If you rent your home, have a look at these great hacks we have found. From decorating tips and DIY gadgets to space-saving cabinets and useful money-saving advice, this is all you need when renting. Try these to feel right at home!
Desk Organizers — Not Just for Desks
Despite your best efforts, pantries can quickly become cluttered and messy. Open bags and boxes of food become mixed with various spices, and soon you can’t find anything, or even worse — have everything topple when you reach for something.
Old and unused desk organizers can actually solve this problem. You can use them to organize some of the smaller items inside your pantry. If you have the room and a little technical skill, you can even attach them to your wall, freeing up more shelf space to accommodate larger items.
Reuse Your Old Jars
Reusing old jars and bottles is a great and super sustainable way to store both liquids and solids. For example, old coffee jars can be used for storing cocoa, chia seeds, and even nuts.
You can line them on the shelf with the correct labeling so you won't end up mixing the wrong ingredients together. It's easy, it's eco-friendly, and it's one thing on your Pinterest board you don't need insane craft skills for.
Bathroom Organization
Have you ever thought, “We need some help organizing our bathroom,” but didn’t know what to do? Well, head to your kitchen and grab the closest silverware tray because it will be your best friend in the bathroom too.
The dedicated sections will offer you space to put your toothbrush, floss, brush, and any other toiletries you may need. It may not be the first thing you thought of, but it will definitely make your morning routines much more efficient.
DIY Canopy
Unless you live in the UK, you may have noticed that monarchies are going extinct, as are your chances of marrying a royal (thanks a lot, Ms. Markle). But just because governments are now a thing doesn't mean you can't sleep like a royal. Even in a rented place.
With the help of a few curtain rods and some light linen curtains, you can create your own canopy bed. Now you have a place to run off to and cry after stalking your ex on Facebook (which you shouldn't do anyway, but that's a different story).
Behind the Bath Panel Storage
If you happen to have a fitted bath, you can always check underneath it for any unused space that you can make use of. This will free up some space in the bathroom cabinets underneath your sink.
These sliding panels are definitely one of the more challenging DIY projects, but they will make a huge difference to your rented bathroom, especially when it comes to storing all your supplies.
No More Bed Bruises
Do you find that you always end up accidentally bruising yourselves every time you pass by the edge of your bed? Small room, rented apartment, we know. This is a great hack for you using a pool noodle.
All you have to do is cut it to the appropriate length, then cut it down the middle on one side, and slide it over that annoying, sharp piece of hell at the corner of the bed. You'll thank us. Again and again.
DIY Cutting Board Holder
Forget takeout dinners for a moment. Is there any homemade meal that doesn't require a cutting board? It's a kitchen necessity that everybody will end up using at least once or twice a day, but where do you put them when you aren't using them? Plenty of people keep them on the counter at all times, but there's another way.
Build a quick and easy cutting board holder under your upper cabinet or in another place in your kitchen with just a few hooks and some hardware. The most complicated item you'll have to use is probably a power drill. You can handle that, right?
Create a Peg Holder
This DIY idea is simply one of the most ingenious hacks out there that also looks lovely. All you need to do is glue pegs to a narrow wooden plank, paint the whole thing, and hang it up on a wall.
This way, you can hang all kinds of items, from hats to scarves and belts; the list is endless. You can even hang your latest utility bills or important notes you need.
Shower Curtain Pockets
Need a place for all your bathroom utensils and toiletries when you are in the shower? Try this easy bathroom storage hack that will free up surfaces with a pocket-feature shower curtain.
If you can't get one, you can also make your own version by hanging a waterproof shoe organizer alongside the curtain. If you can, get a mesh design or cut small holes in the pockets to drain any water.
The Perfect Headboard
We're honestly not sure how we didn't come up with this one sooner, but this hack totally changed our lives! Are you not sick of hurting your head when you accidentally bump it into the stiff headboard, time and time again? Well, it turns out you can just make your own DIY headboard from pool noodles, some rafters, and a large piece of fabric.
Other than the coolness of making your own headboard and how pretty the result is – it also means that you pretty much can't get hurt by it! How genuinely comforting.
Upcycled Desk Storage
If you happen to have a wooden pallet, you can sand and treat it to become an eye-catching and rustic desktop shelf for a home office. Its many nooks and crannies make handy surfaces for stationary and inspirational objects.
