So now that you’ve seen Alex’s entire space, lets talk about how we solved some of the renter’s woes.
The vertical blinds on both of the windows was probably the biggest hurdle. I was completely for taking them down entirely but there were a few problems with doing that.
1. There was literally no where to store them. No. Where.
2. They are more fragile than the leg lamp on A Christmas Story. There was no way they were going to survive relocation even if we found somewhere.
3. To replace the sun blocking powers they have we would have to get some major blackout curtains, which on our time limit (and within a budget) wasnt an option.
![48 Hour Apartment Makeover-3[3]](https://vintagerevivals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/48HourApartmentMakeover33.jpg "48 Hour Apartment Makeover-3[3]")
The blinds had to stay. So the best option that I came up with was to hide as much of the ugly as possible.
We bought some simple brackets and wood from Home Depot, as well as curtain rods and hooks from Ikea and built a cornice box to hide the track.
The giant wall with the sliding door actually has 3 seperate sections on it (with windows on either side of the door) so I bought 3 packages of basic white curtains from Ikea to visually seperate them (and have a place to tuck the blinds behind when they are open). They are also fully functioning curtains that can be closed if Alex wants to hide the blinds while they are shut.
![72 Hour Apartment Makeover-59[5]](https://vintagerevivals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/72HourApartmentMakeover595.jpg "72 Hour Apartment Makeover-59[5]")
![72 Hour Apartment Makeover-55[5]](https://vintagerevivals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/72HourApartmentMakeover555.jpg "72 Hour Apartment Makeover-55[5]")
What a huge difference it made!
I have to say, I’ve bought a lot of curtians from Ikea and I was SUPER disappointed at these ones (normally I love them) They were all different lengths and cut wonky. So my advice is to make sure that you have at least 4” to work with on your curtain length to hem out the problems.
Renter Woe #2 was that there is no overhead lighting in the living room.
The solution that I came up with was to add lamps wherever I could.
These simple wall sconces were made with baskets (I just removed the handle and bent the rings so they could lay flat against the wall) and a light kit.
![72 Hour Apartment Makeover-3[2]](https://vintagerevivals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/72HourApartmentMakeover321.jpg "72 Hour Apartment Makeover-3[2]")
The table behind the couch was also a great place for a light because the cord is completely hidden by the rugs.
We also added the awesome macramehanging light above the desk. I wish you could understand how huge the light bulb is. It is easily the size of my head!
![72 Hour Apartment Makeover-34[5]](https://vintagerevivals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/72HourApartmentMakeover345.jpg "72 Hour Apartment Makeover-34[5]")
Renter Woe #3 was the beige. So much beige. I think one of the reasons that I am so against it is becuase it just feels so lifeless. Plants are lifeless beige’s best friend.
![72 Hour Apartment Makeover-44[2]](https://vintagerevivals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/72HourApartmentMakeover442.jpg "72 Hour Apartment Makeover-44[2]")
We found a handful of plants at the flea market and the rest at Home Depot. Um, you guys. Remember how my life was changed by Staghorn Ferns? Yeahhhhh. They sell them at Home Depot for $10. Just another reason why California is so much cooler than Utah. (If you didnt know, HD sources all of their plants from local growers, so you’ll find different plants in different climates. Which is why Southern Utah has such a killer cactus selection!)
Renter Woe #4 was the oatmeal carpet. I had a few of you ask about putting rugs over the carpet, so lets talk about it! (I’d love for you carpet dwellers to weigh in below!!) I am not a huge fan of carpet (we dont have any in our house at all) but ripping it out was absolute the least likely change we could have made. Luckily (?) it isnt the worlds plushest carpet. The main seating area has a giant seagrass rug down first and the woven rug on top of it, which seemed to give it a pretty good base.
All design rules out the window, if you have ugly carpet, why cant you cover it up? Sure your rug might shift and buckle easier than it does on hardwood or tile, but I’d much rather fiddle and adjust than look at the bad carpet. Its not fair that some people get hardwood AND cute rugs and others are destined to carpet exile with not even a bandaid.
While we are on the subject of the rugs, I’ve got to tell you about a project adjustment that we just didnt have time for.
I wish with all my heart that a larger sisal existed. This one was the only one that World Market had in store, but if they had had another I would have bought 2 and taken a few rows of squares off of one and put it on the other to make it bigger. The rug itself is a bunch of squares stitched together with twine, so it would have been a perfect fix. It haunts me everytime I look at the pictures!
