I have installed LED strip lights in four rental apartments and I have gotten my full deposit back from all four. The secret is not the strips themselves but how and where you attach them. Here is exactly what I do.
The Headboard Trick
The setup I come back to every time is strips on the back of the headboard, facing the wall. I adhere them to the headboard itself, not the wall, which means when I move I take the headboard and the strips come with it. The light bounces off the wall and wraps around the headboard edges in a way that looks intentional and expensive. This setup requires zero wall adhesive and survives a move intact.
The headboard in my current bedroom is 48 inches wide. I used a single 6-foot strip at 2700K with a plug-in dimmer and placed it along the center of the headboard's back face, 4 inches from the top edge. At 15 percent brightness it is the only light I need most evenings. I have been using this setup for 14 months and it still looks exactly the same.
The Floating Shelf Setup
My second most-used placement is under a floating shelf. In two of my apartments I have had Ikea Lack shelves above my dresser, and running a warm white strip along the underside of the bottom shelf creates a soft light that illuminates the dresser surface without any overhead fixture. The strips stick to the shelf underside, not the wall, which is again deposit-safe. The cord routes down the wall to the nearest outlet, taped with removable command strips, not permanent adhesive.
Direct-Wall Placement: When It Is Safe
When I have to run strips directly on a wall (usually for a bed without a headboard or for a window frame accent), I use Govee or similar strips that come with the 3M adhesive already applied plus included double-sided command-strip sections for corners. I always test the adhesive on a section of baseboard first, leave it for 48 hours, then remove it. If it pulls paint, I do not use it on the wall. If it releases cleanly, I proceed. Every apartment I have tested has been fine with the 3M adhesive on properly painted drywall.
The Dimmer Is Not Optional
Every LED strip setup I do includes a dimmer. Most strips come with a simple inline dimmer; if not, I add a plug-in one. At full brightness, LED strips are too much for bedroom use in the evening. At 15 to 30 percent, they are exactly right. BO-HA's bedroom wall lamps have built-in dimmers as an alternative to strips if you want something more permanent-looking for a bedroom you plan to stay in a while.
Moving Day Protocol
Remove strips slowly, at a low angle, pulling back on themselves rather than pulling away from the wall. Room temperature or slightly warm (a hair dryer on low for 5 seconds) helps the adhesive release without tearing. If there is any residue, a small amount of Goo Gone on a cloth removes it without damaging paint. I have walked through this process in four apartments. The walls were fine every time.
Attach to furniture whenever possible. Strips on a headboard travel with you. Strips on a wall stay with the apartment.