Renting out a room in style!

After a string of blog posts extolling the virtues of renting out rooms, sharing your home with strangers and generally singing Hemavi’s praises I thought it time to switch it up a notch. So today we’ll talk about the stock market.

Just kidding, I do actually like to keep my job (Editors note: Job? You wish, intern.) But we will actually talk about another side of renting out, something I haven’t yet written about. And that is interior decorating. When you live alone, how your apartment looks is up to you. As long as you’re not removing any load bearing walls you get to choose exactly how much or how little time you spend decorating your crash pad. If “post apocalyptic hellhole” is your definition of good interior design, then go for it.

But when you’re planning to rent out a room or an apartment, your chances of finding a tenant dramatically increase if your place doesn’t look like the set of a Mad Max movie. So in this blog post I’ll try to give some general pointers for sprucing up your apartment, therefore maximising your pool of potential tenants.

Let’s start out talking a bit about color. Choosing colors for walls and furniture is of course highly subjective. As long as you avoid certain extremes, like painting all your walls black, most tenants will probably accept a range of color combinations. In some cases you might be labeled “eccentric” but hey, we’ve all been called worse. But if you want to appear hip or if you’re one of those people who needs to be told what they like, here’s a hot tip. In December each year Pantone selects their “Color of the year”. Of course, these colors have really pretentious names, last year it was Illuminating and Ultimate Grey. All you have to do is wait a couple of weeks for the 2022 reveal, then start unleashing these colors all over your apartment.

Something that never goes out of fashion are plants so let’s talk about them next. Plants not only look good, they will project to the outside world that you are a nurturing soul. You have the capacity to look after a living thing, something potential tenants see as a plus. Of course, this all depends on your ability to actually keep your plants alive and looking good. Nothing says “I’ve given up” more than a solitary, dead houseplant. If you keep your plants happy they will lift your spirits and you might even get some edible fruits and leaves. Just be wary if your new roommate needs your closet for an undefined “plant project” and puts a padlock on the door.

Let’s finish this blog post by mentioning the word “Japandi”. It’s understandable if you stare at the screen with a blank expression on your face, so did I when I first heard the word. It’s basically an interior design term that means a fusion between Japanese and Scandinavian styles. The rest of the world are particularly envious of the design philosophies in these two regions so they invented this word. In practical terms it means: clean lines, pale wood, neutral tones. Art on the wall should be line drawings and simple shapes. Personally, this type of decorating would quickly put me in a comatose state but to each their own.

I hope I’ve planted some ideas in your head on how to spruce up your apartment before renting out the place. If not, well, at least you know what Japandi means.

Alright, it’s time for me to sign off. That paragraph about Japandi made me sleepy. For a happy and uplifting experience visit Hemavi on Facebook and Instagram.