[AD] Making A Rented Property Feel Like Home with DFS

AD - Collaboration with DFS

The moment in your life when you are handed the keys to your first home, whether it's rented or bought, is one of the biggest milestones that life has to offer. It is definitely the first moment I felt like a real "adult" when I moved in with my boyfriend into a 2-bed terrace nearly 4 years ago. Since then we've moved into a different property, literally across the road, and it's here we've nested for a few years whilst we save up for our own home. 

From the moment we moved in, my heart has definitely longed to make this house feel like home for us. I scroll through Pinterest regularly getting inspiration and practical ideas for our place. When it comes to acting on all that gathered inspiration, the practicality that gets in the way is money but there ares some easy and affordable ways for you to put your own stamp on a rented home. 

We're very lucky that our landlord is extremely easy-going when it comes to us adding things to the walls and once some of the rooms have a new lick of paint in the upcoming weeks as planned, I think this will be the happiest we've been with the house since we first moved in. 

There are definitely ways to transform your rented property to feel more like home and I wanted to share the ways I've achieved this on my blog for you, in 3 particular rooms - the front dining room, bedroom and living room.

FRONT DINING ROOM

This is the space I have wanted to transform most this year and I’m so happy now I’ve got it *pretty much* how I want it to be. Before this transformation, the room was a mix between my workspace and the dining room. It was extremely cluttered and became a space I didn’t enjoy working from. 

This year I waved goodbye to the desk and wanted to make the space into a reading/working nook. I already sussed out organising my storage boxes and adding some plants around the room, I’m doing well at keeping them alive! I didn’t need a desk, so went with an armchair and a side table so it could work between whatever I wanted it for. Finding the perfect armchair is a tough job - especially when there’s so much choice out there (and I’m pretty picky when it comes down to what I want in my home apparently!)

The furniture experts DFS got in touch to see if I needed a hand in refreshing my home. It came at the ideal moment! Their So Simple range makes sofa-shopping easy! It takes three simple steps to have a stylish, affordable and handmade new sofa in your home. This range is gorgeous and with eight different styles to choose from, it takes the stress out of the hardest part of the job – choosing which one to go for. I loved what each style has to offer and wanted just the right one for this space. I opted for an Edd armchair. 

Check out the DFS So Simple range on their website.

The Edd armchair is definitely stylish with its mid century modern design and it fits right into the reading nook I have now created in the front room. It was tricky to pick the correct material and colour - luckily for me DFS popped some samples into the post so I could really take a closer look and match them up to the room. I decided on the Teal in Leather Look and I am not disappointed. I have had nothing but compliments from visitors since it’s arrived and it’s the perfect spot for me to curl up with a book on now that the evenings are longer. It’s such a cosy spot. 

The DFS Edd armchair adds a centre point in the room and now all I need is a fantastic reading lamp and a gold-rimmed mirror to really finish it off completely. I’ve got my eyes on one in the upcoming months.

BEDROOM

My bedroom space is something I am extremely passionate about when it comes to creating a cosy and inviting space to unwind in the evenings/mornings. Before I transformed it, the room had a lot of dark colours, clothes spilling out of drawers and very little warm light in it. I didn’t enjoy this spot as much as I do now. 

To begin with I decluttered my entire belongings - I waved goodbye to unworn clothes, single-use cosmetics and beauty products and the dark furniture I had. And I found some industrial type bedside lamps from Aldi (such a good find!).

On our wall are two prints from *Desenio which I would highly recommend if you’re looking for prints to put up around your home. I went for a relaxing shot of the countryside which is one of my favourite places to escape to and then a quote on a pink blush background. I love the pop of colour these pictures add in my room and love dressing the bedding to these tones too. 

LIVING ROOM

We spend a lot of time here whether that’s when we’re entertaining our guests for a games night, watching Netflix or unwinding after a long day at work. I love using cushions to update this part of our home, to reflect the season and add colour.. At the moment I have orange cushions and throws to reflect Autumn and it feels so cosy, it’s glorious! 

This room got new coffee tables this year (both bargains from B&M actually!) and they’ve really lifted the space that definitely is the darkest in our home. One of the coffee tables is my centre point for candles and I love lighting up an Autumnal candle this time of year! Plants are also a huge thing in this room and I do think plants are a must in a living room - they’ve managed to live quite long too! 

The final thing I want to organise in this room is the wall, where we have just changed the prints. We have three, which we purchased from the Natural History Museum a few years ago, and I’m hoping they’ll go up by the end of the month because they’re quite something. 

Tell me how you’ve transformed a rented property in the comments. I actually love my home more than ever after the transformations this year.

*Collaboration with DFS. A armchair was kindly gifted in return for a blog post and social media coverage. All views are my own.