How to Decorate a Rental in Ireland Without Losing Your Deposit

What you can and can't do under an Irish tenancy

Standard Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) leases in Ireland require you to return the property in the condition you got it, allowing for reasonable wear and tear. That means painting, wallpapering, drilling large holes and replacing fittings are usually off-limits without written landlord permission.

Get consent in writing, by email, before you paint or wallpaper — even a single feature wall. A one-line 'yes' from the landlord protects your deposit far more than a verbal chat with the letting agent.

Reversible everything is the golden rule. If it can be undone in a Saturday afternoon before you hand back keys, it's fair game.

The five upgrades that transform an Irish rental

Lighting. The single biggest fix in almost every Irish rental. Swap the harsh 4000K bulbs the landlord installed for warm white 2700K, add two floor lamps and one table lamp per main room, and put a plug-in dimmer on the sitting-room lamp. No wiring, no damage, huge change.

Curtains you own. Rental curtains are almost always too short, too thin or missing entirely. Buy your own floor-length curtains on a tension rod or a no-drill bracket — take them with you when you leave.

A proper rug. Covers tired laminate, defines the sitting area and absorbs the echo Irish rentals with hard floors always have. Size up — a rug that's too small looks worse than no rug at all.

Removable wall treatments. Peel-and-stick wallpaper, command-strip picture ledges, leaning mirrors and framed prints on adhesive hooks give you a decorated wall without a single drill hole.

Soft furnishings. Cushions, throws, a linen bedspread and a small stack of books on the coffee table make a bare rental read as a home in an afternoon.

How to hide the things you're stuck with

Cheap laminate flooring: cover the main traffic zone with a large wool or jute rug, and add a smaller runner in the hall.

Rental magnolia walls: lean art, hang a large mirror on a picture rail, or use a tall bookshelf to break the flatness — no paint required.

Builder-grade kitchen: swap the handles (keep the originals in a drawer), add a countertop appliance in a colour you like, and put a plant on the windowsill. Removable vinyl on the cabinet fronts is a bigger project but fully reversible.

Bathroom tiles you hate: a good bath mat, matching towels, a warm-tone bulb in the ceiling fixture and one framed print change the whole feel.

Where to spend, where to save

Spend on the things you'll take with you: lamps, rugs, curtains, art, a good bed frame, a sofa if you're renting long-term. These outlive the tenancy.

Save on the things tied to this specific flat: peel-and-stick wallpaper, tension rods, removable hooks, temporary shelving. Cheap is fine — they exist to solve one flat's problems.

A €149 online design package works particularly well for renters. You describe the constraints, the designer works around them, and the shopping list only includes reversible pieces.

Renter mistakes I see in Dublin every week

Buying flatpack furniture that's too big to move to the next flat. Measure your next likely doorway, not just the current one.

Painting without written consent and losing €400 of a deposit to repaint charges.

Overspending on curtains cut to fit one window that won't fit the next place.

Ignoring lighting because 'the landlord's fixtures are grim'. Fix the bulbs and add lamps — it costs less than €80 and changes everything.