Decoration of Rented Apartments
You cannot decorate rented apartments at your will and pleasure because of restrictions placed. It is at such times that you will get the feeling that this is not your home. To see apartments painted in bright white is a common sight where you cannot personalize or customize the colors to your tastes and preferences. Driving nails into the walls and using gum or any type of tapes to paste things to walls maybe taboo. These are a few examples of limiting factors when it comes to decoration of apartments; and only reading the rental agreement will reveal the full details.
Go through the Agreement Carefully
This is a must before you start any decorations whatsoever, because doing things that are prohibited by the agreement could result in facing severe penalties, in addition to a higher renewal rental at the end of the current period. Some forms of internal décor require painting, partitioning and shelving which are unlikely to be allowed at all. Severe infringement of the provisions of the agreement could even result in eviction from the apartment.
In some agreements, hanging of pictures may be allowed subject to limitations on the number, size and locations respectively and to the extent of specifying the nail types to use, and the techniques to be used when re-filling the nail holes if and when you have to relocate a hung picture, or at the end of the lease. Some leasing agents may not allow even this. As such, it is pertinent to discuss your proposed decorations in detail with the apartment administrator prior to starting on your decorations in order to avoid disputes and penalties later.
If the administrator as a special case allows you to proceed with your decorations already prohibited in the contract, you should immediately obtain it in writing as he may later forget having made an exception in your case or he may be replaced later when you would find it very difficult to explain to a new administrator that you had actually obtained prior approval for the decorations effected.
Learn to distinguish between Reversible and Irreversible Modifications
As a rule of thumb it is good to be aware that most landlords are likely to give in to reversible modifications subject or not to further terms and conditions. However, if the decorations that you wish to carry out involve irreversible modifications, then your chances of success are very slim. Although painting is a reversible modification, many leasing agents fight shy of granting approval for this item of work on the grounds that it may be very difficult to get back to the original colors especially if the modified colors required are dark while the original colors were comparably light.
Adding partitions, shelves, or fixtures of any kind of a permanent nature are not even likely to be considered by leasing agents. Even if you were to argue that these proposed shelves and partitions could be removed at the expiry of the lease and the apartment restored to its original condition without any difficulty, you will find it very difficult to convince them or by their very nature, they will simply refuse to even hear of it.
It is only making some nail holes and putting some gum tapes here and there for your decorations, that you can look forward to with any degree of confidence during your stay in any standard apartment.
Remember that there is a Security Deposit to Get Back
Like all other apartment renters, you too would have paid a Security Deposit at the time of coming into occupation of this apartment. The leasing agent is aware that he would have to do some minimum patching up and brushing up work after one renter leaves and before it is given to a new renter.
However, generally, the security deposit they call for is calculated far in excess of what it may cost him to do a little brushing up between the expiry and start of two consecutive leases. The idea of the leasing agents collecting an enhanced security deposit is to be able to recover from you for any losses or damages caused by you over and above the normal wear and tear of the premises during your stay.