We live in a rented, furnished flat, like many people. This situation is unlikely to change in the forseeable future with property prices being as they are, and deposits being as their current, huge amounts {though that doesn't stop me from aiming to own my own property before I'm thirty}. The flat in which I live is very much my home - I share it with someone I love dearly and we are gradually filling it with things that have particular meaning to us. However, for all I feel like it is my home, it is most certainly not my house.
Now I am unable to be buying furniture to replace the pieces that are currently here - I can neither afford to do so financially {a sofa is a big commitment at 23!} and the logistics of storing furniture and moving it in and out seems over the top. This niggles me when I'm scoping gorgeous design blogs, but for the most part I can move past it - filling our home with personal momentos is having enough of an effect in terms of personalising the place. However, with regards to my interior design tastes, our landlord and myself have somewhat conflicting views. Namely, I like my walls to be a mix of chic muted colours that act as a backdrop to accent colours, whereas he very much enjoys a bold punch of colour {it's like living in a Skittles bag}. Any changes to this interior decoration would be purely cosmetic because lets be honest, it's not as if the walls are falling down around me or like I don't have a roof over my head {so I'm aware it's a pretty privileged problem to begin with}. So my options lie in either asking the landlord to paint the walls {which I have, though I'm not holding my breath} or doing it myself which requires both a financial commitment as well as a commitment of my time.
I've already spent a large chunk of my Saturday painting the wood work in the house because I'd finally decided to do something about the chipped paint and whilst not an unpleasant task, it did require both a financial {albeit minimal} and personal commitment and thus made me consider the implications of redecorating a property that is my home but not my house {landlord permitting of course}.
Do you invest your time and money into your home solely because it will be your home for the forseeable future, or do you just make do with its current decoration because you would be wasting money improving someone else's house? Granted, I'm speaking from a position of limited disposable income right now, so maybe that would alter my perception but it has definitely divided opinions in our home. I personally, would love to decorate our home, but I'm more and more being able to comprehend my boyfriends argument against fixing up someone else's house. I'm intrigued to know your opinions on this too, please share: I'd love to hear from you!
Love
B
x
