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5 clever cover-ups

Living in a rental apartment can mean putting up with a lot of things (noisy neighbours, grumpy landlords, unruly roommates...). But a wall full of stains, cracks, or holes left behind by past tenants shouldn’t be one of them. So we invited blogger Agnes Hammar of Hej Regina to our Ideas lab to help us find five ways to turn all those unsightly features into things you actually want to look at. Here’s what she came up with.

1. Turn those stains into a statement
Choose your favourite coffee table book (the one you wish you flipped through more often but never do). Cut out your favourite pages with a utility knife and tape them up on the wall in a pattern that’ll help you best hide the stains.

By going overboard, this will look less like a quick cover up and more like a totally thought-through statement wall.
-Agnes

2. Turn holes into polka dots!
Take some furniture pads and spray them a color you like. Let the paint dry thoroughly, and then place the pads over holes that need covering.

The trick to this is to make it look intentional. So cover up all the holes, then add a few extra to balance it all out.
-Agnes

3. Large cracks? Bring out the tape.
For this cover-up, project an image onto the wall (we chose an image of Earth) and use coloured tape to fill in an outline of the picture. Just be sure to make sure to position your image so that it covers up the crack!

This doesn’t have to be perfect! It’s kind of like an impressionist painting – the real impact comes when you look at it from a distance.
-Agnes

4. Just cover it all up
Sometimes, there’s just so much you don’t even know where to start. If that’s the case for you, try mounting a curtain rod across the entire wall and dress up the whole room with your favourite fabric. (This is also a good trick for decorating walls that you’re not allowed to paint!)

Why stop at one wall? Textiles have a way of making any space – even a rental apartment – feel a lot more homey.
-Agnes

5. For an instant (and easy) cover-up
Just hang a painting over it!

Sometimes the best option is the simplest one!
-Agnes

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