for ones that will beautifully complement the existing colour and textural schemes of your sink. Make sure you select the proper size and configuration so that the new faucet properly lines up with the sink.

Similarly, you can upgrade your bathroom by replacing your shower head. You can easily install a new shower head by unscrewing the old one, wrapping a new Teflon tape around the nozzle of the new head, and then fitting it on the shower.

2. Replace your door knobs, handles and other small details

Changes, no matter how little, can spice up your apartment. If the door knobs and cabinet handles are old and worn (or sometimes even tarnished), you can simply replace them with new ones. What is good about this is you can purchase handles in packs which gives you a lot of savings.

Some come in sets of five, ten, and more. If you want fancier designs, you have to pay more a little. You can do the same with your light switch plates, toilet paper holders, toilet seats, pegs, and hangers. These are very simple upgrades but the shine they can bring life to your weary household items.

3. Improve your lighting

Add a new spark to the light in your space by improving your current lighting fixtures. To pick the right kind of lighting, assess each room’s function and decide whether it needs general, task, or accent lighting. When buying new lighting fixtures, read thoroughly the packages which contains details about the lumens and intended use.

Instead of settling with the plain ordinary light bulbs, you can also enclose them in shades that will fresh glow to your bland apartment. While you can engage in simple DIY projects such as repurposing containers as pendant lights, another idea you can consider is to invest in smart home lighting where you can create and play with various lighting ambiences.

Furthermore, you can mix different lightings inside your space. Be playful and add some task lighting to your overhead light. This way, you can still perform tasks even when the general light is turned off. For your cabinets and shelves, you can install battery-operated lamps and LED lights.

(Before tinkering with anything electrical, make sure you turn off the power properly. Use a circuit tester to completely ensure that the electricity is turned off. It is also recommended to have a friend or someone who can assist you in attaching wires and securing the new lighting fixtures to the ceiling or wall.)

4. Maximise space

If you are living in a small apartment, space can be a big challenge. However, with wise upgrades, you can still pop a fresh look to your space without consuming too much of the usable area. For example, instead of crowding your apartment with several pieces of bulky furniture, you can use multi-purpose units such as a sofa bed, or an ottoman with storage underneath.

For your kitchen, instead of having several base and wall cabinets, go for a tall cabinet that can already house plenty of plates, bowls, and other cooking and eating essentials. If you lack working space, you can install wall-mounted cutting boards or opt for modular folding counters.

5. Splash some fresh paint

This is the most logical upgrade to entirely give your apartment a refreshing look. It is also the best way of expressing your personality on your space. However, it is not the easiest upgrade because it requires enough time to prepare and do the actual work. Before you go shopping for your cans of paint, check your lease and talk with your landlord regarding painting. You may be allowed with your project given that you have to paint back the apartment to its original colour once your lease is up, or your landlord may give you the liberty to paint it any way you like.

With all the tips given above, upgrading your apartment does not have to be a daunting or difficult task to do. It does not also have to be expensive at all. With the right tricks, you can easily make your apartment about you and transform it into your real home.