After owning a home for the last 20 years I've suddenly found myself renting. We decided to simplify, sell the big refurb we'd been working on and get something smaller and easier. The right house hasn't come up yet, so while we wait we rent. And I've surprised myself by how much I love it.
In the global west, home ownership is seen as the be all and end all. At the same time, house prices are rocketing, wages are stagnating and rents are soaring. I appreciate that for many renters their landlords may be miserly, they may be in cramped shared spaces, they might be paying more they can afford to live in a substandard home. I appreciate how lucky I am to have a decent rental agency looking after the property, who have maintained its upkeep and who are charging me a fair rate to live here, so my experience is rosier than many.
But I'm here to make the case for renting to people who might otherwise think it's a step backwards, who have worked hard and striven to own and been led to believe that's the only way of life. Surprise! Renting (for me at least) is heaven and I have really enjoyed making my rental feel like home.
'There is something so freeing about renting,' says the Florida-based interior designer Lisa Gilmore of Lisa Gilmore Designs. She acknowledges that she's in the same boat as me – lucky to be in a nice apartment, above, with a decent ownership – and agrees that the mindset renting can give you if you're fortunate is surprisingly appealing. 'You can try a neighborhood or building style on for size, change it if you don't like it, go exploring.'
I'm in a part of town I'd never have thought to buy in but was happy to rent in as the stakes were lower. It's busier than I thought I'd like, but it turns out having coffee shops and bars a short walk away is nicer than I'd guessed (I'd previously lived rurally and very peacefully).
But more than that. I'm learning to relax in my rental in a way I never could in the house I owned. Back then, there was always a job to do, always a bit more of the renovation to pay for, always a bit of maintenance that needed managing and financing. Here, in a rental, I can look at a crack in the plasterwork and barely even register it, it being, well, not my problem long term.
Not that you can't engage with your rental, and make it house that feels like home. I've unpacked all our furniture and plants and books from the old house and styled them so that the space tells the story of us, showcasing our favorite things even if we didn't pick the landlord's classic gray paint on the wall.
And Lisa points out that you can make a rental grow with you, too. She had a baby five months ago, and turned the guest room into this nursery, above. 'I love wallpaper, but that’s risky in a rental,' she says. 'So what I did was have a carpenter build what looks like millwork, using beading and affixing it to a board with French cleats. Then you can wallpaper the board in the middle and hang that on the wall. It looks like paneling but it's actually an artwork you can take with you when you leave.'
Not that everything about renting is a dream come true. Even for us lucky people who have space and a landlord who answers the phone if something goes wrong.
'I would say that maintenance can be an issue,' Lisa says. 'The outside of my house definitely lacks kerb appeal and is painted in a color I hate, but fixing that is not a priority for the ownership. I've done what I can with a few plants but were I owning it's definitely something I'd love to look at properly.'
For me, the wooden kitchen countertop has started to warp around the kitchen sink, even going black along the edges as water has seeped in over the years. But because it's not my home it doesn't feel like my problem. And if anything serves as reminder not to choose a wooden counter whenever - and if ever - I am refurbing a kitchen of my own again one day. As Lisa says, renting is about trying things on for size. And, if you're lucky, perhaps you'll find something you love.