You can also use thumbtacks and clips to transform your new storage space into a noticeboard if needed. It doesn't matter if you are in the office or working from home; your rented habitat answers all of your needs.
Hang Your Chip Bags
Who said your pants hanger is exclusively meant for your closet? Capitalism, that's who. But the truth is you don't need to spend money on a new fridge just so it holds all of your food. Use that hanger in the kitchen and hang up snack bags that have been opened but are unfinished!
Now you don't have to worry about any spillage from these bags that might also be taking up unnecessary space in your pantry.
DIY Doorways
An open doorway in your house, or even just an unattractive interior door, is a great opportunity to go all Pinterest on your home (all those interior design pins aren't going to happen unless you put that pint of ice cream away and get to work).
For a makeshift door/divider, mount a tension rod at the top of the doorway and fit it with whatever curtain you like. Sure, it won't block noise that well, but that's what earplugs are for, right? If you're sharing an apartment, make sure your roomies are into this kind of design.
DIY Mug Stand
Ah, coffee. Elixir of life, the nectar of gods. If coffee were a religion, we would be the first converts pledging our allegiance to those heavenly brown beans. For now, the closest thing to a coffee shrine we can have is this DIY coffee mug station.
You'll need a wooden box, some rods, and several S-hooks. After securing the box to the wall, mount the rods inside, hang the hooks, and then hang the mugs. Feel free to decorate and show your appreciation for the one thing you can't live without.
Old Tubes Make a Good Home for Cables
If there is a drawer in your house that you prefer not to open because it is full of unused cords and cables, this is the hack for you. Obviously, what you want is to be able to find the cable you need in an organized and efficient manner, but how can you tell which cords are which?
Fold your cords neatly and place them inside an empty tube of toilet paper or paper towels cut down to size. Don’t forget to write which kind of cord is in which tube, or else you will be back at square one.
Get Rid of Sticky Residue With Oil
Reusing old jars and bottles is great. Those things can be really useful, but what happens when you re-label it or at least scrape off the last one and all that old sticky residue is still there from the last label?
Just use cooking oil; it's as easy as...pie. Rub some oil on the stickiness with some cotton, and just watch how easily it comes off when you wipe it. Now you can repurpose old jars and stick whatever you want on them, or just leave them clean and use them as decorative pieces on your windowsill. It's great in front of the light.
Use a Pringles Can to Store Spaghetti
Spaghetti noodles usually come in plastic bags that are almost impossible to reclose once you have opened them. If you only cook some of the noodles, the ones left in the bag become a bit stale and also have a tendency to start falling out into your pantry.
Next time you are snacking on some Pringles (and if you live alone, you probably do it often), keep the empty can and clean it out. It becomes the perfect container for noodles. It is just the right size, has a lid, and will save you the trouble and expense of getting a special container.
Hiding Your Router
These days it is hard to live without Wi-Fi, making a router a must-have item in every home. Unfortunately, most routers are not as appealing to the eye as they are functional. If you can’t stand that eyesore anymore, you can hide it with some innovative decorating ideas.
You can place your router in a pretty box and cut out a hole for the cords. Or you could make yourself look smarter by building a fake bookcase to store it upright.
Use Fabric to Improve Your Kitchen
Most kitchens are about seventy percent cabinets. We all need plenty of space to hold plates, cups, pots and pans, and everything else our daily lives need. Old wooden cabinets start to feel drab and boring after seeing them every day for months, especially if they all have the same dry color.
One solution you can try out is to remove the cabinet doors and replace them with fabric drapes. You still won’t have to look at your old dishes, but you can pick your favorite pattern or color, measure out the right amount, and staple it to the top of the cabinets.
DIY Room Divider
Lofts or studio apartments could use a nice dividing wall for when you feel like having some privacy. And the good news is that you don't need to get a contractor and mortgage your kidneys to set up a divider.
What you need are a tension rod and a top-to-bottom curtain. This could also work for other spaces — large or small that need some sort of division. After all, we all need a break from other people's faces sometimes.
Desk Upgrade
This hack will turn your home office desk into the Chuck Norris of desks. Dressing a desk up with a skirt might sound weird, but let us explain. When you put a skirt under your desk, you give people the impression your desk is a meaningful piece of furniture used by someone with a 401(k).
At the same time, you turn pants-wearing into an optional choice, and you can take a secret post-lunch nap under there. You'll need a long tension rod and a couple of short ones. Mount them in the top part of the inside frame and add curtains that reach the floor.
