The internet is full of ambitious people, particularly when it comes to home improvement. You will find individuals installing entire kitchens themselves, buying and renovating abandoned houses, or even digging tunnels under their homes. And renters are also getting in on the DIY game.
Renter Transforms Apartment
Take Imani Keal: The Washington, DC-based influencer has transformed nearly every corner of her apartment almost entirely by herself. “I have painted every room — I installed new peel and stick floor tiles in the kitchen; I did most of the light fixtures,” she told Vox. “For most of the things in here, if it is required to be built, I built it. I do everything.” Some changes happened by necessity, like her kitchen cabinets. She says, “There was a colony of mice living in the wall behind my kitchen. And because there was a little teeny tiny hole, they were able to come through there and play hopscotch in my kitchen and I wasn’t having that anymore.” She ended up renovating her entire kitchen.
Landlord Approval
Keal's landlord was initially not on board, but after a significant mice problem, they gave her a credit to fix it herself. “They rebuilt the floors and rebuilt the wall. Then I came in and purchased the cabinetry, painted it, purchased the fridge, put everything back on the wall, and made it look how it looks today.”
Investment and Motivation
Over three years, Keal has invested about $30,000 to $35,000, much of which she can take with her. When asked why she pours so much into a rental, she says: “Number one, I live here and I think that I deserve to have a beautiful space to live in. I’m not going to sit in something that’s ugly just because other people would be upset about how I spend my money. Number two, I was able to turn this into a career. I have made significantly more money by doing all of these things than I have spent on the apartment. And number three, some people have hobbies where they will go out and tinker with a car. Some people want to go to a run club. Some people want to play pickleball. I want to learn how to use a circular saw and build furniture in my apartment. This is my hobby.”
Hardest Tasks and Skill Development
Keal considers plumbing the hardest task due to the potential for water damage. She recalls a past DIY project at her mother's house where she accidentally caused water to shoot out, damaging hardwood floors. She started DIY with little skill, learning during the pandemic when she lost restaurant jobs and spent time at Ace Hardware, an essential business. “I went from being out a lot to being in the house, and there were so many things that I wanted that I couldn’t afford, that I couldn’t just go to the store to buy because nobody was open.”
Future Plans
When asked about undoing changes when moving out, Keal says: “It feels fine, because we all know people who get so excited about buying a house, then they buy the house and the house is hideous. They keep the same teeny tiny Ikea couch. They never get a bigger rug. They never move in. Even after spending all of this money, you are still not living in your home to the fullest so that you can make sure that your home will be nice for the person that you might sell it to in 25 years. I have every intention of living the life that I was granted to the fullest. I’m going to do everything that I want, everything that is within my means and is possible for me to have a good life. And if that means that I have to spend a couple of days after five years of enjoying the same apartment, taking the wallpaper down, okay, sure. Whatever. A lot of things that I put up here can very easily be taken apart. I built this entertainment system, but I built it in five pieces that can easily be taken apart and walked out of this apartment and then moved into wherever I moved next.”
This story is part of Vox's Explain It to Me podcast. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
