For many people a rented flat has to be furnished, especially when this is a temporary rental. This is particularly true when it comes to renting a flat in Madrid, as Madrid is a constantly changing city with many different areas in which to live.

However, it could be that due to location, orientation or distribution, among the options available at present on the market, what really suits us is that unfurnished flat close to work or that one, also unfurnished, which gets a lot of sunlight in the winter allowing us to save on our heating bills.

Why then pick a furnished flat with furniture or decoration that is not our idea of style or comfort? The reason is so as not to incur in an expense we consider unnecessary. Because it is not furniture for the rest of our life! Those who are thinking of buying a home in the future prefer to make a single investment in furniture at the same time as the property investment. Nobody can be sure that the furniture of a singleton’s flat is going to be suitable for an as yet unknown family home in the future.

Don’t you think too that while renting you need to feel comfortable in what, for some time, you need to feel is your home? An uncomfortable sofa or mattress, or furniture we almost prefer not look at affect our quality of life and even our mood.

When looking to rent a flat look for more! Look beyond furnished flats. Nowadays it is possible to find affordable, quality furniture that will make your rented flat feel like a home that you will be sorry to leave when the time comes.

Renting an unfurnished flat: tips for stylish and affordable decoration

Follow these recommendations. Furnish and decorate your flat while making the most of your budget. Let’s start in the living room!

• Choose practical furniture. If you have finally decided to rent an unfurnished flat, when it comes to “dressing it” the first thing to consider is practicality. That’s right, practical furniture, which doesn’t mean it can’t be in the style we like. Choose furniture that fits in with this, with your tastes and with your budget.
• Multi-national firms specialising in decoration offer the best prices! And not just a certain Swedish firm that comes to mind. There are other home decor stores offering affordable and fashionable furniture and fixtures. It is possible to decorate a living room for less than 800 euros!
• Cabinets are no longer strictly necessary for the living room, buy auxiliary furniture. Decades ago TVs were bigger and required furniture of a certain size. Nowadays, flat screens mean a TV, however big it is, can be placed on a small auxiliary table. Or hang it on the wall!
• The sofa, the “king of the living room”. Modular sofas and sofa beds are the most practical options. Modular sofas fit both in your rental home and wherever you subsequently move to. Another very practical option is a sofa bed we can use in these two ways.
• Paint an old piece of furniture. Do you like an old sideboard in your parents’ store room? But it doesn’t go with the decoration of your new rental flat? Inherit it while your parents are still alive! The solution, a brush and paint. Paint it the colour that best suits your flat if you are not good enough to paint pictures! The materials are sure to be good quality and a tin of paint is cheap.

And the same in the bedroom. If you search well -which nowadays is easy- you will be able to “withdraw to sleeping chambers” that will be the envy of many a “sleeping beauty”. And at a very good price!

• A divan base or a bed frame and mattress? Beds with a divan base can be a very good option for using the part below the bed for storage. But they can be a little more expensive. Why not a bed frame and mattress? You can still use the space below the bed. Use boxes to keep winter clothing, for example. There are also compartmentalised boxes and bags for footwear used at other times of the year.
• Don’t worry your head about the headboard. It’s not necessary to buy a costly solid wood headboard. A cheaper and more original solution could be to use a headboard made of fabric or tapestry.
• A pouffe as bedside table. Let’s return to your parents’ store room. If they have a low pouffe or stool with no back they no longer use, rescue it! And tune it to your taste. If it is a soft one, you could line it with a fabric that goes with the curtains, for example. If it is made of wood, get the brush and paint out again!
• A step ladder as a clothes hanger. If after searching through their store room your parents tell you they’re going to the village this weekend don’t miss the opportunity! Go with them. Not only will you enjoy their good company in a rural environment but also you can bring back with you that old wooden step ladder they no longer use. And convert it into an original clothes hanger.

So, if you’re looking for a flat to rent, don’t left the fact that it is unfurnished put you off! The location, the age of the property, the lay out of the rooms, etc. are as or more important than saving a few euros. Nowadays, decorating in style is not expensive.