Painter's Tape Perfection
Painter's tape isn't only for making clean lines for paint, but it can be used whenever a person needs a clean line. One we found useful was to use for caulking our tubs and windows. The clean lines make them look professionally done, and we love showing them off.
If you want to do this too, just grab your nearest roll of painter's tape and tape both sides of where you will caulk. Once removed, you will have a perfectly caulked surface each time.
This One Is an Ace
No one wants a door to be slammed into the wall of your house, but you also don’t feel like drilling into the baseboard to install a new doorstop. Well, one of France’s oldest sports may be of help.
Simply cut a slit in a tennis ball and place it on your doorknob. This will prevent the door from slamming into the wall and not require you to do any carpentry. It’s a quick and easy solution and will save you (and your house owner) stress from worrying about leaving a dent in the wall.
Throw Dishwashing Liquid into Your Blender
Cleaning a blender can be a real headache, and the last thing you need is your roommate getting on your back for not cleaning after yourself. No one wants that. Have you ever tried using dishwashing liquid to clean the mess up?
Add the dish soap to your blender with two cups of warm water, and blend it together until the food residue washes away. It's super safe and totally efficient.
Shampoo Rack
Storing your shower items properly is what makes the difference between enjoying your shower and trying not to trip over your facial scrub. And just because you have a curtain rod holding your shower curtain doesn't mean your shower can't use another one.
Mount a tension rod on the wall opposite your shower curtain, add some S-shaped hooks, hang little plastic baskets on them, and welcome your shampoo to its new home.
Grow Veggies in a Colander
You can repurpose your old colander (yup, that same one you used to use for pasta) into a planter to add a quirky feel to your kitchen theme. Simply hang it in a sunny spot close to a windowsill.
This adds a charming eco-friendly feel to your kitchen while not taking up too much space. Plus, you'll save on your grocery bill.
Magnetic Jars for Your Fridge
Everyone has a fridge in their home, regardless if they own the place or not. The fridge's door is a surface that not too many people would think to use as a surface for anything besides displaying your magnet collection.
You can easily glue magnetic sheets on your jars of spices and herbs and stick them on your fridge to keep your kitchen organized as well as easy to access. Just make sure the jars aren't too be of heavy and that the lids are screwed-shut at all times.
Save Some Paint for a Rainy Day
A freshly painted room can make you feel warm and fuzzy all over. However, it is really aggravating to see your hard work marred when a piece of furniture bumps into the walls you just painted and leaves an ugly mark.
You don’t need to save a big messy paint can to solve this problem; all you have to do is take an empty baby food jar and save a small amount of paint in it. That way, you can dispose of the paint properly but still have enough left to do some touch-ups and keep everything looking great.
Attach a Car Air Freshener to Your Fan
If you need to get your home smelling sweet and your landlord won't replace the smelly carpets, all you need is a regular household fan and a car air fresher. Purchase the kind that usually clips into a vent and attach it to your fan, being careful that it is not in the way of the rotor blades.
The moment you start that baby up, your house will be smelling like a peach or any other scent you desire in no time. All without having to spray aerosols inside your living space.
Shoe Organizers Aren’t Just for Shoes
Everybody knows those plastic shoe organizers that hang on the back of closet doors with pockets for all your pairs of flat shoes. Here’s a groundbreaking thought: you can use them for storing things that are not shoes!
A shoe organizer can help you get your pantry in order. You can use it to store the smaller items and to see everything you have in a single glance. They can also be a great place to store all the different cords and plugs that can be found everywhere around the house.
Places for Pots and Pans
If you are like us, then your cabinets can be organized better. One of the worst offenders for us is the lids of our pots and pans, and when you rent, the kitchen is not designed the way you want it to be.
They just lie there and are a hassle to use whenever we cook. But what is the solution? Your vertical wire magazine rack! It can help keep them organized and clean up some space in your cabinets. Remember to get two, so you also have one to organize your favorite subscriptions too.
DIY Pouf Ottoman
Pouf ottomans are super cool, both to sit on and just have around the house to create that nonchalant lounging vibe. Yes, you can simply buy one, but where's the fun in that? Besides, you don't want to invest too much money when you rent.
We think making a pouf is just so much better, and it also means you're free to go wild with the cover. So, how do pool noodles fit into that? Perfectly: just take a bunch of pool noodles, glue them together standing up, then cover them with the fabric of your choice.
