Removing my renter-friendly DIYs 😱 Will I get my deposit back? 

As an apartment maintenance guy...it was nice to see someone taking enough care and time to try and leave the apartment in good condition.

If I were your landlord I would have kept your upgrades!!! Refunded your. Deposit and upped the rent on it!!! It was so up to date and cozy, homey❤😂

Thank you for the undoing of the makeover. I’ve been curious to know how renter friendly the renter friendly hacks are actually. :)

Just a suggestion from a Faux Finisher...when painting, you can clean unwanted paint spots with baby wipes...it works great. Also, when you want to remove any adhesive, such as tape, painters tape, contact paper and removable wall paper take a hair dryer on medium heat and start at the edges working down or up and towards the middle, pulling the tape or wall paper on a angle, the heat helps to keep paint on the wall. Any leftover adhesive residue on the wall try removing with a little vegetable or canola oil, mayonnaise and leave on for about an hour, then wipe away. If it's a bit harder to remove try rubbing alcohol or again baby wipes.

What you are doing, taking things down and putting things back how they were, is something I have never seen, in 27 years of being a landlord. I only dream of having a tenant such as yourself.

Besides the hairdryer tip mentioned, you can run dental floss behind the strips to help unstick them. I’ve had some that broke as I tried to pull the strips as directed, leaving me nothing to pull, the dental floss worked well.

Thanks for sharing this! As a landlord, I always want to say yes, but I also want to save my residents from unnecessary fees at the end of their lease. This gives me a much better idea of what can work. My biggest concern with the peel & stick wallpaper was that it would leave a sticky residue on the walls, which would take hours of clean up. Im shocked that you were required to spackle. That would be technically illegal in MO, which only requires “broom clean”. I would consider all of those holes to be normal wear and tear. Even the tiny bit where you got overzealous with the board removal. (If there were rips like that all over the wall, I would charge for my repairs. So good job going slowly to save yourself fees!)

When removing peel and stick wallpaper, start from the top and peel downward. This allows you to keep the paper close to the wall and minimizes the chance of peeling off the underlying paint. When removing Command strips, also pull straight down, slowly, and not away from the wall. As the strip stretches, the friction warms up the adhesive so it comes off without damaging the wall. If you find that the strip won't budge or the pull breaks, use a piece of dental floss or thread and run it back it forth between the hook and the strip. Afterwards, use a blow dryer to warm up the adhesive and the strip comes off the wall without damage or residue. Patience and working slowly and gradually will always yield good results.

I just saw your video about putting up that wallpaper and what you did in the dining room lmao This is amazing, this is the first time I saw a video of someone showing taking off the DIY improvements they've made after a long time of having them up.

Great job! The peel n stick you used in the kitchen probably gained stickiness because of the heat from the stove. I haven't seen anyone be successful with removal in that room yet lol. Enjoy your new place!

Your landlord is crazy for not keeping the updates!! Good luck with your new move!😊

I'm glad the removal went smoothly. I've been hesitant on using the peel and stick wallpaper. When we move, I'll try them. Looking forward to see which the two of you picked. Congrats on the new place.

I've subscribed and hit the notification bell after watching this video. You covered everything I've been curious about regarding renter friendly DIYs. Now I'm anxious to see the new apartment and watch your improvements of it. I stumbled onto your page after a DIY binge and I'm so glad I did.

On the backsplash, they have cool vinyl peel and stick tiles that look like glass or marble and are totally removable

