Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hi Made By Girl readers! This is Alison - a graphic designer living & working in Raleigh, NC. I have a blog called Alison Citron & a stationery shop but I also love Interiors! Today I'm here to share my rental experience with you! 

The GOOD
 

Living in an apartment means limited space - which means you are forced to curate your belongings. This means that you need to get rid of the clutter that can drag you and your space down, and you end up surrounded by the stuff you really like and use. You also aren't tied down to the space - if your needs change, you can just move, easy as that. 
 

The BAD

You are living in close quarters with other people. As an example: we can hear our neighbors talking sometimes, which of course makes us aware that other people may be listening in to us. 


Sometimes our upstairs neighbor walking around has woken us up - and even worse, we have heard neighbors’, ahem, ‘intimate’ activities, which is obviously NOT ideal.

The UGLY

If your neighbors aren’t responsible for their space, you can be the one who ends up dealing with the consequences. Where I live, some people own their individual units in the complex. My upstairs neighbor owns his unit, and hadn’t kept up with maintenance. 


One day we had water coming through our bathroom ceiling. We ended up having a big hole in the ceiling for a month before they finally took care of it, and we could see upstairs through it! It really gave us a whole new appreciation for privacy (and taking care of our space).

Are you renting??

If you'd like to share, the good, the bad, the ugly of living in a rental here on MadeByGirl blog, email me your submission with 3-4 pictures of your apartment! Pls use the same format as above!

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Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hello All! Whitney here from Whitney Kaye Styles sharing my thoughts on apartment living.

THE GOOD

 
Temporary living is great when you are living a life that is changing every few months or couple of years. It's nice to save money on a one bedroom apartment for just you and your spouse and then move to a two bedroom when you feel the need for extra space for an office or your first child. With your career still developing you could be looking at relocating for summer internships or a new job and being able to pick up and move when and wherever is a nice option. It is also a nice way to test out neighborhoods. The decision between city living or suburbs isn't so stressful when renting allows you a type of "trial period" to acclimate to your surroundings and see what you like. 

This temporary living also works in favor of finding your own style. With changing lives comes changing needs and comforts and it is so easy to change out pillows, reupholster chairs, paint furniture or swap out accessories in different colors when everything you own is portable. Most people would probably say their style is constantly evolving and being able to change a room in a weekend or with a few small projects is easy and non-committal. Big projects like painting walls or building a wall here or there isn't an option when the walls aren't yours. 

THE BAD
You do have very close neighbors who you sometimes feel might actually live in your apartment with you. You have the American Idol wanna be belting Kelly Clarkson every morning at 7am just on the other side of your bedroom wall, the pot smokers across the hall and the upstairs neighbors who are doing who knows what and sending the foulest smells through the air vent into your apartment which requires layers of paper and tape over your air vent.

Let us not forget that having common areas to share isn't always an added perk. Having to wash your clothes in the ten washers and dryers that are shared with the ninety nine other tenants doesn't always make you feel like you got your clothes the cleanest or many times you doubt the quality of the appliances. And the study downstairs where anyone can hold social gatherings. That furniture has been down there for 30+ years, and it smells like it, and who knows if any of those couches, tables or chairs have even been cleaned or wiped down in their lifetime.

THE UGLY
For me it is the literal "uglies" of fixtures and finishes. Cleanliness always wins out over looks, which means I will pass on the old dirty charm and take the newly renovated apartment. Let's clarify, newly renovated on a graduate student budget means low pile navy office carpet, disabled support handles on every wall of the bathroom, creamish-brown bathroom tiles and random columns smack dab in the middle of the kitchen. You know your apartment was renovated to withstand many different tenants for many years to come, but you wish that someone would have gotten one more opinion before deciding to forgo the bottom cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom limiting your storage space and leaving you with ugly dust collecting areas.

Make sure you know what you will and will not compromise on. With renting, you can almost never get your perfect apartment, but having a good idea of what you can and can not live without will most often leave you with a satisfying renting experience.

If you'd like to share, the good, the bad, the ugly of living in a rental, email me your submission with 3-4 pictures of your apartment! Pls use the same format as above! 

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Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hi everyone! This is Taylor from Taylor Morgan, here to share with you my experience with renting. 
 

The GOOD
 

The biggest plus to renting is not having the responsibility of fixing things when they break or go wrong. I love being able to pick up my phone, make a simple phone call and have someone come to fix everything that day without a bill to pay! Stress free! There is an excitement to being able to live in lots of fun places as well. I have lived in LA, Austin, and now NYC and have loved every where I have rented (NYC being the favorite though!). And in NYC more people rent than own so it's just kind of the norm. I love it.