Double Your Hangers
Your closet will never be as big as you want it to be. There's another easy way to double your closet capacity without spending loads of cash to revamp your closet or buy special hangers.
All you need to do is attach a soda can tab to your hanger's hook and layer more hangers through. Now there is no need to let go of all of those office shirts you love.
Cat Deterrent
We all hate nails on the chalkboard. It just sends shivers down our spine. However, if you have a cat that has been clawing your favorite piece of furniture (or your roommate's finest piece), you can use this tactic to prevent your cat from clawing.
Simply cover the area with aluminum foil and wait. Next time your cat begins to claw the area, it will feel that same nail-on-chalkboard sensation and be less prone to scratch your sofa later.
Simple Reading Nook
One of the saddest things about growing up (aside from student loans, dishes, and depending on coffee to survive) is not spending sufficient time in blanket forts. But the truth is, nobody is stopping you from building a blanket fort, and now you probably have better motor skills to do it. Just call it your reading nook!
You don't even have to read there. All you need to do is mount a heavy-duty tension rod between the wall and a big piece of furniture. Next, drape blankets over it. For a finishing touch, throw some pillows on the floor and put up some twinkle lights.
Use Binder Clips in a Whole New Way
A pyramid is usually a pretty stable shape. (Just look at how long these monumental structures survived!) However, if you try to stack your beers into a pyramid in your fridge, you'll find that this shape is much less stable than advertised.
Well, a binder clip or two can solve the problem. Just use the clips as an easy stop, as instructed in the above picture, and stack away!
Jewelry Organizer
You know how you have all of your necklaces laid out nicely, and then you turn around, and they magically turn into a useless lump of tangled mess? One that requires the help of every single god in every single faith to set straight again? A shower curtain rod could save you from that.
A small tension rod (or several if you happen to own all of Mr. T's jewelry collection) in a little closet space will help you keep your chains in check.
A Fold-Down Desk
These bad boys are useful for those who don't have too much paperwork. They're versatile, so if they get in your way, you can fold them away, and they can also double as a notice board for your notes, photos, or calendar.
The top shelf can be used as an extra shelf for everything else you may need while working, like your phone, stationery, or even a pair of speakers.
Glue Your Wine Corks
We always encourage homemade art, especially when it doesn't require high expenses. Start holding on to your wine bottle corks as you are about to discover how to create your own bulletin board or a unique framed picture.
Hot glue the corks onto a wooden board, with or without a frame, and a piece of art is born. Your visitors will ask where you bought this glamorous board, and you can proudly say it was custom-made.
Unlikely Storage Spaces
With limited floor space, storage options need a creative edge, and this is where things become interesting.
Many DIY pages suggest looking up by installing high shelving above the empty space above doorways. Super high over the rented door is interesting. These spaces are often wasted, but they can serve as very nifty nooks while doubling as an attractive feature.
Use a Tension Rod for More Storage
Household cleaning supplies are usually stored separately under the sink in the kitchen or bathroom, no matter how many people you share the apartment with. But all the different kinds of products, plus the oddly shaped spray bottles, can take up a lot of space and cause cabinet clutter.
A tension rod can really help with this problem. You can find them at any hardware store, and they don’t cost much. Hang one high at the front of the cabinet, and you can line up your spray bottles on it, making them more accessible and creating more space underneath.
Wrap an Elastic Band Around a Soap Dispenser
Why? You might ask yourselves. Well, this is a great way to be careful with your soap usage. It's a good way not to be wasteful. Just wrap a rubber band around your soap dispenser, so you don't squeeze all your soap away.
This will also save you some good money because you won't be running to the store every week for a new bottle. Less money on soap, more money on rent.
Hang Up Heavy Utensils Too
Once you've started sticking up hooks, you will find that you will have endless space. You can hang up bigger utensils like spatulas, strainers, larger spoons, and ladles even larger hanging knives like cleavers and chef knives.
This can really take away the frustration of a messy kitchen. It's also much easier to find. Just make sure you don't hang anything sharp in places where your roommates can find it.
Reuse Plastic Bottles
If you need more storage space for your shoes, then you can always use old plastic bottles. Simply cut off the end with a utility knife and stick them together with hot glue.
This way, they won't fall all over the place and will keep your shoes all in one place in a neat setup. Most important — they will stay ventilated.
