My Favorite Tenant-Friendly Storage Solutions That Won’t Leave a Trace
When you rent a place, it’s your home, but it’s not your home, you know? You obviously want to keep everything neat and organized, not only for your own benefit, but also to ensure that you don’t end up forfeiting your security deposit in the future. The real problem comes when you decide how to do it. In most cases, you can’t remodel or make any permanent changes, but you have options: Here are the best (non-disruptive) organizational solutions for tenants.
Always choose resistance bands or tension rods.
Many people screw racks and rods to the walls of their spaces, knowing they can patch the holes before leaving, but it’s still not ideal. You have enough on your plate on moving day that you may not want to become a full-time handyman at a time when you’ll already have to move and unpack elsewhere. Overall, expandable organizers are a much better option.
Expandable Drawer Dividers (eight for $29.99) are excellent because they help you follow the rules of the organizational triangle . Specifically, they allow you to separate drawers and shelves so you have customized storage space for all categories of items. This is really important to keep everything in order, but you can do this without permanently installing anything. Same goes for these expandable tension shelving ($24.95), which creates extra shelving space where you need it.
Obviously, try to use standard tension rods wherever possible, from hanging curtains to creating a rod for extra clothes or storing handbags, but also consider using tension rod showers. If there’s one place you really shouldn’t make permanent changes, it’s where there is tile or ceramic, so it’s your safest option to leave the bathroom the way you found it. You can purchase a four-tier container for less than $20.
The best shelving for tenants
Over the years as a renter, I have tried all types of shelving. My problem is that I need a lot of storage space, so while I really like the squat ones that don’t take up a lot of space, they aren’t that useful to me and always end up getting very cluttered. I need big ones, but they have to be the right size. If they’re too heavy or too light, they need to be attached to the wall, and that’s not what I’m trying to do in a space that’s not mine.
I love this four-tier shelving unit from Furinno ($32.99) that I’ve had for four years and haven’t had any problems with. Other devices I’ve tried in the past were the wrong size and could fall apart or fall off. They are strong and stable enough to stand on their own without reinforcement. Not once in four years did they do anything to displease me or jeopardize my deposit.
I’m also a big proponent of storing cubes. Square shelving has smaller openings, so you need to be more specific and conscious about the categories you store, but the weight is distributed evenly and they are low enough to the ground that, again, they don’t need to be reinforced. My main advice, as someone with a lot of experience, is to get the ones that you need to screw together, not the ones that fit into external holders. They are too light and unstable. They will collapse. The ones you screw together, like these from Furinno ($29.99 for five), are much more stable.
High-quality glue is a tenant’s friend
I have a ton of cool organizers pinned to the walls and under cabinets in my home. They are attached with glue, which means that on the day of my departure I can simply remove them. I moved and rearranged them a lot and never noticed them pulling on the drywall. This is because I use quality glue. I prefer 3M over Command, which I’ve noticed tends to drop more. You can get over 16 feet of adhesive for $12.99.
As for what I use it for, let me count the ways. I have an entire ” organization wall ” that includes separate holders for sunglasses , racks for belts and hats, and bottle storage for things like sunscreen and hairspray. I also use adhesive hooks throughout the apartment, as well as adhesive towel and utensil organizers in the kitchen.
It’s all inexpensive, costing less than $20, and gives me super-specific storage options for all the things I need to store without causing any damage to the property. However, I do not recommend adhesive shelving . Any large shelf that you have to attach to the wall is at risk of falling. It’s not worth it for me, so I stick to shelving and small wall-mounted tools for organizing things.