The greatest part about renting in NYC compared to other cities I've lived in is that they let you do more to your apartment (as long as you keep it nice) because they know most people are renters but still want to feel at home. Our building is great with letting you paint & such so I don't feel to restricted even though I am a renter. I painted stripes and mounted our t.v. so I'm a happy camper!

The BAD

Space. There isn't a lot of it in an apartment. Especially an apartment in NYC. Husband and I live in a 500 square foot studio apartment in downtown Manhattan. I was really skeptical about a studio at first, but surprisingly I don't feel to cramped. Our apartment seems to be the perfect size for the two of us. The depressing part is that we pay more in rent for our 500 square foot apartment than most of our friends' house mortgages in other states. But then I remember I just said friend's in other states and I actually feel bad for them that they don't also live in NYC. So it evens out.

The UGLY

Neighbors that are to close for comfort. The smaller the apartments are, the closer your neighbors are. I don't actually hear my neighbors to often but I feel like they must hear us. I feel like we are loud but who knows?! It's more the smells that get to me. Like when they are cooking something that I think stinks or even worse, smoking something that really stinks! Be considerate people. We live so close we obviously have to share the same air! Biggest pet peeve.


Overall though, I feel like renting appeals more to me at this stage in my life. I am not ready to commit to one place, it scares me more than committing to marriage to tell you the truth. Makes me feel to tied down. Although I'm sure I won't find it scary to commit to when we are buying our dream penthouse in the city one day. Until then, I am a happy renter!

Check out this VIDEO we made.  It's our cheesy version of MTV cribs.

If you'd like to share, the good, the bad, the ugly of living in a rental, email me your submission with 3-4 pictures of your apartment!

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Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hi MadeByGirl readers! This is Dorkys from Dry As Toast here to share the good, the bad, and the ugly sides to renting in New York City

The GOOD

Aside from the obvious perks of saying you live in NYC, renting an apartment here gives you the freedom to try out different neighborhoods with relative ease. Once your lease is up, you can move to another borough and get to know a whole new ethnic enclave.

While it'd be great to have a home to call my own, I'm glad I don't have to deal with a mortgage or maintenance and that if something falls apart, I can always run downstairs to ask my super to fix it. I think of renting as a test drive to maintaining a home before buying a house someday and a blank slate that challenges you to truly make it your own.

The BAD

One of the biggest downsides to renting in NYC is the price tag on location. If you want to live in Manhattan, expect to fork over a pretty penny for the zip code. Those who don't mind a slightly longer subway ride can find better deals - and much more space - in the outer boroughs.

Other cons include limitations on what you can do with your apartment's layout, architectural features, and, most importantly, your neighbors (mine has delusions of channeling Mariah Carey whenever she sings) and the noise levels around you.

The UGLY

There are so many details I would change if I could. The exposed radiators painted in metallic grey, the ugly gate to secure the window to the fire escape, the lack of space in the kitchen area, and the fact that all my windows face another wall of windows limiting the amount of sunlight that gets in each day. 


But I've compensated on some of those drawbacks by draping sheer curtains over my windows to let in light while shielding the view, having an extra cabinet installed in the kitchen, and using a pantry cart as a movable island for food preparation. It's all about the little things you can do to make this into a comfy home.

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Renting: The Good, The bad, The Ugly

Hello everyone! This is Jackie from York Avenue blog, I'm here today on MadeByGirl talking about my rental experience! 

Renting in a city like New York has a ton of ups and downs. There are many challenges that come with living in, and decorating, a rented (and tiny!) space, but I think the happiness to be gained by living in a city you love far outweighs the downsides of being a renter!

The GOOD

Living in a rented apartment forces you to find creative solutions to the dilemmas that come with your space. If you can't paint, you have to bring in color in different ways. If you can't put down carpet, you have to use interesting area rugs in varying configurations. And on and on. It really opens up your creativity and forces you to think outside the box! Another thing I actually enjoy about renting is not being responsible for every single thing that happens. When something breaks, I can call my building maintenance staff, instead of needing to find a repair person on my own. Of course, this varies depending on your situation, but when I think about owning I just think of so many things that I would be solely responsible for, and forced to deal with all on my own, and then I feel happy about being a renter! One more upside: if I lived in my own space, I would feel a lot of pressure to make it perfect and renovate every inch. As a renter, if something is ugly and there's nothing I can do about it, I just learn to live with it. It actually turns out to be a good thing-I've learned to be flexible and not demand absolute perfection from my space. I've learned to do what I can (which is a ton), and be happy with the less-than-perfect bits of the rental. These things give it personality, I say! 