Use Baby Food Jars for Spices
Anyone living with a small child will in no way have a shortage of baby food jars. If you find you do not like the idea of throwing away a perfectly good jar, let alone the fact of how they just sit in the landfills for all of eternity, then this hack is perfect for you.
Take those clean baby food jars, and use them as a storage container for your spices in your spice rack. By using the same jars for different spices, you will have a nice and uniform look, plus you will be able to see what jar contains which spice.
Multi-Purpose Furniture
We always go back to the same point of space saving. This next hack applies to most furniture you own. See if you can double down on their functionality by installing storage space under your coffee table or your sofa.
If you're looking to change things up, you could also ditch an old sofa in favor of a cabinet that can be spread with cushions.
Hang a Silverware Drawer
If you happen to have an old silverware drawer lying around, you can always hang it up and use it for other organizational purposes. Anything you can't find space for can go into this.
To use in the kitchen, simply add a few mug hooks on the inside of the compartments and mount the drawer on the wall. You can also hang it in other rooms, using it to stash your toiletries, jewelry, or even stationery.
Fresh Herbs Can Be Stored in the Freezer
If you love to cook, then you probably purchase fresh herbs fairly often. The problem is that it seems almost impossible to use the entire amount you buy at the supermarket before it goes bad. Instead of throwing them in the trash, you can put them in the freezer!
As soon as you get home from the farmer’s market or pick your favorite herbs from your own garden, simply chop them up, put them in an ice cube tray with some olive oil, and have some seasoning ready for every occasion.
Drawer Space Divider
It's time we have the talk. The talk about empty takeout containers. It's nice you're trying to go green and reuse those plastic containers, but letting them pile up in the kitchen drawer you never open does not constitute reusing.
The chaotic mess in that drawer can be contained (get it? contained? containers? ugh, never mind) using a nice tension rod and a little effort. Separate the containers by color/size/material/political opinion, or however else you see fit.
DIY Towel Rack
The idea of washing a towel might sound foreign to some of you. After all, towels are only touched by freshly-cleaned body parts, right? Why would they need to go in the washer? Well, they do. And after that, they need a place to dry. So does anything else you wash.
Mount a rod or two on your bathroom wall, and you're sorted. Just hang the wet towels straight on it, or put your wet clothes on a hanger and put them up there too.
Keep a Fitted Sheet in Place With Suspenders
Sometimes fitted sheets can just slip right off the corners of the bed. It's no use keeping them down yourself, and nobody enjoys sleeping on a bare mattress! There is a reason the bed sheet was invented! To avoid this problem, just dig out a pair of suspenders.
Simply clip them on each side of the bed on each corner with the suspenders, and your sheet will stay put for sure. You will never have to worry about keeping them down again or calling your mother to straighten things out for you.
Use Masking Tape Before Nailing the Walls
If you want to hang up a painting, here's a tip. Before you go hammering into your rented drywalls, be sure to use masking tape or painter's tape over the desired area. This prevents flaking and cracking in the walls.
Now you can have crack-free walls. While the painting might cover it up, it's still important to look after your home, even if it's rented.
Paper Towel Rack
Paper towel is always something we find difficult to find a permanent place for in the kitchen. Especially when you are renting, and the kitchen is not yours. What to do? Make sure it doesn't move.
The way to do it would be to mount a short tension rod in the closet/cupboard of the desired room and string the roll on it. Can you hear that? It's the sound of you becoming a responsible adult.
Store Plastic Bags in Wet Wipes Container
Accumulative plastic bags can really get in the way. You can bunch it up and stuff it in a drawer, but that is never very pleasing to the eyes. What can one do with all these excess bags? For starters, you can start recycling, or you can also stop taking store bags back with you. But if you already have them, there is a better solution.
Take an old container of disinfecting wipes and place your many bags in there. The pull-and-grab system is super convenient, and you can store it wherever you like.
Make Your Own Closet
If you don't have a walk-in closet (which we presume you don't), make one! An empty corner or unoccupied wall can effortlessly be transformed into your very own dream closet.
The best part about DIY in rented homes is that you get to choose exactly how you want it to look; you can use tension rods, curtains, or even sliding doors.
Think Outside the Box
Using a shower curtain rod in your shower is hardly a novelty, but putting one in there vertically? Now THAT will show your homeroom teacher that you did, in fact, amount to something in your life.
If you are a little handier around power tools, you can even drill in some racks for your shower items. Look at you being all fancy!
