My big renovation of a rented apartment

Hello, my dear readers! It has been a few weeks since my last post and now I am back with new ideas. One of my main plans is to start a big renovation of a rented apartment, and of course, I will be sharing my progress with you.

My rented apartment

Let me start with a little introduction to my apartment. I will avoid pictures for now, because it is now presentable, and I would be more comfortable sharing the before-after photos rather than only the “before” ones.

As you might know already, I live in the best city in the world – Berlin, Germany. The apartments in Berlin are known for being pretty small and if you find a place bigger than 70 square meters, it would be considered a great catch.

I live in a rented apartment, which is 54 square meters. Big enough for one person with a dog. My house was built more than 100 years ago and survived WW2. It has been renovated and improved to meet the European Union regulations.

My apartment has a spacious living room, bedroom, bathroom, 2 hallways and a small kitchen.

Guess what?

I need to renovate, re-design and re-decorate the entire place. Yes, it is a lot of work, and a lot of money to invest, but I simply can’t stand the current look and state of my apartment. As it is rented, I have to ask for permission from the landlord (in my case it is a company, not a private person) to do so, if I want to make a big change. If I will just “refresh” the place, I can do it without asking anything. The rule in Germany is simple, when you will be moving out, the apartment should look as it was when you were moving in.

Big renovation of a rented apartment

The living room

Currently, my living room is split into zones. An “entertainment zone” with a couch, a couch table, a TV and bookshelves. A “quiet zone” with a chair, a lamp and a few decorative tables and a “home office”, which is, well, my home office corner with a desk and a chair.

My big renovation of a rented apartment starts here. The idea is to get rid of almost everything and create an absolutely new room with a dining table and chairs in the corner, an L-shaped couch, a TV stand and a new TV, new storage spaces and bookshelves and a place for relaxing and reading a book. I want to dedicate some space for my dog, so he will not be using my new couch.

The bedroom

The standard boring bedroom is what I have right now. A bed, a TV (yes, another TV), a lamp, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers.

The idea is to dedicate one corner of the bedroom to a home office because it makes more sense to have a home office in the bedroom than in the living room. I want a bigger bed, a bookshelf, night tables and I am thinking of completely getting rid of the wardrobe from the bedroom and building one in the hallway.

The bathroom

Currently, it is an IKEA bathroom, and it is somehow annoying. I want to pimp it up, purchase a big new mirror. Try to use some wallpaper, as it is quite trendy now, and some greenery as well. Add better storage spaces. The sink, the toilet and the bathtub I am not allowed to change, so they are going to stay.

The hallway

As I mentioned before, I will use the long hallway I have to construct and build my wardrobe and storage space. It should be narrower to save some space but should look pretty.

The kitchen

The kitchen is the only part of my apartment which I won’t be doing by myself. I will order a new kitchen and let them build it for me. I believe the kitchen is the most important and most expensive part of each home.

Other

There are many things I need to fix, and I will learn by doing them. And of course, I will share the results.

The budget

I don’t have a big budget, but enough to do the entire renovation. I will try to save on things and look for some second-hand stuff as well. Besides, I will try to upcycle and DIY some bits, so it will save me some €€.

So, tell me, what do you think about my plans about renovation of a rented apartment, and would it be something you would like to follow?

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Featured photo by Rene Asmussen from Pexels