How do you make a rented house feel like your home when you can't change anything in the house?

To cover up the wallpaper temporarily find some fabric that you like and soak it in liquid fabric starch. Apply to the walls using a wallpaper brush(might have to put a few map tacks at the top). When you are ready to leave just spray the fabric with some hot water and peel it off. Wipe down the walls with a soap and water solution.

Add some throw pillows to take the eyes away from the walls and the carpet. Hang some prints on the wall to coordinate with the carpet and frame them to match what you have.Buy curtains that you like.

Don't worry about having an immaculate house. I'm not a stay at home mom but personally I don't understand how some women keep their houses spotless. Their poor kids must have to stay in their rooms all the time or something. My house is only spotless on Saturday mornings - that's when I do my weekly cleaning. The rest of the week I do basic pickup and wipe down when I get home from work. I literally set a timer for 10 minutes and do nothing but clean. The 10 minutes a day keeps it from getting truly dirty but means I don't follow my daughter around all evening telling her to pick up her toys (actually she does that during the 10 minutes cleaning and it keeps them under control, if there's some on the floor when we go to bed so what, that's what the next days 10 minutes is for). If 10 minutes a couple times a day isn't enough time for you to get the house the way you want then my suggestion would be to advertise around the neighborhood for a mother's helper - a younger teenager who can entertain and take care of the kids for an hour or two while you clean house and do laundry.

If you have an Ikea near you, you can buy a nice set of matching frames for a reasonable price and make a wall of family pictures.

You can also go to Home Depot and get some paint samples of colors you like (make sure they are pretty pale) and submit a request in writing to your landlord and include the paint sample. In the letter, offer to paint it the original color before you move out. The worst they can say is no!

Curtains, throw pillows, and area rugs are a great way to add warmth and color!

You can also use things like Japanese Screens (the 3 panel things that stand up like a modular wall) to make the room look a little more cozy. You can even get some that you can put pictures in if hanging pictures is a problem.

Landlords have a tough time, making a few bucks . They maybe w/allow you to change curtains, give him his so he can put back up when/if you leave. Certainly he doesn't care where you put this n'that. If you are so gung ho on changing carpet, buy carpet, sized to lay over his carpet, problem solved. You'll find thats an expensive endeavor. Make sure all major changes are noted in lease, and initaled by landlord. Happy Decorating

Changing the curtains can make a huge difference...JCPenney has a huge curtain sale right now; I put a link to some that I think might work for you.

A throw rug might also help to hide the carpeting, but those can get expensive for a large one.

I wonder why the landlord won't let you make improvements...as long as you were paying for the supplies, you would think he would love it!

Hang some pictures on the walls. If you have figurines, set them on the living room tables. Get some new curtains but save the old ones to put back up when you leave.

Furniture and accessories.

You could probably take down the curtains and put up your own if you save the original ones.