5 Ways We Make a Rental a Home

We've noticed something over the last couple of years: more and more of our clients are renting, and not because they have to.

Sure, some of it is life transitions, like someone going through a divorce and needing a new home fast, or empty nesters selling the family house and testing out New York City for the first time before they commit to buying. But honestly, that's not the whole story anymore. We recently finished a project for a couple, happily married, no life crisis in sight, who chose a $35,000-a-month rental. We won't pretend to know everyone's exact reasons, but it's not hard to guess at the bigger picture: with mortgage rates where they are and prices still high, buying just doesn't pencil out the way it used to for a lot of people, and keeping your money invested elsewhere can make a lot more financial sense than tying it up in a purchase right now. Renting at the top of the market has become its own thing, and we're here for it.

PAINT, ALWAYS PAINT.

A little paint does a lot of heavy lifting.

This is the one we push hardest on, and I know it feels counterintuitive since painting is a real investment in a place you're not going to own forever. However, landlords are, across the board, terrible at picking paint colors. It's builder-beige or hospital white is everywhere, and it flattens a space in a way that are hard to describe until you've fixed it. We've seen it change a rental from "fine, temporary" to "wow, I actually love coming home" more than almost anything else we do. If you do one thing on this list, do this one.

WINDOW TREATMENTS (AT LEAST SOMEWHERE)

If your rental doesn't come with any window coverings, you will obviously need something to add privacy and block light.  Beyond the basics, if you know you're going to be in a place for four or five years, it's worth adding real draperies or fabric shades in the rooms that matter most to you. You don't have to do them in every room, and we do not insist on it the way we do with paint, but in a bedroom or a living room, custom window treatments add something to a space that a stock roller shade just can't.

LIGHT FIXTURES

Swap them out. This is the easy one, because unlike paint or drapery, your light fixtures come with you. They're an investment in your future home just as much as your current one.  A builder-grade fixture hanging over your dining table versus something with actual presence changes the whole feel of the room, and you can pack it in a box on your way out.

WE’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE YOU GET RID OF GOOD FURNITURE

This one isn't unique to rentals, honestly; it's true of every project we do. If you have a piece that's great quality and it fits the style you're moving toward, we're going to find a way to use it—we're not the kind of decorators who need a clean slate to feel like we've done our job.

Two sofas - one owned, one new, now with matching upholstery.

That instinct matters even more in a rental because we're always thinking about what happens after this apartment. We had a client recently move from a classic prewar apartment uptown to a loft downtown, and the scale of the living room was a completely different animal. The obvious answer was a huge modular sectional, something substantial enough to hold its own against those windows and the view.  While it was considered, a sectional like that would have run around $50,000, and there was no guarantee they'd stay in that loft forever. If they ever moved back into a more traditional apartment, that sofa would have nowhere to go.

So instead, we kept the beautiful sofa they already owned, found a second one on a resale site, had both recovered in the same fabric, and placed them back-to-back in the room. It gave them the same generous, cozy feeling they wanted without a giant price tag. Now, if they ever do move somewhere smaller, at least one of those sofas will go with them. (do we have photos of this?)

That's the mindset behind every furniture decision we make in a rental—we want you to invest in pieces you'll actually love living with, but we're always asking ourselves whether a piece could have a life after this apartment too. There's never a guarantee, but it's worth thinking about before you spend the money.

ACCESSORIES ARE NON-NEGOTIABLE

The secret ingredient that pulls it all together, in any space, but especially a rental? Yeah, that would be accessories. These are the details that add personality into a home, give it a point of view, and make it yours. We don't skimp here, and it’s always layered into every project from the beginning. Yes, it’s pillows and throws, but it’s also art and ceramics, lamps, frames, and books. We work with some collected things you love and fill in to create cohesion and a sense of place. 

Accessories abound, and bring it all into focus.

WHAT WE SKIP

Beyond those three, we're disciplined about not overspending in a rental. The goal in a rental is to spend intentionally, not fully.  We're not doing major millwork; we're not doing much wallpaper because if it's staying with the walls, it's usually not worth it. We want to put your money where it will change how the space feels every single day, and skip anything that's just decorating for a landlord's future tenant.

While it's a different kind of project than what we usually do, we honestly love it. There's something clarifying about being forced to prioritize while designing a rental home, and our clients love ending up with homes that feel completely like them, even if they don't own a single wall.