Whether you’re moving to Austin for college or testing out the suburbs before purchasing a house, being a renter shouldn’t mean sacrificing your personal comfort and style. On your next move, try leveraging the following four items to turn a rented space into your home sweet home!
1. Buying art from local artists
Despite their similarities (fast food restaurants, we’re looking at you), every metropolitan area in the country offers a uniqueness borne of social, historical, and geographic elements. Few people are better qualified to capture that uniqueness than the artists who live and work there.
Wondering where to buy local art? Among other outlets, you can find local artists at:
- “Open house” events at studios
- Local art stores
- Art galleries mounting exhibitions or hosting tours
- Nearby art schools and universities
- Art fairs and farmers markets (look to support local artists specifically, since many art fairs feature artists from across the country)
Your likeliest problem isn’t how to find local artists; it’ll be how to decide which one to buy art from!
2. Selecting pieces from the world’s largest art collection
Yes, we’re talking about the internet. Thousands of artists make their work available through many great websites.
Such sites include:
- Etsy: This is likely the first site that jumped to your mind. There probably isn’t any aesthetic taste you won’t find among the website’s many artist vendors. Whether you’re looking for inspirational, humorous, reflective, or something else entirely, you’ll find some of it here.
- Society6: Here, you can find a work of art you like and reproduce everything from blankets to coffee mugs. This may be an effective trick to work more art into your area in unconventional ways.
- Artspace: This site sets itself apart by expanding on the already-broad selection available at our first two suggestions (with pieces going for $70,000 and more). Like them, though, you can pick up terrific art at prices as low as $20.
3. Getting Furniture On Your Terms™
Hold on: we’re not suggesting that you sleep on the floor or go hardcore minimalistic. (You want to make your friends and family comfortable when they visit and check out your new art!)
What we do think is a worthwhile idea, though, is getting Furniture on Your Terms — renting while you need it, and having it picked up and removed when you’re ready for your next step.
Doing so allows you to pull together an inviting personal space without the aggravation of:
- Going to multiple stores
- Arranging multiple delivery dates
- Lugging your current furniture to your next place
- Hiring movers when you’re ready to relocate again
Renting furniture is a budget-wise choice that can save you money that you can put toward an additional art piece or two — art whose impression on you will outlive any couch, chair, or lamp table. Plus, unlike fast furniture, it’s an eco-friendly choice that helps keep furnishings out of landfills.
4. Display your art
With your furniture well-apportioned throughout your home, work out the best locations for your art.
- If you have a tall, standing canvas, hang it in a low-traffic area to minimize trip hazards.
- If you’re going to be hanging something, place it between 5’6” and 5’8” from the floor — typically, unless you have a vaulted ceiling, it’s an excellent way to display art without visitors having to crane their necks to appreciate it.
- Speaking of hanging artwork: if you’re fortunate enough to have a place that gets a lot of natural sunlight, position prints and paintings away from the light to prevent fading or use UV Plexiglas, which costs a little more but is worth it to protect your prized artwork.
The Art of Affordable Style
Browse CORT’s Move-In Ready furniture subscription packages to furnish your temporary space affordably and sustainably. Our team will deliver and set up the items and pick them up when you’re ready to relocate again! No movers. No assembly. No hassle!