Just picture it with a few more rows on the end and all the way underneath the couch! Alex if you’re reading this, go buy another one and save it until we come down again, I’ll do rug surgery when we get there!
I feel like all in all we did a fantastic job working with what we had! And I seriously need that orange rug and those chairs for my house.
I love that sisal rug, and your light fixtures are awesome, as usual! You really made the place look more individual, and like a home.
1. I use rugs on my wall-to-wall carpeting. So far, just a jute rug (which like you found, works best against shifting) in the living room, but if I found other affordable area rugs, I’d definitely throw one in the bedroom.
2. I’ve been trying to come up with a plan for covering my vertical blinds for 9 MONTHS. The issue? Mine go all the way up to the ceiling (there’s drop down right above the door for an air shaft), so there’s no room to hang a cornice above. I’ve thought about the IKEA DIGNITET but it’s just not my style whatsoever. Thoughts?
Stephanie, a friend of mine had the most brilliant solution to covering the top of vertical blinds that I’ve ever seen. Not sure if this would work for your blinds, but it might help someone else. She took a long cardboard tube (about 4” in diameter), I think it was the core of a roll of craft paper or something. She cut a slit all the way down the length of the tube and spray-glued a beautiful faux-silk fabric over the tube. Then she just pulled the tube apart enough to clamp it over the part that held the vertical blinds. It looked gorgeous, and although it didn’t cover the blinds themselves, it went a long way toward making it look so much better.
I’ve discovered that rugs on carpet can be a problem is you have kids- specifically my daughter spilled water on the rug in her room and I didn’t know about it. The rug on top dried, the carpet underneath got mildew-y smelling. It took me a while to pinpoint the problem but when did and pulled up the rug- it was going green on the back. Gross!! A very specific, weird problem but could be a issue for some.
I LOVE IT! I just used that dining room light in my dining room and I’m ob-sessed with it! It all looks amazing!
may i ask where you got the orange rug and chairs? i love the look of both the rugs together! i’m going to try the look in my living room… Thank you!
They are both from World Market, I have links in the reveal post that will take you to exact URL!
xo
m
I know you can’t paint but it looks like shelving and the lights could be hung on the wall so I think it would be nice to place some color on the walls with artwork. Spray paint the metal sconces a bold color look for a large graphic poster if “real” art too expensive or maybe you could make him something graphically textural and bold…which I think would fit with his apartment style.
Hey, thanks for addressing the rug over carpet issue! I have to admit that when I was trying to cover ugly LA carpet years ago, sisal and jute rugs were not that widely available. I’m sure that just the texture of them would help keep them in place over the carpet much better than a wool rug would.
I love it! Beige is lifeless. Nicely stated. And yes, I totally agree whole heartedly, that plants are beige’s best friend. You can never have too many plants. Rentals do present numerous problems but you have some amazing, easy and cost effective solutions.
Lightbulb source for the giant one?
Yes, including the cord if it’s separate. I NEED to know, it’s just so glorious.
I love what you did in here, looks so good! I am also very in love with those chairs.
I’ve been wondering since your last post about those little lamps on the wall! I love them! I’ll see if I can find a similar looking basket here in The Netherlands, I’d love it for my bedroom!
I love everything, but especially that wonderful macramé hanging bulb.
Love the entire room!
Is the macrame hanging light a DIY? So gorgeous, would love to know how to make/where to purchase! (as well as the giant light bulb!)
I’m with you when it comes to carpets on carpets: sound pretty meh – like something my mom did circa 1997. But in all reality I love it. I’ve got wall-to-wall Kermit green carpet in my home. I know it sounds hideous, but I’ve grown to love it maybe too much (definitely one of those “from my cold dead hands” sort of things). I’ve got a small den next to my living room and those spaces needed to be a little more well-defined. So I dropped a loud, semi-psychedelic, semi-Moroccan style rug on top of that green and pretty much fell in love. I know it sounds like a total train wreck, but it totally fits the 1960s feel of the home and helps separate our living room from the den/sewing room/music room. I say if you’ve got the right combo (like you do here), it totally rocks so hard.
There is no link in the original post for the fabulous giant light bulb macrame covered cord light. I did find the bulb at World Market site. But not the macrame covered cord. Did you do the macrame yourself? It is a simple repeated single knot (yes, I am old enough to have done macrame back in the day) so would not be hard to make my own with a pendant cord kit. Curious minds want to know!
