When you’re living in an apartment, there will often be limitations to what you can do to personalize your home. You may find that you cannot hang pictures that require nails in the wall, paint, wallpaper, or do any permanent decorating. Don’t worry, because there are still many ways to make your rental apartment feel homey.

With some affordable tools and hacks, you can personalize your apartment units or rentals to your heart’s content. Best of all, these decorating tips are low-maintenance and straightforward. You won’t risk causing any trouble with your landlord.

Check out these seven cozy decor ideas for your apartment unit:

1. Removable wallpaper

Wallpaper is an excellent way to make your apartment into something extraordinary. The removable version is easier to install than regular wallpaper. It peels off with no hassle when you want to change things up or move out.

You don’t need to limit its use to just the walls of your apartment, either. You can also use removable wallpaper for breathing new life into old cabinets or doors. You can instantly transform any flat surface with any of the wide selection of patterns. One of the best parts about wallpaper is that it’s very affordable and a lot of fun to use.

2. Peel and stick tiles

In a similar vein as the removable wallpaper, these stick-on-tiles can transform a space with no permanent impact to the space. You could retile your bathroom or kitchen backsplash in no time at all. You can easily mix and match the tiles to create some cool designs.

If you decide after a few months that you don’t like it, you can quickly change it up as the tiles are reusable. When you move out of the rental apartment, you can take them with you to the next place.

3. Small pictures

If you’re unable to hang pictures in your apartment, then you will need to get a little creative. You can hang lots of smaller pictures using peel and stick adhesive that leaves no marks on the wall. Gallery walls like this can not only look great in any space, but they are also a great conversation starter.

Giving a wall of pictures a theme is always a good idea. A common theme that many people use is travel. You could populate the wall with smaller framed photos of places that you have travelled. The best part is that you can continue to add to this as you travel more and more.

4. Area rugs

You would be amazed at what Persian rugs can do for the look and feel of a room. It can add a pop of color or structure to a space that you didn’t even know was missing. It can also feel cozy for those cold barefoot mornings.

Also, if you have hardwood floors, your downstairs neighbours will thank you as it will deaden the sound and prevent a lot of noise from leaking into their apartment. This can stop arguments before they happen and look great doing it. Another bonus is that when it’s time to move to a new home, you can easily roll it up and pack it up.

5. New handles

New hardware can completely revitalize a kitchen or home overall. What we mean by this is new handles on the kitchen cabinets and the inside doors of the apartment. Just be very careful to keep the old ones in a very safe place so that you can reinstall them if you need to. If the existing hardware is dated, this can be a straightforward and affordable hack to make your apartment shine.

6. Statement pieces

Investing in some furniture that you like can go a long way to changing the whole feel of the apartment. This could be something as simple as an elegant end table or a lamp. This is where you might have to treat yourself a little and look outside of Ikea for inspiration.

Whatever you are looking at, you should be sure to make it something you will love looking at day-to-day. Good statement pieces are also conversation starters, especially if there is a good story about them. Perhaps you found it on vacation or picked it up for cheap and restored it.

7. Good lighting

Overhead lighting can often make a place look worn out and blanched. It also highlights every possible flaw. Experiment with turning off the big light and set up smaller lights to set the mood.

The overall effect of this on the room can be mind-blowing. Be sure to get some good bulbs that are all the same tint of yellow or white. Using mismatched bulbs can prevent you from getting the effect that you want.