Everyone wants to live in a house that feels like home. But if you are renting and have limited space like Hong Kong's rental flats, it may be hard to do so. However, it is still possible for you to add your personal taste to your new apartment without "breaking the rules, upsetting your landlord, and losing your security deposit."
Hong Kong's rental flats are usually small and compact. It also almost has the same design, making you feel like you are living in a place that everybody else is living in. So even though you have very limited space, you can still personalize it to feel like home.
However, tenants are not allowed to transform their rental flats fully. They don't have the freedom to decorate, renovate, and tune up their apartments to whatever they desire, per Engel & Volkers. Lease contracts often come with rules, and it says what you can and cannot do. It also imposes strict limitations to what features you are permitted to change.
So for you to put your character and personality to your rental flat, you have to transform and redesign the limited space you have. You just have to be very creative to turn your space to a place that you can feel and call home.
Take it from Caitlin Walker, a South African banker who has been moving from one rental flat to another with her husband, Jonathan. She had moved to Hong Kong 11 years ago. Every time she lives in a new apartment, she always makes sure that it will feel like home for her family.
"Living in a place as if you're only there on a temporary basis is awful because you never get that sense of home," she told the South China Morning Post. Caitlin lives in a 2,300-sq-ft flat with three bedrooms in Hong Kong with her husband and her daughter. She filled the house with an eclectic combination of old and new pieces that reflect their personality and their way of life.
Caitlin adorned their house with a chest from her father, a wooden box she inherited from her grandmother and painting her parents gifted her daughter. She bought her furniture like sofa, dining table, and beds in Hong Kong while she got the artwork, ceramics, and other decorations when she was traveling and from her homeland.
The rental flat's outdoor area has a style influenced by Caitlin's African roots, but with a more colonial look. She also puts lush plants, an old-fashion ceiling fan, woven furniture, and a barbecue stand. She makes her home look calm by adding flora and fauna and soft furnishings.
"You can have great fun playing around with contrasts and layering various shades," she said. "Tropical colors work well in the Hong Kong environment, too."