This Hack May Go Over Your Head
There never seems to be enough space to store everything in a garage (if you are lucky enough to rent a house with a garage). So if you are, let us help you organize the space.
Bring out that spare PVC pipe you have lying around and make a simple rack from it. You can even bolt it to the ceiling of your garage, and voila! Extra space immediately! Plus, the smooth surface makes it so easy to get anything you put up there.
Use Shower Curtain Hooks as Hangers
We’ve all had the experience of coming back from shopping for some great new clothes, only to discover that we don’t have any free hangers to put them on. This can be aggravating, especially when you take into account that you just came in and don’t want to go out again just to buy some more things.
Instead, you can just use some shower curtain hooks! They don’t take up a lot of space in your closet and are perfect for clothes that have loops, such as jackets or jeans.
DIY Bedskirt
We know what you're thinking — A bed skirt? What am I, an 18th-century noblewoman prepping her daughters for a debutante ball? But these are actually more functional than you might think, and you don't have to break your piggy bank to have one.
You can get some fabric and drape it over tension rods mounted in the inside bedframe. The new skirt will keep the dust from building up under your bed and turn the space there into storage space where you can put all those Amazon purchases you regret making.
Hide That Mess
No person is ever as neat as they presume to be. Even Monica from "Friends" had a closet for her mess. And if Monica could have a messy closet, you can have all the messy corners you like as long as you know how to hide them well enough. You know, just like you did with emotions when you were in middle school.
The way to do it would be to create little hiding spots using a tension rod and pieces of fabric you drape over it to create improvised curtains. Do it under your washing machine, your bed, or your coffee table.
Faux Wood
Hey, why use actual wood for your home decoration pieces when you can work hard and break a sweat making pretend birch wood out of pool noodles plus an assortment of other stuff?
If we haven't already said so – arts and crafts are the best, and we obviously think you should go for option no. 2, hands down. All you'll need other than a pool noodle is some mod podge, brown paper stripes, toilet paper, and acrylic paint. Godspeed!
Lighting Your Way
When doing home maintenance in dark spaces (you have to do maintenance even when you rent), all we want is a light attached to our tools so we can see. However, we don’t want to fork out the bucks to buy tools with built-in LEDs.
Find a LED keychain flashlight and tape it to the tool of your choice. It turns your tool into its own LED tool and illuminates exactly where you need it. You'll get the benefits of the more expensive tools at a fraction of the cost.
DIY Closet Door
There comes a time in every closet's life when its doors no longer function. Especially in old rented apartments. Usually, it's because of old loose hinges and the fact that you don't know how to use a drill to fix them. But with a nice tension rod, you can do just fine.
After you got rid of the old doors and sent them to door heaven, get some fabric. Then, mount the rod at the top of the inside frame of your closet, and drape your fabric over it. No power tools are needed.
Dress Your Windows
They are called shower curtain rods, but that doesn't mean you can't use them for other types of curtains. Dressing your windows with your own choice of curtains could really help you feel like you have control of at least one thing in this chaos you call life.
Simply hang a shower curtain rod at the top of the inside frame of your windows and hang whatever fabric you like on it. Congrats. You're a designer now.
A Cable Holder
We all know that pile of messy cables dangling from behind our desk all the way down to the floor. Yes, we could simply buy a cable holder – or whatever it is they call it – but why buy one when we can get creative and make it ourselves using a pool noodle? Save money, remember?
If you're like us – as in, prefer to use random arts and crafts instead of overcomplicating mundane things – use this hack for your own pile of messy cables. Just cut the noodle to the required length, cut an opening for the cables, and you're all set.
Herb Organizer
You will probably have to deal with this kind of garden as a renter. Having no yard is no excuse for not growing your own basil. Get yourself some herbs to grow in lightweight pots and start eating your greens just like your grandma told you.
So, how do you set up those pots in the kitchen, and what does a shower curtain rod have to do with any of it? First, you set up the rod in the window frame. Afterward, attach clips or hooks to the pots and hang them on the rod. Now stop with the takeout and make yourself some salad.
Aluminum Foil Dispenser
Nothing says "my life is together" more than having a DIY dispenser for your aluminum foil or plastic wrap roll. It sends a message that the very last of your concerns have been taken care of, even if, in real life, you spent the last thirty minutes looking for a void to scream into.
What you'll need is a small rod to mount on the inside of one of your kitchen cabinets (or even inside one of your drawers). Once you have that, simply string a roll of foil on it.
