Renting and renovations are not two words you’d usually see in the same sentence. But what if I told you there are some things you can do to spruce up your rental that don’t require your property owner’s permission?

Making sure your interior design is to your acquired taste can impact your feeling of ‘home’ so customising your rental property to suite your style is key.

With a lot of enthusiasm and just a little bit of know-how, cosmetic changes to rentals are more achievable than you think (and don’t need a massive budget!).

Dulux colour and communications manager, Andrea Lucena-Orr, says to achieve a stylish look that’s uniquely you, customising your interiors doesn’t need to include major renovations.

“People often underestimate the power of paint as a cost effective and impactful way to jazz up a space,” says Andrea.

“Additionally, colour can be introduced in a number of ways to help tailor and refresh interiors, all whilst keeping the structure and integrity of the home intact.”

Undertaking a room makeover in her own rental property, Dulux trend forecaster and stylist, Bree Leech, showed how impactful colour can be using colours from the 2022 Dulux colour forecast.

“Our dining room had a feature that didn’t work for us, and I wanted to fix it for some time,” says Bree.

“It was a neutral space that had a cut-out in the wall so you could look through to the adjoining room. The cut-out feature was serving no real purpose and the dining area itself just felt a bit flat.”

Covering a cut-out feature with fluted panels, Bree chose a fun and bright colour to add a pop of spunk into her family and meals room.

“I chose colours from the Wonder palette for this space as they best represent my personal style. The palette is fun and joyful – everything I wanted for this room,” says Bree.

The backdrop colour Bree chose for the wall panelling was Dulux Harmonious in Wash&Wear, and she feels she was able to breathe back life and creativity into the space.

“Letting the Wonder palette inspire me, I’ve added new chairs painted with Dulux Plunder in Aquanamel, a new rug and lots of colourful vessels to fill with flowers. It’s really helped bring the space to life and is now somewhere the whole family enjoy spending time,” Bree says.

“What I love about the Dulux Colour Forecast trends is you can choose any combination of colours from a palette, and they will work together.

“It allows you to customise your own scheme and feature your favourite shades in larger proportions but then add smaller amounts of the complementary colours from the palette in accessories and soft furnishing, like fabric prints and artwork, to create a cohesive look.”

Top styling tips with Bree Leech

1. When it comes to colour scheming, going bold can really pay off but equally, small changes can make a big difference. If you want to introduce smaller pops of colour, choose furniture items or highlight small areas of a wall, door or even your ceiling.
2. If you’re renting and working with shelving that has a backboard, paint a contrasting colour behind the shelves so your other décor items can stand out.
3. Remember, colour is not just for walls! Painting dining chairs or a table is also a great way to achieve this look whilst renting. Add artwork that references your colour scheme to bring it all together.
4. When selecting colours, always have an overall mood or style in mind and select colours that help bring this idea to life. It’s helpful to have a visual you can refer to like a mood board, materials board or a Pinterest board. This helps keep your colour scheme cohesive and gives you a reference point to work out your proportions as this can dramatically change the mood of the space.
5. Working with existing fittings and fixtures can often mean a clash in colourways. While you may not be able to pull up the carpet or replace the kitchen benchtop, you can always add rugs for a tonal effect to get you closer to your desired palette. Dulux also offers a wet room coatings range (Renovations range) which allows you to paint over existing benchtops, cabinetry and tiles for a bespoke, premium look.
6. For colour surety, test your shortlist by purchasing some A4 samples sheets and non-marking removable colour stickers from the Dulux Colour Shop and Dulux sample pots from your local paint stockist. Paint a cardboard slip or piece of paper and leave the painted swatch up on the walls for a few days. Move it around the room at different times of the day to ensure you love the colour/s under different lighting conditions – both natural and artificial. 

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