It’s difficult to make your house truly feel like a home when there’s someone you have to go through to be allowed to paint or make any changes. It’s difficult enough to hang a poster or painting let alone paint a whole room (or several).
But there’s steps you can take to have a higher chance of your landlord (or lady) allowing you to paint the property you’re renting.
1. Be clear about what it is that you want to do and communicate with your landlord
Tell your landlord whether you only want to paint one wall, one room or several rooms. Mention what colour options you’re thinking about and see if they have any preferences. It helps if you’re planning to live in that properly for at least a couple of years because then there’s more chance they’ll be okay with it.
You may get a different response depending on what it is you’re planning to do. For example, if you just want to paint the room a relatively neutral colour rather than add a metallic feature wall then you might stand a better chance as it’ll be easier to rectify afterwards.
2. The sooner the better
Whilst it probably shouldn’t be the first question you ask, I’d recommend asking potentially during the flat/house viewing if they’d be okay with you painting and under what conditions. Landlords usually get a professional in before the move in so you don’t want to risk them paying someone to do the work and then you changing the colour only a few weeks later.
3. Get the agreement in writing
You may want to have the conversation in-person at first but it’s always best to follow up with a simple email outlining what was discussed and getting them to confirm. Also agree who is paying for what! Better to be safe than sorry ;)
4. Offer to repaint before you move out
When you ask, mention that you would be happy to repaint before you move out and ask if they would like this (get this in writing too!). Don’t forget to ask them to confirm what exact paint/colour they’ve got in the space currently so you can get the same one if you do have to repaint
We recently asked this question on Instagram and painter and decorator (and landlord) @phantompainters.london said:
“As a landlord myself, most of us will not necessarily object to tenants improving the property but as you say, advisable to ask especially if you are going to use bold deep colours or you will have to meet the cost to reverse any offending colours. Some may even insist it is done to acceptable standards especially if it was recently decorated by professionals.”
We hope this helps you start a good conversation with your landlord, but if they do unfortunately say no, consider other options such as painting furniture.
Good luck!