I have always been a plant lover and lived in rentals up until I was in my mid-thirties. Plants always breath new life into any room! Especially a beige one. I do the same at work in my cube covered in grey. I can’t deal with a dreary environment, it makes me sad so I have to add some color and life no matter where I am!
Thanks for the great post and lots of inspiring ideas anyone can use. Because even if you are free to make any changes you want, sometime you don’t have the funds or know how to get there fast enough. You rock as always!
I love your light fixtures and your “no rules” attitude! You are inspiring me to be more adventurous and creative and putting things together you normally think would not compliment each other! Thanks for the fearless tips! 🙂
How you situated the area rugs over existed carpet is amazing. Renting can really pose a challenge.
These posts have been some of my favorite posts ever!
I actually like that the rug is only two thirds under the couch. It looks like it’s in line with the door and it really serves to delineate the two separate spaces in the living room.
In my last place, I bought a 12 x 12 bamboo rug — the kind that looks a lot like the tambour on a rolltop desk. I found that if I placed it so that the slats ran perpendicular to my walk path, it rolled like mad — but if I turned it so that the slats ran parallel to my walking path, it never moved. (In other words, when I stepped onto the carpet, I stepped onto the cut ends, not the middle of the slats.) I have no idea if this works with all rugs, but it worked with that one!
What is the source for the wicker lamp shade? I like it!
A plethora of good tips! And you’ve given me a shopping list! I never think to check out world market. clearly I should be!
The whole place looks just *awesome* — well done!! Love the light fixture above the dining table.
http://www.annlanglois.com
Comment: you’ve done an amazing job making this place look like a million dollars in renter money!!!
Question: where is the macrame pendant light from?! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you!!!!!
The whole space turned out amazing! Great work!
-Shonee
http://www.hawthorneandmain.com
I’ve always understood that the problem with rugs over carpet is that when you walk o the rug it actually tugs and pulls the carpet in a way that wears the carpet under the rug, even creating holes and thin spots in the carpet (while the rug remains looking great). I like the look and say ‘go for it’ but be aware it might be an unpleasant surprise (and expense) when you move out and pull up the rug and discover you have to replace the carpet.
Yes! I want to know the giant lightbulb too!
Great job! I especially like the giant light bulb, and the use of plants. One small tweak though, please rehang the American flag so the blue field is in the upper left, which is the proper way.
Love! I’ve been wanting to replace the icky ceiling fans in my rented home for ages, but was too scared to take on something that involved electricity INSIDE THE WALLS. Seeing what a difference it can make (and that it’s, I guess not that hard?) has renewed my will to redecorate. Also a question – why are people so averse to painting the walls in their rentals? If you plan to live there a few years, why live with beige? You can always paint it back when you move out, just like you can always repaint the rooms in a home you own. I rent and my entry way is blue, my kitchen is yellow, my bathroom is grey and the living room is white – and so much more cheery and homey than if I’d left it beige for the last 4 years. Renters against beige, unite!
I rent a tiny apartment that originally had vertical blinds. I work for a window treatment company and have property owner customers who purchase vertical blinds for rentals . The feeling I get from a lot of them is that they basically anticipate replacing the blinds with every new tenant. You may or may not eat a few hundred dollars when you get your security deposit back. If you’re sticking with a place more than a couple years, it may be worth it. Some landlords view damage on blinds as normal wear and tear so they don’t charge the old tenant who is moving out for the new blinds. I imagine that if the blinds are gone and replaced with something nicer they would have a similar response.
With this in mind, I had no qualms with taking mine down and trying to donate them. I eventually resorted to sending the PVC slats to the landfill and recycling the metal head rail. After all, PVC/vinyl potentially contributes to negative environmental air quality so I didn’t want it around my house.
I just happened on your blog today and am enjoying your projects! I admire your creativity!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I feel like so many websites (*cough AT cough*) talk about decorating rentals, but then only show photos of gorgeous industrial lofts with exposed bricks and 12 ft. ceilings. They’re beautiful, but as someone who lives in the most stereotypical of beige rentals, I always feel a little cheated. But what you have done with this apartment (that looks eerily like mine) gives me hope!!!! I can’t wait to get home and cover up my vertical blinds *immediately* haha. Thank you!