The BAD

Of course, the big downside to being a renter is that you are stuck with those less-than-ideal features of your rental. I have an odd window situation and not very much light in my apartment-it's not what I would have ideally chosen, were I buying, but again, you find ways to manage. Another downside of renting a small space is the urge to decorate every inch of it! It's so easy to go overboard and want more, more, more, but I've found that in a tiny space, keeping things simple and airy is a MUST.

The UGLY

Then there are the really ugly things in a rental that you simply can't do anything about. For me, this would be the unattractive, dated kitchen cabinets. No chance of a total kitchen renovation when you're renting! But as I mentioned in "the good," I've learned to live with this imperfection and embrace it. As Deborah Needleman points out in her book The Perfectly Imperfect Home, (which is the best design book I've ever read, by the way), every home needs a little bit of ugly!

If you'd like to share, the good, the bad, the ugly of living in a rental, email me your submission with 3-4 pictures of your apartment! Pls use the same format as above! 

 

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Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hi Everyone!! I'm Kim, and I write a blog called Design Thoughts and am so excited to share my Apartment living, Highs and Lows with you today!!!!


The Good

I left my home in MI (yep, that we own!!) to move to NY, into an apartment, 8 yrs ago!! Can you imagine?! To be honest, it took me many years of apt living, to find the good! (Sad, right?) But now that I have embraced it, there are so many great things about apt living!

The first, although, not glamorous at all, is that if something breaks (i.e. Dishwasher, washing machine, and furnace) you don’t have to pay for it to be fixed!!  Not having that stress is a BIGGIE for me.

Second, you can LEAVE whenever you want!!  It is SO great, knowing that if we are no longer happy living where we are, we can move, just like that, no strings attached!!

And Third, This won’t be everyone’s story, but for us, we have been VERY lucky that our landlord ROCKS!! We have been able to rip up carpet to expose hardwood, paint walls, and hang artwork, so we have been able to make this our HOME even though it’s an apartment.  It took me a very long time to accept our apartment as our home, but the minute, we left the hospital with our baby boy, everything changed.  I want to make this apartment special for him, not just a place we rent. So...that’s what we are doing, little by little, knowing that one day, we won’t be here anymore, but the time we spent here, we enjoyed, by surrounding  ourselves, with things we love!

The Bad

I’m an Interior Designer. SO, it’s very difficult, not being able to “renovate” a space, that may not be my style or preference. ( I’m talking, moving walls and re-locating plumbing) When we moved in, our bathroom had pink tiles and pink walls, and not super cool, hip, see it on the pages of Domino(yikes, old reference)  Pink, but like, no one cared EVER, pink. We had to wait, until the upstairs apartment flooded (um... 5 yrs AFTER we moved in) for our landlords to remodel the bathroom.  Our Washing Machine is in our kitchen...Lucky to have a washing machine, yes, but to have it RIGHT next to our clean dishes…Not so great. That has been BAD. So many things I would change or remodel if this was a home we owned, BUT, along with the freedom of picking up and going anytime you want, also comes the fact that you are TIED to whatever awful design elements are there.

The Ugly

Ohhh the ugly...sigh...Okay, I am going to state the obvious here, because truly, it’s the worst thing.  Other people, not your family, literally are living one wall, or floor, away from you.  Even the coolest neighbors, whom we have had, are so close, you can hear everything that’s happening, which means, of course, they also, can HEAR everything that’s happening in your home!  It’s not cool, but, you learn to live with it! The other very obvious, you are paying someone else, every single month, for a place, that’s not yours...ouch! It stings, I’m not gonna lie. I hate sending that check, BUT see the “Good” above...it evens out ;)

I have to say; even though I can’t wait until the day we OWN again, living the “apartment life” has been great! Especially in New York…EVERYONE lives in apartments, so it’s the norm!! The key is making it your HOME, not just a place you rent!

Thank you!
Kim from Design Thoughts blog

Resources: 

1st picture, this living room use to have grey, commercial carpet and bright yellow walls, so ugly!
2nd picture,( real life in the Salter House) , my son Liam, enjoying hot chocolate in our "home"
3rd Missoni picture wall

If you'd like to share, the good, the bad, the ugly of living in a rental, email me your submission with 3-4 pictures of your apartment! Pls use the same format as above! 

