Renter-Friendly Ways To Cover Up The Ugly Bits In Your Home

6 min readNov 30, 2020

The trials and tribulations of being a renter never end. Whether you’re dealing with nightmare landlords (or nightmare housemates), whether your washing machine is constantly on the blink or your kitchen is the size of a postage stamp, it’s understandable that you’re not thrilled with giving up half your salary for your rented pad.

With the country going in and out of lockdown, it’s likely you’re spending more time in your rented flat than you’d like to, which is making you notice all the little bits that really annoy you. All the little bits that really annoy you which you can’t change. You know, because you don’t own the flat. Despite giving up half your salary for it. Shall I mention that one more time?

So ahead we’ve rounded up a few renter-friendly buys to help you cover up the most irritating bits of your flat so you can get through this lockdown in interior bliss. The best part is, they’ll leave no trace behind to annoy your landlord. Hello security deposit!

Stained Carpets

If you’ve got a mark on your carpet that you can’t get off, you’ve got two options. The first is to hire a professional carpet cleaner (from experience: it’s a shock to discover your carpets are yellow not grey) but why should you be paying for something you can’t take with you? The second option is to purchase a glorious rug (ignore anyone who says you can’t layer carpets and rugs, it’s just double comfort for your feet) which will make your rented house look divine, as well as the next place you end up.

Ugly Radiators

If your radiator is looking less than appealing (whether it’s rusting, covered in dirty marks you can’t paint over or is just plain ugly), radiator covers are actually super cheap, require minimal attachment to the wall (although renters will need to fill in the teeny screw holes with Polyfilla, sand down and paint over when they leave) and provide an extra shelf you didn’t have before. This one comes in ‘unfinished’ so you can paint it whatever colour you wish.

Horrible Fireplaces

Some seriously criminal fireplace work was done in houses over the last 50 years. If you’re stuck with a not-very-nice electric fire or a fireplace that was tiled with not-very-nice tiles, look into a freestanding screen to cover up the fireplace and make a feature out of it instead. There are some amazing vintage ones on Etsy and eBay but you could also buy something like this folding photo frame and decorate with your fave postcards and pics.*

Obviously if you have a WORKING fire, electric or not, do not go displaying flammable pieces of paper in front of it.

Sad Floors

Linoleum man, what was the creator thinking? Popular in kitchens, the hardwearing floor material is practical but it’s certainly not beautiful. There is, however, such a thing as peel ’n’ stick tiles which can be used to cover any number of unsightly floors, including those covered in lino. These clever stickers (the reviews are next level) can also be used on kitchen and bathroom walls and come up without harming the floor underneath.

Grim Kitchen Cabinets

Many landlords — the kind of landlords who own a property just to rent it out — haven’t bothered splashing out on the extras, which means a lot of cheap, plywood kitchen cabinets are out there. These are easily covered up with some peel ’n’ stick vinyl (providing you’re working with a non-textured cabinet door). When it’s time to leave, vinyl peels off super easily too so your landlord can have his old ugly cabinets back. Lucky guy!