Colour change without paint
Emily Lilburn, 21, shares how she transformed three plain university rooms into warm, inviting spaces using colour-changing lightbulbs and battery-operated candles.
"I never have the big light on," she says. "Instead I use lamps with £5 colour-changing light bulbs. I go for deep orange or warm red and it looks so much cosier."
Emily emphasizes the importance of patterned bedding to introduce colour and interest.
"You need to get colour and interest into the room. I go for stripes or check or polka dot and you can get a set for around £10."
She also recommends adding faux plants for colour and texture.
"You can get small ones from as little as £5,"says Emily, a third-year psychology in education student at the University of York.
"If I can bring a bit of nature into my bedroom it's calming and I feel like I'm outside."
All of Emily’s changes are temporary to protect her deposit.
"I've used adhesive strips which you can get for £4 or £5 to hang up three huge prints so I haven't made any holes in the walls. When our landlord comes around he always says 'I love what you've done with the place'."
Kitchen nightmare - we've got it covered
Teri, a single mother of two, has revamped four rental properties using affordable techniques.
"I dont know if I'll ever be able to afford a place of my own so I don't want that to hold me back from feeling settled in a lovely place which reflects my style,"she explains.
She refreshed kitchen cupboards by applying vinyl to create a faux marble worktop.
"Vinyl is about £5 a metre. The kitchens I've changed were cheap wood veneer against dark lino floor so it made it feel so much lighter when I did it."
Teri enhanced the effect by adding £1 lengths of wood on top of the vinyl before painting over it to add dimension.
Another simple update is changing cupboard door handles.
"It's really easy to do and keep the original handles to put back when you leave. You can get some nice ones for £4 for a pack of two,"she says.
She also created a faux window pane using adhesive vinyl to add character to a plain UPVC window.
"The tape was £1 and the self adhesive vinyl panel for the frame was about £4. A good tip is to use a hairdryer to warm the vinyl and adhesive to make it easier to work with."
Teri used vinyl to add a textured glass effect to a shower cubicle in her previous rental.
"The cubicle was chrome and very shiny and the matte black and the reeded glass effect makes it look more stylish. And it's temporary - the shower was one of the easiest things to peel off when I left."
Trick of the light
Ayoola Babalola, a content creator renting in London, uses stick-on wall lights to give her home a high-end appearance.
"Mine were £7 for a pack of three and you can angle the light up or down. I put mine over a mirror. The adhesive on the back won't mark your wall.
A lot of people thought my accommodation was expensive and it really wasn't."
She also enhances style by storing items in straw baskets and jars.
"It makes a huge difference to lose packaging with big bold logos on and decant stuff like cotton buds and floss heads into jars on your shelf.
In my kitchen I'll use jars for keeping rice and things in and in the bathroom I have my toilet rolls in a straw basket."
Back lighting in a flash
Chloe Harmer, 20, applied backlighting strips behind her mirror in her university room.
"I bought an led light strip for £7 which has an adhesive back which you just stick behind it. It took me less than five minutes - and it completely elevated it. It's made my room feel so much more cosy especially at night time,"she says.
Chloe is a third-year fashion marketing student at Leeds Arts University and also works part-time as a social media manager and content creator.
She considers fairy lights and framed prints essential for decorating walls.
"I got curtain type fairy lights for less than £3. I got some large frames for £7 each and prints which were less than £2,"Chloe explains.
"I use adhesive strips to stick everything - this ensures I get my deposit back."
