Welcome back to another episode of the #howirent home tours! If this is your first time visiting, hello! Let me give you a quick run through . . . #HowiRent is a monthly home tour series that started as a way to champion renters, who are transforming their homes into abodes of personality and style. Check out previous home tours here, or apply to be a guest here.
[All the beautiful photographs in this series have been shot by Kasia Fiszer. This post contains Affiliate links]
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INTRODUCING THIS MONTHS GUEST . . .
Teri Muncey!
Teri is the owner of the lifestyle blog The Lovely Drawer. She is also a content creator, designer (you can fine her online shop here) and creative workshop teacher. Now I know this is going to sound a little stalker-ish, but I had actually been following Teri for quite some time (online I mean. The alternative would obviously be very illegal) – before I stared conversing with her.
Her blog was one of the very first UK blogs I found that I really REALLY enjoyed. I loved her modern Scandinavian style projects and crafty DIYs. I had no idea Teri rented her apartment until a recent conversation with her on Instagram. Of course I HAD to get her on here after discovering that!
When you see her home, you’ll know why!
Over to Teri!
WATCH THE VIDEO TOUR OF TERI’S RENTED HOME.
Where and who do you live with?
Our flat straddles the Shepherd’s Bush / Acton border in London, having moved from 7 minute walk away, a little further into Shepherd’s Bush 2.5 years ago.
I live with my husband, toddler Maggie and soon to have a little baby boy joining us too.
What do you like most about this apartment?
I love the abundance of natural light the most, along with the high ceilings in the main room.
These two things have a real impact on my mind set which may sound strange but I particularly find working from home very hard in dark rooms with low ceilings. It seems to set my mood and impact my motivation.
Is there anything you dislike?
Weirdly I sometimes dislike the amount of natural light when it’s a super sunny day, only because our landlord didn’t put curtains or blinds up (which is why we decided to hang tension rods that do not require holes) so it can be like a total sauna!
I also don’t really like most of the light fixtures in our flat but they’re quite hard to change when renting.
How would you describe your decorating style?
My decorating style is still fairly Scandinavian but has become a little more eclectic over the years with a very subtle bohemian vibe running through.
I love simplicity and have embraced white walls as a renter but love softening the look up with a mixture of tones and textures in the furnishings, as well as plenty of greenery dotted around.
Can you describe your relationship with your landlord. How do they feel about you decorating? Is there anything they wouldn’t want you to do?
We have a really good relationship with our landlord. He was living in our flat before us so we actually met him and his family.We still pay through an agency but everything else is dealt with via the landlord. He’s pretty laid back about us putting things in the walls if we fill up holes when we leave.
I have to say I’m not sure how he’d feel about us painting as I’ve not yet asked but I think he’d be happy with anything that isn’t structural change. Our landlord and family have visited within the last year and liked what we’d done with the place.
What type of rental do you live in? Do you mind sharing how much you pay for rent monthly?
We pay £1750 a month which for the size of our property is actually a really good deal in our area but it’s still a crazy amount. Sometimes I have to remind myself our location is really central and a large portion of our place is my work space and storage so I have no need to pay for a co-working space and regular trips to cafés or commuting prices.
Where do you source most of your furniture from? Do you have any favourite brands?
Well I’m a big fan of West Elm as you may be able to tell. All our bigger pieces like the sofa, coffee table, media cabinet and bed frame are from West Elm but I must confess they were also gifted items.
We wouldn’t have been able to afford all of them ourselves but we love the style and quality of their furniture.
We’re big fans of IKEA and that’s also evident in our flat, particularly in my work space. It’s budget friendly and stylish which is a win win! I love the idea of second hand furniture but it’s really tricky when you don’t have a car to collect. I stick to buying the smaller, decorative items second hand.
Do you have a favourite piece of furniture in your home?
My favourite piece of furniture is definitely our sofa. It’s the centre of our living/dining/kitchen area, so much fun to style and restyle and its so comfortable. We sometime even use it as a spare bed!
What is your favourite room in this apartment ?
Definitely the living/dining/kitchen area as I love the loft apartment feel, the light and high ceilings. It’s great that it’s totally open plan so I can be cooking whilst Maggie plays or people sit on the sofa. It’s a very sociable space, good for parties too!
What’s the most challenging DIY job you’ve done to date?
I love small scale DIY projects but I have to say I feel really out of my depth with anything large scale.
The most challenging DIY was probably our IKEA rattan pendant light. I didn’t realise it came with the wire and fitting attached. Not only did we already have the fitting when we moved in but the one we received from IKEA was made for a standard ceiling height rather than our crazy, tall ceilings.
I was so desperate to make it work that I had to carefully saw the spindles off the light bulb fitting and the superglue a wooden disc to join them together again but this was able to sit over the existing light bulb fitting.
My husband was vocally very skeptical that this was going to work but I was so happy it did! It’s lasted 2.5 years so far.
Do you ever see yourself buying a home one day?
We would love to buy a home, mainly because we’d save a lot of money on monthly mortgage repayments compared to monthly renting costs. It would be nice to be able to get more creative with a space but I really feel like we’ve made this flat our home so I don’t think we’re missing out in that sense.
For now it’s not feasible financially but then we also get to enjoy our landlord paying for upkeep of the property rather than us, as well as the freedom to easily move if we really needed to.
Do you have a top tip for renters?
Choose fairly timeless, neutral items of furniture so that you can continually update the look of your place with interesting furnishings.
It’s easy to make those smaller changes if you get a little bored or if you want to add to what you have for more a homely feel and secondly find a way to get art or photos on the walls because it’s the quickest way to make a space feel finished and more personal.
So what do you think of Teri’s home? I would love to hear your thoughts, please leave a comment below . You can also share your rented homes on Instagram using the tag #HowIRent.
Click on the image below to share this Scandinavian style rental home tour to Pinterest.
Oh, i love scandinave style , i’m trying to redecorate my rooms on that style. Also i love when rooms look light with the lights of sunshine and sometimes in the afternoon there is too much light lol. Her house is the result i want for my home. The “canapé” =sofa???? I was wondering in blue for my home. Thus , it is soo zen, peacefull, i like it. Therefore i love allllll homes that you have on the blog. For now , this one is my favorite. I am fund of ikea.
Love the simplicity. I’m trying to capture the serenity of the Scandinavian style for my own home❤ would LOVE to know where she got her rusty colored throw on her master bed❤