Light and Colour

All notes in this collection

The flat itself is the hardest thing to change, but light and colour cost almost nothing and change the whole room. These notes start with a single bulb — how to read colour temperature and lumens, and how a main light, a floor lamp and a clip lamp build up in layers, with strips and rechargeable wall lights where there is no wiring. Then reversible colour: peel-and-stick paper, hanging fabric and a renter's version of colour drenching, and which curtain and tension rod to pick for blackout, privacy or heat. Everything is reversible, peels off and leaves nothing behind at check-out, and each note ends with the mistakes to avoid.

• Reversible colour: peel-and-stick, hanging fabric and the renter's colour drench Get away from the white wall without painting: how to choose and remove peel-and-stick wallpaper, hang fabric and gallery walls damage-free, and do a renter's colour drench in textiles, with 2026 palettes and the traps to skip.
• Rental lighting without an electrician: it starts with one bulb Upgrade a rental's lighting with no rewiring and no electrician: how to read colour temperature and lumens, swap the main bulb for warm white, layer in a second and third light, plus wire-free strips and three room setups.
• 2026 rental decor trends: how to do quiet maximalism without the clutter For once, 2026's interiors trends are on the renter's side: quiet maximalism, curated walls, colour drenching and a warm earthy palette — all of it doable with movable things. Plus the line between maximalism and mess, and how to scale it for a small flat.
• The renter's guide to window treatments: no-drill blackout, privacy and the afternoon sun A no-drill guide to renter's window treatments: blackout, privacy and heat, tension rods, static-cling film and how to measure so nothing is left behind.