A rental living room usually comes with beige walls, a ceiling light that’s too bright, blinds instead of curtains and floors you didn’t choose. You can’t change much permanently, but a few things that come with you when you move make the biggest difference.

Curtains, hung high

Almost every rental has blinds and nothing else. Add linen curtains (on Amazon) on a rod mounted as close to the ceiling as you can and a little wider than the window. The window looks bigger and the room looks taller. A few screw holes for a rod are usually considered normal wear, but check your lease; tension rods work if you can’t drill.

Choose a light, plain fabric in white, cream or oatmeal so they work in your next apartment too.

A rug that covers the floor you don’t like

A 5 by 7 rug (on Amazon) under the front legs of the sofa and the coffee table pulls the furniture together and hides a lot of carpet or laminate. Washable rugs are worth it in a rental, especially with pets or a balcony door.

Too small is the most common mistake. If the rug only fits under the coffee table, it looks like a bath mat.

Lighting that isn’t the ceiling

The ceiling light in most rentals is harsh. Leave it off in the evening and light the room from lower down:

  • A floor lamp (on Amazon) in one corner, ideally dimmable.
  • Plug-in wall sconces (on Amazon) on either side of the sofa or a bed. They mount with two small screws or strong adhesive strips, and the cord can run down the wall in a cord cover.
  • Warm bulbs, around 2700K, in everything.

Three light sources at different heights make a rental feel like a home more than almost anything else.

One wall that’s different

If you can’t paint, peel-and-stick wallpaper (on Amazon) on one wall, behind a bookshelf or inside a niche gives you color or pattern. Test a small piece first in a hidden spot and peel it after a week to make sure it doesn’t lift the paint. Some flat paints don’t like it.

Art without nail holes

Lean framed prints on a shelf, a picture ledge or the back of a console instead of hanging each one. If you do want things on the wall, removable hooks and strips (on Amazon) handle most frames under a few pounds.

Furniture that moves with you

Things that make a rental feel like yours and still fit the next one: a good sofa, a rug, a couple of lamps, a bookshelf, plants. Things to skip: built-to-fit pieces sized exactly for this apartment’s odd corner.

Plants

A couple of large plants make a room feel finished faster than any accessory. A fiddle-leaf fig or a monstera near the window, a pothos trailing off a shelf. They come with you, and they cover a lot of blank wall.

Before you move out

Take down hooks by pulling the tab straight down along the wall, patch any small screw holes with spackle, and you’ll get the deposit back.