When you think of rental furniture, second-hand tatty, ratty brown couches and vinyl chair coverings come to mind and let’s face it – it doesn’t sound that appealing. Well times have changed, and rental furniture has picked up its game and the furniture available is modern, sleek and elegant and the range is huge.
In my line of work, I’m never in one place for a long time. In my last ten years of work, I lived in six or seven different places for medium to long periods of time. Long enough to want to have some homely comforts, but not long enough to buy a house or fill a house full of new furniture. That’s why I love renting, because I can deck out my house exactly how and want to and not have to worry about lugging all the furniture with me. The rentals terms are extremely flexible and it gets delivered directly to my door, wherever that may be in the world.
There is quite a variety to choose from so if your house looks tacky, don’t blame the rental furniture – your interior design skills and furniture choices are probably what’s lacking here. Make sure you check out the house or apartment you’re going to be finishing first. You want the furniture to gel with the existing theme. Plus, you will need some idea of how much furniture you will need to fill the space.
It’s easy to get excited and go overboard when you’re renting furniture. There is such a wide selection and once you get in the showroom it quite exciting. I made this folly on my first renting experience. I ordered too much furniture and could barely walk around my apartment it was so cluttered. Since then, I have adopted a minimalist approach. I only order what I need and I try to keep as much walk space as possible. It makes for more of an open environment and for me personally I find it easier to relax and think.
It’s a fine line between too little furniture and the right amount. You instinctively know when you have too much or too little furniture. You will feel that something is missing or you will be kicking your toe every 10 minutes, cursing that extra coffee table you thought you needed at the time.
So once you know how much furniture you need you can start planning the layout and colour scheme for each room. Don’t worry too much if the rental company will have your favourite colour schemes. As I said before, the range is huge and you will certainly be able to find that olive green couch if that tickles your fancy.
The best thing to do is get a pen and paper out and draw up the floor plan of your abode and start pencilling in where you want everything to go and write down what colours you want them to be.
I usually choose a colour theme for each room and take the entire colour scheme of the house in mind. Each room should look unique, although the house should look complete. So choose a colour scheme for each room that will gel with the other rooms and you can’t really go wrong.
I always start with the living areas, such as the lounge room and the kitchen, because this is more than likely where you will be spending most of your time. Keep it light and keep it breezy. Using light colours for your furniture will make the space appear to be more open. Carefully plot out where your walkways and chill out zones will be.
There should be some continuity between your living room, dining room and kitchen, because they all kind of join together. Start off with a neutral base colour that’s to your liking and add highlight features such as cushions and lamps to bring colour and vibrancy. If you stick by this simple rule, you have a hard time messing up your interior décor. Throw rugs are another inexpensive way to further enhance the rooms in your house. I always buy some indoor plants once I’ve settled in a location for 3 months. It just adds a nice touch of colour and makes me feel at home. When you do leave, gift your houseplants to friends and neighbours to keep the plant and the dream alive.
It doesn’t take much to turn a temporary house into a home. Rental furniture may not be yours to own but it’s yours while it’s in your house and doesn’t have to look tacky. If you choose your furniture and décor right, you will turn your short-term accommodation into an inviting home to relax and de-stress in after a hard day at the office. This helps for overall health and general wellbeing. I hope I have given you some tips and ideas for your next move and adventure.
