Just as in comedy, timing is everything in property - which means that it may be time to rent rather than to own. Here are my ten top tips on how to turn a rented property into a real home, at least until the market picks up again - which on my reckoning will be in about five years' time.

1. There will be rental properties that will need a bit of love and care, just as there are with homes for sale. This gives you a chance to negotiate a good deal, and to persuade the landlord to pay for improvements to your taste.

2. If full-scale redecorating is not an option (and the existing walls are the usual shade of bland), then decorate some very large MDF boards from your local builders merchants, either with paint or a sumptuous wallpaper, and lean them against your chosen wall.

3. Your own furniture will turn a rented home into a real home, although sometimes the property you want to rent comes furnished. You should be able to negotiate with your landlord to remove it; if not, bite the bullet and put it into store. It will be worth it.

4. If you do not have any suitable furniture of your own (perhaps all your bookshelves were fitted in your last home, as they were in mine) on which to display or store your treasures, buy some good-quality modular furniture. It is a sound investment.

5. Hang your collection of pictures on the walls. There will usually be a clause in your contract allowing this, as long as you use proper picture hooks.

6. Curtains and cushion covers can transform a room. They are not difficult to make and will save you a fortune.

7. It is rare for a landlord to provide nice lighting: unpalatable lamps in furnished flats may well be improved with a new lampshade. Alternatively, use (or buy) your own lamps.

8. If you are lucky enough to rent a property with outdoor space, do not hold back on the gardening. The physical and psychological health benefits of gardening will enrich your stay enormously, even if you know that it is only temporary base.

9. Fresh flowers in gorgeous vases and seductive scent should always be to hand. Steer clear of cheap scented candles, though.

10. Bathrooms and kitchens in rented properties are often fixed entities but little luxuries such as china and glassware, bath salts and plants will give it character. My own collection of all-white china in a rather dissonant “rustic” kitchen has made it so much more tolerable.

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