How to Decorate a Rental with White Walls

Rentals? White walls? Paint? Those three words don't go well. Are you thinking of pimping your apartment walls but is doubting that your landlord might come after you? Don’t worry! Today, you’ll learn the secret on how to decorate a rental with white walls. Since you can’t paint walls of rental apartments, your option to decorate your space is through — TEMPORARY VINYL.

White walls are beautifully clean and crisp, relaxing to look at, but sometimes looks reminiscent of an insane asylum. Why stare at a blank canvas all day if you can make your space a little slice of heaven? Here are some great decorating ideas to turn that blank canvas into a vibrant wall.

How to Decorate Your Walls with Temporary Vinyl

A room with natural light and white blank walls is a place waiting for a little revamping. But the issue will always boil down to — you can’t make permanent revamping on a rental apartment. Do you have to stop there? NO!

You’ll be amazed to know that there are a lot of things you can do using a temporary vinyl and a cutting machine. Why temporary vinyl? As the name implies, it’s temporary. You can remove it anytime you want, in case you’ll have to move in the future. That means you don’t have to be in the hot seat with your landlord.

As for permanent vinyl, it’s a big no no for rental apartments. Why? Well, it’s permanent, and even if you try to remove it, it will leave sticky residues, or worse damage the wall’s paint. So better stick to temporary vinyl if you plan on pursuing this project.

See the photo above and below? With simple letterings, inspirational quotes, perhaps images using temporary vinyl, you can turn a white wall into something extraordinary. That being, while saving money from hiring advertising companies and having the freedom to place any design you want.

What is needed to decorate blank walls with vinyl?

If you’re a first-time crafter, and don’t know the ins and outs of vinyl usage, don’t worry, this is an easy task. First, familiarize yourself with the supplies needed and gather them. Here are the supplies you need:

• Cutting machine (Silhouette or Cameo)
• Temporary craft vinyl from TeckWrap Craft
• Weeding tools
• Cutting mat
• Squeegee
• Transfer tape
• Pen and ruler

Step-By-Step Guide on How to Decorate White Walls with Vinyl

Your concerns are: Where do you want to place the decal? What design do you want to place?  As soon as you’ve answered these questions then you’re ready to start! Just a tip, when it comes to placing decals on walls, make sure the wall is smooth and even. Adhesive vinyl won’t stick to rough and uneven walls.

In case you’re wondering how much a cutting machine costs, prepare around $250 to $400. Other supplies mentioned above prepare around $40. All of which are also available at TeckWrap Craft. For the next part, here are the step-by-step guide for this craft project:

• With a tape measure or ruler measure the wall and determine the size of the decal where you want to place it.
• Using a pencil, place guide marks on the wall on where you want to place the vinyl.
• Cut the only vinyl you need as you don’t want to waste vinyl.
• Place the vinyl on the cutting machine, with the colored side up, facing the cutting machine blade.
• Upload the design on your cutting machine’s design software.
• Resize the design on the design space or how big you want the decal should be on your wall.
• Test cut first!
• Send the vinyl for cutting into the cutting machine
• Weed the excess vinyl
• Transfer the vinyl to the transfer tape
• Transfer the vinyl on the wall and use a squeegee to smoothly flatten it out. Use the pencil marks you drew earlier as the guide marks on where to place the decal.
• Then you’re done!

Just a tip when placing wall decals, make sure it has a cohesive look with all the other items in the room. These include the furniture, art display, light fixtures and more. You want everything to match and not look too overwhelming.

What kind of decals can you place on your wall? There are plenty of ideas. Inspirational quotes, personalized names, vectors of famous people, cute shapes and many more. Like the photo below, you can also create large decals like a family tree, perhaps cute animal images for the baby’s room and plenty more ideas.

Another tip when decorating on a wall with white paint, is to use dark-colored vinyl in order for the colors to pop out. Just like the photo below, where the color of the tree used is blue, doesn’t it look great? In case you use light-colored vinyl, use dark-colored borders around it in order for the shapes to pop out.

Other Ways on How to Decorate White Walls

Aside from decorating white walls with vinyl, there are other ways you can make your space aesthetically-pleasing. A tranquil feel of a room doesn’t only depend on wall decorations but the overall look as well.

Why not make this rental room feel like your own home? Before anything else, think about the vibe you want your apartment to feel like. Do you want a minimalistic look? Do you want a modern nordic look? What kind of color shades do you want to put together?

Be strategic and envision what you want your room to look like. If you have white walls, think of brown and gray colors. Here are other ways you can decorate a room with white walls. The good news is, you don’t need to spend too much money revamping your space.

Hang Decorative Mirrors

Photo by Elina Sazonova from Pexels

If you have a small space, your aim is to make it feel bigger, and one way to do that is by installing mirrors. You can opt for stand-alone mirrors for the bedroom, or for your living room you can hang decorative mirrors just like the photo above. Take your pick!

Install Floating Shelves

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels

Before you take on this project, you should check on your rental agreement if you can screw floating shelves. If it doesn’t state otherwise, then go ahead and install floating or open shelves. On the shelf, you can place books, plants, picture frames and other spectacular accessories.

Hang Decorative Pieces

Photo by Cats Coming from Pexels

To make your rental home more artsy, you can hang decorative pieces like paintings, abstract discs, sculpture frames, or hanging ornaments. Add color to the space by hanging colorful decorative pieces. This will surely turn a dull white wall into a piece of art.

More Greens!

Photo by Charlotte May from Pexels

If you live in an apartment and don’t have a backyard, for sure there’s one thing your eyes would want to look for — PLANTS! Stock up with succulents, indoor plants like spider plants, or even potted flowers. If you don’t have a green thumb, you can opt for plastic plants or leaves.

Hang Picture Frames

Photo by Rachel Claire from Pexels

Of course, you want to showcase your family, loved ones and fond memories, so you don’t want to skip hanging picture frames on your white walls. Make it a gallery wall of your travel photos, most memorable moments, or perhaps art works like the photo above.

Don’t limit yourself with one picture frame, you can create a collage of picture frames to make it look more aesthetically-pleasing. You can collage picture frames of different sizes or align the same sizes of frames. It also helps if you plan to place black and white photos, then stick to it. If you plan to hang colorful pictures, it helps if they have the same color hues or filters.

Abstract Paintings Bring a Little More Color

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Of course there’s the abstract painting that will even make you forget about that dull white wall. Commission on beautiful abstract paintings as they would pop out more on white paint and will surely add more color to the room. If you’re on a budget, you can buy ready-made canvas paintings from Target or any craft store.

Set-up Your Furniture Nicely

Photo by Maksim Goncharenok from Pexels

For every apartment, aside from your wall decorations, the focal point will always be the furniture, especially the living room. So may want to think long and hard about the furniture you want to invest in. These include your couch, throw pillows, console table, and the rugs.

Give life to your house by sticking to a matching style of your furniture. Of course, you should also aim for a unique look that not most people could think about.

Make White Walls Come Alive with Temporary Vinyl

Temporary vinyl is one of the best ways to liven up a blank white wall without having to drill holes. or paint them. Just make sure to use the right adhesive vinyl. You can begin with removable starter vinyl packs to experiment.

Remember that a white wall will bounce light all around the room from the corners to the windows. This will highlight the details of the room which is nice, but truth told is dull. With the tips you just learned above, you can turn a room with white walls into a beautiful place you can call your own.

Excited? Surely you are! Gather those supplies, plan out your projects, and do these tasks on the weekends. The point is, even if you’re on a lease for your home, you can convert it to your own liking by personalizing it just the way you like it. Of course, don’t forget to have fun!