A tenant's guide to damage-free decorations

First things first, check with your landlord what you are and aren’t allowed to do when it comes to putting up more permanent fixings. Some landlords are happy for you to hammer in nails for pictures as long as the holes are filled over and returned back to how they were, once you’re ready to move. You may be assuming you’re not allowed to do these things without checking first.

Don’t despair if the answer is no though, there are a lot of options for ensuring decorations don’t ruin your chance of getting your full deposit back. We’re focusing on Christmas, but really this applies to any holiday.

Freestanding decorations

First things first, consider your free-standing decorations. These could be anything from your Christmas tree to a lifesize replica of the Nutcracker. Especially when it comes to your tree, you can decorate it however you like, adding fun and colour, or festive twinkles instantly without needing to go near a wall.

For smaller spaces, you can get a small potted tree and stand it on a decorative pot stand, if your space doesn’t allow for the traditional 6ft tree.

Ornaments

There will be other places that look good with ornaments that aren’t the floor. Have a look round and see what shelf space you have, any ledges or tables that could do with a bit of festive oomph. To make ornaments look even more festive, you can turn them into a scene using white quilting filler for the appearance of snow.

Soft furnishings

This is one that often gets overlooked, change your cushion covers, add some Christmassy fair isle throws to the back of your sofas - it seems like a really small thing but you’ll be surprised at how much of a difference little touches like this can make to a room.

Candles and wax melts

We’re just going to preface this one by saying that you should always make sure when lighting candles, that you follow the manufacturers’ instructions for their use and their maintenance. Smells can have a huge impact when it comes to people looking for homes (fresh bread and fresh coffee are two of the most popular) so why wouldn’t it have an impact on you in your own home?

If you’re not a fan of candles, you could try dehydrating some orange slices in your oven, this will fill your house with a warm, Christmassy smell.

Lighting

Turn the big light off! If you’re looking for a cosier, more festive vibe then use soft lighting with things like lamps and fairy lights etc. If you haven’t got anywhere to hang lights, bundle some battery operated LED ones into a clear glass vase, and it will create a gorgeously twinkly statement piece for your home, with all the practicality of a standard lamp.

Festive table

If you can, lay your table with the settings you’ll be using on Christmas Day. If you do this quite far in advance you might want to swap the plates out for dress ones nearer the time, but it’s a gorgeous way of adding a festive pop to your home.

Use furniture you already have

Often when people think about decorating, they get hung up on the walls rather than thinking about what you already own. Do you have an IKEA Billy Bookcase? If so, are you amenable to some pushpins going into it? This way you could hang lights and/ or tinsel or garlands from your shelves to give them a festive touch.

And finally, sticky fixings

If you do want to hang things like cards on your walls, then Command strips are brilliant. They have a whole host of different strips and hooks to suit most needs. They stick to your wall, and then if you carefully follow instructions to remove them there will be no trace that they’ve ever been there. Brilliant!