notes from a rented home
A field notebook for renters who want their place to feel like home without drilling, gouging or kissing the deposit goodbye. Every fix here is tagged with how hard it is to undo and how much it could cost you at the final inspection — so you can just get on with it.
Eighth rental · deposit back in full
This year's interiors trends lean almost entirely on movable things — which is to say, they were made for renters.
Putting a place back is chemistry and logistics, not willpower. Do the right thing on the right day and inspection day is just a signature.
The longest note on the site: six worst-hit spots, how to size a dehumidifier, and who's actually on the hook for rising damp.
A third of it is about decor; two thirds about agreeing the rules with your flatmates. Sort the rules and the decor takes care of itself.
An honest list from eight moves: the seven things worth the money, and the ones I said goodbye to next to a skip.
Whoever holds the money has the upper hand; whoever holds the evidence takes it back. The renter's playbook.
I've rented eight places and handed every one of them back. From the first room where I lost a chunk of my deposit to a wad of cheap foam tape, to the old flat where I got the whole bond back and friends assumed I'd hired a stylist — every method, every lesson I paid for and every message template lives here.
Each fix is tagged with how hard it is to reverse and how much it could cost your deposit, because I've always believed one thing: the fun of fixing up a place shouldn't end in a heart attack on inspection day.
— Remy About Rented Nook →
The map for the whole site: why reversible is the iron rule, the three things to do before you start, the order to work in, and three budgets.
With 3M's own weight ratings and the "halve it for old walls" reality discount, from 200 g to a whole wall of books.
Two and a half years, about a grand and a half, full bond back — the complete ledger and an honest post-mortem of one old studio.