I’ll never forget lying on my hands and knees in the corner of my rental bathroom at 2AM ripping strips of “damage-free” wallpaper that refused to cooperate and had pulled half the paint off the wall with it. I was definitely losing my deposit. I had a showing scheduled for the next morning.
I would never do that to myself again, I swore. Lesson learned. But guys, guess what?
Lesson NOT learned. Well, kind of learned.
I will never, ever rip wallpaper in my rental bathroom again…BUT I will decorate it, however.
I just became smarter about how I went about it. Rental bathrooms are the pits. Literally.
Everything is beige. Harsh lighting. NO PERSONALITY.
After moving into multiple rentals over the years (and dealing with quite a few nightmare security deposit conversations) I learned that there are ways to upgrade your rental bathroom without losing your deposit or breaking your lease. You just need to decorate strategically. So let’s talk peel-and-stick wallpaper options, removable hooks, and every other rental-friendly way to upgrade your bathroom….
Ease into it with what I like to call “surface level magic”. You know things that seem permanent but totally aren’t. Wallpaper is the first place to start.
Years ago I did try (and fail) at peel-and-stick wallpaper. Thankfully, these products have come a long way since then. Today I’m talking about the heavy-duty kind.
High quality vinyl with repositionable adhesive that doesn’t actually stick permanently until you’re ready for it to. Last year I covered an accent wall in my current rental with this beautiful marble peel-and-stick vinyl. It was £47, took me about three hours {including the ugly cry over this one stupid corner that refused to smooth out}, and looks like I spent thousands on real marble.
Win-win. Pro-tip, though. I cannot stress enough how important clean walls are when it comes to wallpaper.
Like, seriously. Spend the five minutes and wipe down your walls with sugar soap before hanging. Trust.
Rental bathroom walls are typically coated with a nice film of previous tenants’ steam, soap residue, and mystery cleaning solution. That film is what causes your expensive-looking peel-and-stick wallpaper to bubble up and rip away when you didn’t plan for it too. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Hooks, hooks, hooks. Invest in removable hooks, friends. But learn from my errors and not all hooks are created equally.
I learned the hard way that while those plastic command strips work…when you really steam up your bathroom they lose their magic and drop your towel bar on your head at 3AM. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. (ok I said that twice). But!
There are metal command hooks designed specifically for humid rooms like bathrooms. They run you about twice the cost of their cooler-looking brother, but they don’t budge. I have six hanging everything from towels to this adorable copper-framed mirror I snagged at a car boot sale.
Ah, mirrors. Mirrors are where you really can add that “wow” factor on a budget. Most rentals come equipped with builder-basic mirrors that make you look washed-out and tired.
Sure you can’t remove them without risking damage to the wall, but you can absolutely frame them (and check out this tutorial on removing the paint from metal bathroom mirrors!) or, even better, hang a pretty mirror right over it. I have been using this round brass mirror I found on FB marketplace for £15 and it completely elevates the space. Warmer.
More intention. Less “public restroom redux”. Lighting, amirite?
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Rental bathroom lighting is the worst. No one wants to be bombarded with that stark, white lighting when they’re getting ready in the morning. First things first, swap out the bright white bulbs for warmer LED alternatives {and keep the originals in a drawer somewhere}.
Then layer in battery-operated LED strip lights underneath floating shelves and behind mirrors. I have warm white LED strip lights behind my bathroom mirror and it creates this beautiful glow throughout the space. It was £23 and I absolutely love it.
You’re probably thinking the same thing I heard about 800 times when I got a smart mirror for my kitchen: but floors? You can’t improve rental floors! Well, kind of….Peel-and-stick vinyl flooring tiles are a thing and they’re actually amazing.
I’m talking right-now-writing-this-with-a-smile-on-my-face amazing. I have vinyl tiles in my bathroom that look exactly like expensive hex tiles but were only £2.50 per square foot. They stick right over your existing floors and can peel back up when you move.
Just make sure you buy ones that are specifically made for bathrooms! I learned that one the hard way when my first attempt started bubbling up at the edges from shower steam. Rentals are notoriously bad at bathroom storage.
And while you can’t really do a ton about that until you own a place, there are temporary fixes that actually work and look cute. I have a gorgeous bamboo ladder shelf that leans against the wall {no mounting required!} and is filled with towels, plants, and all the other bathroom knick-knacks that typically clutter countertops. I found it at IKEA for £35.
Throw a few woven baskets on the shelves and boom, you’ve got stylish storage. Plants make everything better, but renter bathrooms are notorious for having gross ventilation and strange lighting. The plant holy grail for bathroom spaces?
Snake plants. They look amazing. They’re basically indestructible.
And they actually thrive in low light. Bonus. I have three different sizes hanging out in my bathroom creating this fun green nook that brings the whole space to life.
If you’ve got a bathroom with zero natural light, consider grabbing a small grow light {the LED ones draw next to no electricity and you can take with you when you move! }. Seriously y’all. Rental shower curtains are the worst.
That clear plastic one that loves to stick to you? Or that builder-basic white one that just screams “institution”? Nobody.
Throw up a lovely shower curtain and instant transformation. I have a linen shower curtain in sage that I bought for £45 and it makes my bathroom feel like something out of a boutique hotel rather than a bargain basement rental. Painting your rental bathroom isn’t an option, but that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate colour.
Throw it on towels, bath mats, artwork {that you can hang with those amazing bathroom-specific command strips}, heck even soap dispensers! I typically stick with warm whites, soft greens, and natural wood tones because it feels anchored but not overwhelming. Last little tip I promise!
Take photos. Before you rip out anything, take photos.
Like, lots of photos.
Document how everything looked when you got there so you can put it back (somewhat) to that silly landlord if you have to. Keep your receipts if you pay for damage deposits. Test out any adhesive products in small areas first to make sure the color/finish can be removed.
I have a little notebook for each rental that I lived in that details what worked and what didn’t when I moved in. It saves me so much time (and money!) with future rentals. Here’s the best part.
When I moved last month, every.single.thing came with me except for that peel-and-stick wallpaper. The wallpaper stayed in my previous rental for the next person (plus some decorative padding since I couldn’t bear to see it ripped off) and I had my bathroom decor sorted in my new place within a weekend. For reals.
Decorating a rental bathroom is 100% doable. You just have to be willing to think outside the box.