Shoe Organizer
No, your bedroom floor doesn't count as a proper place to store your shoes. Shoe racks would normally be the thing you need, but we know you have better things to spend your money on, like overpriced organic kale. We are here to tell you to get crafty.
You will need a few tension rods (depending on how many shoes we're talking about), which you will mount in the space at the bottom of your closet. Make sure to keep them about 12-18″ apart. Now put those shoes where they belong and show them they're not the boss of you.
Growing Your Garden
With how expensive produce is, we know we don’t want to pay those prices. Good news! You can have your vegetables and save money too.
Simply build your own garden, and you solved both problems at once. Yes, it will require some water and love to tend to your plants, but the benefit of having fresh produce from your rented backyard is worth it.
Hair Curling Hack
Is your bathroom a mess with your curling iron cords everywhere? Find your nearest hook-and-loop tape and two five-inch pieces of 2-in PVC pipe, then tape the PVC pipe to the inside of your vanity door.
This can act as a holder for your curling iron and get it organized when you need to use it next. You can also do this to hold the curling iron cords. Now you can say goodbye to that cluttered vanity.
Keep the Hallway Neat
As soon as guests arrived, they're greeted by your hallway and however messy it is, so why not make the entrance to your home a little more organized? Just because you are renting doesn't mean the entrance shouldn't be welcoming.
Not only will a functional ladder keep your hallway from looking messy, but it will also make your space look more creative. If we carry on this way, you will never want to move out.
Patch up Windowscreen Holes With Nail Polish
Be aware that this is for smaller holes and cracks. If you break your landlord's window screen, you will probably have to replace it, but for minor ones, you can just use clear nail polish.
Just paint the crack with some transparent nail polish, and it will be as good as new in no time. Just like you do with runny nylon stockings.
Hold Onto Your LEGO
Who would have thought that our childhood toys could one day be repurposed into a key organizer? And besides, you have to bring something to your rented apartment from your parents' home.
There are so many ways your can turn these little blocks into something more, from holding your cords to storing your keys and stationery. The options are endless!
Fake Roman Shades
Looking sophisticated and pretending like it's no big deal is the epitome of hipster culture. And you can give it a go with this little home decor tip and a few tension rods. You don't have to own a castle to live like royals.
Mount them in levels in the inside of your window frame, and drape a piece of fabric over them to give a faux roman shade look. And when your friends ask you about it, just shrug, say you stumbled upon it in a thrift store in Berlin, and act like it's not even that special.
Tub Product Organizer
Whether you have a kid or you choose to act like one, the bathroom sometimes has more toys in it than the playroom. If you're not in the mood for falling in the shower and breaking a hip like a common assisted living resident, follow the orders below.
Mount a nice rod on your wall, string some plastic hooks on it and place small plastic baskets on the hooks. Now, stuff those baskets with whatever items you use in your daily scrub session.
Use Your Beverage Dispenser as a Detergent Dispenser
Is there a beverage dispenser somewhere in your home? If there is, it’s most likely dusty, unused, and doesn't do much but take up space around your house. If you are not the kind of person who hosts parties all the time, you probably barely use that old thing.
You can repurpose your unused dispenser and turn it into a laundry soap dispenser. Fill it with liquid detergent, and you can ensure you use the right amount for every wash. Your laundry area will even look better.
Hooks Under Shelving
Kitchens in rented homes have forever been extra small. You could effortlessly double your kitchen storage by screwing in hooks underneath your wall-mounted shelves. As many hooks as you like!
This way, you could hang your pots, pans, and mugs where you can easily reach them. Simply measure out and mark the exact spaces to get a streamlined and harmonious look.
Temporary Drying Rack
This one's great for everyone living in a glorified shoebox. Saving space is like finding a dollar on the ground — you were fine before, but you're so much happier after. So here is a little space-saving tip for you responsible adults who do their own laundry.
Mount a couple of extra tension rods in your shower, and hang your washed clothes up there. Lord knows you have no room for a proper dryer anyway.
Get Creative With Plastic Wrap
Moving in or out of a place? There are a lot of things you have to pack and keep track of. Make it that much easier with a little bit of plastic wrap. Let's take the silverware organizer, for example. There are a lot of sharp objects in there, and you can't really have them bouncing around during transportation unless you want to spend an hour picking them up off the moving van floor.
Tape a piece of plastic wrap over the organizer to lock everything down. Make it nice and tight and keep things moving.