Congratulations Alli for your system in all your rooms. It's exciting going to a new place. A blank canvas to recreate. I hope you will have a balcony too. In all of the apartment rentals I have lived in, in VA they have the 3 year rule. If you have lived there 3 years or more they still give you the deposit back even with molly bolt holes or mail holes and you do not need to patch them up as they repaint anyway and redo all the carpets. They only hold your deposit if you have very bad dmg to the walls and hardwood floors over 3 years which is a given. I presently live in a rent to buy Flat co-op and 3 days before I moved in I was told all the appliances and the bathroom was brand new. NOT! My place is registered with the historical society so molly bolts are not permitted or nails but a thumb tack is but I have been putting a few things up with command strips. My fridge has been on the blink for 2 weeks I lost lots of meats and freezer food after a big shopping of which my renters insurance reimbursed me but I have not had a working freezer for 2 weeks and the fridge is not as cold as it should be. I went and bought a temp guide to hang inside. The bathroom floor was filthy at the walk thru and so was the kitchen floor. The dishwasher has food and crumbs left in it from the previous people. The rent here in the northern VA area is thru the roof and I believe the place should be clean. I am telling all I hear that are looking for a rental even in a home ask how old all the appliances are. Ask what the wear and tare limit is 3 years or longer or under. This is suppose to be a smoke free zone if you smoke you have to be 35 feet from your entrance door. No smoking allowed in the apartments. It's suppose to be a drug free zone but I smell pot everyday when I come home from work. But, I look forward to seeing your new place and travel along on the journey with you of your new upgrades, transformations etc. Today is my first day of vac and I have been a bump on a log the entire day but I need to run out and get party supplies for my Dad's bday tomorrow and since I moved in, I have yet to go to one little shop I have been itching to see. I have been working 10 hour days and Saturdays so I haven't been on RU-vid a lot. I am happy I saw the alert to this video today. Blessings to you and I hope your job is still going great! Love, Rebekah

A hair dryer will help command strips and the wall paper also(not glued type)

I loved the video. Your apartment was super cute. I never thought of trying this! Great look!

Yay! I’m so glad it all came off pretty well!! I cannot wait to see your new place! And what you do!!!

My husband was in property management for years. The large corporate owned places assume your security deposit is part of their income now. They were told to make up anything they had to go kerp it and he would get in trouble for returning security deposits. It’s not worth removing g anything unless you rent from a private owner. This is an illegal practice I’m sure, but it’s the norm and nobody polices it.

I am so glad you said we could skip the chalking😂 thank you ❤

I am using command strips often... Also renting so my room divider is hanging on them... Also all pictures, working board. Great stuff...

For the dinning room, maybe not putting the command tape straight on the wall but on the contact paper (applying it without leaving space between the panels) may have helped too maybe? everything would have held on the contact paper and at worse, if you were worried about the solidity, maybe put a couple of staples (jt-21) at the top most part before you apply the horizontal board (and also put the command tape that holds the board on the contact paper)

Thanks for sharing this video with us to chronicle the move to your apartment. Can't wait to see which one you chose! Good luck with the move!

Such an inspiration, great works👍 I goona try some of your great ideas, thanks! One small idea, might be handy, when peel and stick wallpaper maybe could try to cut edges of peel off from back cling film and stick paper to wall only around edges, would be easier to take off from wall sometime after, and if change your mind and want reuse paper in other area might be still usable?

Great Job, Thanks for sharing. Blessings to you in your new space. Looking forward to see what you do with it.

Can you put contact paper on the wall for a cheaper dry erase board!?

You didn't answer if you got your deposit back though??! Still super helpful. I've been thinking about command hooks, but haven't yet done it yet for concern they wouldn't actually work and would rip the paint. so this was a good find!!

Contact paper/peel and stick products in general are just a god send all around for renters

I put up removable wallpaper on one wall in my bathroom. When I removed it, the removable wallpaper left the whole wall sticky and it wasn't on the wall for very long.

What about the paper towel holder!? That is the one thing I really wanted to see how the removal went!

Thnx so much for showing this

I was actually looking for a good way to divide an apt, but found your channel and LOVE it!!

Hi, thank you for these videos. For someone who cannot sleep, therefore stays up late researching how to transform my new space, this is so helpful and hopeful. I do have a question. I’ve repeatedly read that removable wallpaper won’t stick to textured walls. Do you have any other recommendations for adding a color to the wall that may not be wallpaper friendly?

Was the wall texture okay after you removed it or was it sticky?

6:15 - Who else sees this? Do NOT cut towards yourself!!! I know when you start getting into a project it can be hard to stay focused on safety, but it's really easy to try to push through a stuck spot, slip, and end up calling EMS.

First time subscriber I really enjoyed your videos.

Going into my third year in my current place and the only thing I did was put those white stuff in the bathroom tiles and I am leaving it because this kept it white instead of the brownish colour. I was asking about painting and should have just done what I wanted and enjoyed the place. I wanted a new mattress and she only bought new mattress for the empty rooms when my previous housemates left and refused to by me a mattress. I got a topper instead. Looking for a new place with a garden now because my plants do not thrive here and hate that the housemates dry their clothes in the kitchen/living room and they do not clean the common areas only me. I will definitely so renovation work where I move too if I want something changed.

Hopefully you'll be able to use the cute peg strip in your new place.

Hi! I was wondering what brand of spackle/nail filler did you use? PS- love all of your tips. You are so creative!

When I hear Board and Batton wall, I think of the Bergen-Battons from Man vs. BEE

This is why I do fabric and not wallpaper add starch and roll it on so much cheaper 😊

Totally would have asked landlord if keeping the upgrades was an option. As a landlord I would want to keep all.

Landlord should have kept your lovely creations.

Well done Alli! I’m excited for you friend. 🥰🤗

What is the 'spackle'? Does it dry clearly?

Hi Alli! what to do in case you damage the wall as it happened. do you have to fix it and repaint it yourself or do you have to tell your landlord?

But no one ever talks about washing the floors and removing all the sticky stuff from the stick-on floor tiles. I would like to see a video on after removing all those renter friendly hacks, show what it is to clean your floors, clean the walls to remove all that sticky residue, and repaint some of the walls. If I was a landlord, I would write it into the contract, “no modifications” because I’ve done those renter hacks before, and it’s a pain washing out all the sticky stuff.

about the nail role, how u fill that? and you paint it again?

I’d ask the landlord if they want to keep your upgrades.

Beautiful

Couple questions: how long was the contact paper in place? You just said a "long time"....Also - you are filling the holes with pink filler/caulk - did you repaint the room?

Where is the wallpaper from?!

What was the basket around the light project?

What brand of wall paper do you recommend best

Hello from Alaska! Q: do your walls have a texture? I can’t tell watching this. New subbie thanks to this video! TIA 🙋🏻‍♀️💕🏔️ My walls are very textured. Lol

Wow satisfying video

Was your contact paper you used on all of the walls, washable

I liv6ed everything you upgraded. For me, unfortunately, the men in my life would have never "let" me do that kind of thing in a rental. I did use contact paper in both houses we owned, but not in rentals.

I tried a Command Strip in a room. About 5 minutes after installing it, I decided to move it to another wall. It ripped off the paint and top paper and texture. I'll always use nails going forward. I'm glad you didn't have the same experience!

Maybe you should have asked the landlord what could be left of this? With your upgrades, the apartment may cost more.

What's that pink stuff you put on the walls where the paint came off? And what does it do?

Which new apartment did you decide on? I feel like I am missing something important!

👏👏👏 great job!

Great job 🎉

Thanks for this reveal!!!

I think the paint must generally be a very good quality also

I wonder why landlords simply don't have a chat with the tenants and approve any renovations. If the renovations are tasteful/timeless, they will simply add value to the home.

I think your landlord would have been happy if you left it. Mine liked how i had an apartment years ago.

I just subbed.

🎉😢😢😢😢😢😅❤😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

As a landlord. I would keep you happy so you'd stay. Finding good tenants is hard, finding GREAT tenants is next to impossible.

Wasted all your money for nothing. Learn something, INVEST IN YOUR OWN PROPERTY.

Wait what did you use to level out the chipped off paint?

I have a brand new apartment like brand new the whole building moved in in November and it’s July….when I first moved in I used a command strip to try and hang something in the center of my fricking wall above my bed…. I’ve never lived in an apartment before I’m 39 and lived in my last HOME for 31yrs well long story short I effin pulled off the command strip because it wasn’t in the center center and FFS 🤦🏻‍♀️ took a big chunk of paint off first think you see at my bedroom door when you look in is a big ol white spot right there… ive been searching for matching paint since….. I swear to god im about to just ask and say fudge it…. Anyone need any beige…. Grey…. Tan…. Off white paint samples? I have them all in matte and egg shell :) LMFAOOOOO I also have a awesome full collection of paint swatches….. 😓