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Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hello there! This is apartment living by Erin at The Sparkle.

The GOOD

In this day and age, who likes an ironclad commitment?  (Unless you’re a woman rapidly approaching her mid thirties… but that’s another article for another time). Choosing to live in an apartment equals “freedom”.  For example: the neighborhood takes a drastic downturn and stilettos are now more of a weapon than a fashion must this season?  The warehouses next to the cannery have been converted into opulent concrete lofts and that’s where you’d like to relocate?  


Simply pack up stakes and step… that easy!  And hey, if your fridge breaks simply speed-dial the super and your problem of warm white wine is someone else’s problem. You won’t even have to break a perfectly manicured nail opening a toolbox!

 
The BAD

Picture this scenario: you’re about to leave the apartment at 8am and running late… your chatty/nosy neighbor is locking up the same time and is ready for a chat. That’s right – living in an apartment means a lack of privacy. They can hear you, and worst of all – you can hear them, and their bad taste in music (is Nickelback at 11pm really necessary?) 


Someone is always ready for a chat;  don’t let network TV fool you, it’s usually not a handsome French artist or an interesting and glamorous flight attendant next door.  My advice? keep your neighbors at arms length or before you know it, they’re standing at your door with a cup of coffee, a rash they want your opinion on and the latest building goss.

 

The UGLY

You have an invisible roommate - your landlord, and he has more say about what happens in the apartment as you do, so cozy up!  Maybe you’d like to spruce up your space with a fresh coat of paint in this year’s pantone pick?  Check with your invisible  roommate.  He may say yes, but the stipulation? You must paint it back before you leave, or there goes your damage deposit.  Maybe your dishwasher model is closer to what the Flintstones’ originally used? 


Getting it replaced will most often be a struggle. The best advice: do whatever it takes to stay the landlord’s favorite tenant above everybody else in that building.  That’s right, we’re talking birthday presents, Christmas presents, plenty of “please’s” and “thank you’s” and even accompanying their visiting mother-in-law to her eye-appointment. No one said getting what you want was going to be easy.

If you'd like to share, the good, the bad, the ugly of living in a rental, email me your submission with 3-4 pictures of your apartment! Pls use the same format as above!

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Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hello everyone! I'm still on the road & boy am I EXHAUSTED. I'm literally trying to force my eyes open while I write this next post....

About a week ago I asked on my Twitter if there were any bloggers who wanted to share their rental experience with MadeByGirl readers. 

Since I will now be RENTING, I'm curious to know your thoughts on 'the GOOD, the BAD, the UGLY' of apartment living! I chose a few of the posts that were submitted to me last week. Below is the first one....I'll share more of the submissions soon! Enjoy!

Hello MadeByGirl readers, I'm Julia from Tartan & Sequins. Sharing my apartment living experience!

The GOOD
Let’s face it, developing a sense of style when it comes to your home is even harder than developing your personal style. Of course there are people who just get it from the start. But, for the rest of us, it usually takes some time to figure out what you like and don’t like when it comes to decorating and then gather all the parts and pieces to make the design work. 

Being able to test-drive design ideas and styles is one of the great benefits of apartment living. You can focus on developing your style while not having to worry about too many extra design elements like paint, wallpaper, construction, etc. It’s less risky to make changes when you’re living in an apartment, as a throw pillow is easier to change out than a horrible fireplace. 

The BAD
Now onto the bad. Once you have developed your design sense, it can be frustrating not having control over those extra design elements mentioned above. It may even get to a point where you just have to bite the bullet on the repainting fee and go crazy with painting the place. Other changes can include replacing hardware like the towel bars in the bathroom, door/cabinet knobs, or installing curtain rods at your own expense.

The bad part about living in an apartment is that that those types of changes usually require someone else’s approval. No I don’t mean your significant other - that’s challenging enough. I mean the person who actually owns the place, the landlord.

The UGLY
Now, we all have things we can live with and cannot live without when it comes to apartment living. You may be able to live with a small cramped kitchen, but not having a walk-in closet to house your large collection of shoes simply will not do. Living in an apartment requires all types of tradeoffs, it’s what you do with the bad scenario that makes all the difference. I, myself, have two bay windows in my living room. 

Not a problem you say? Well, they are covered in old beige blinds and each take up an entire wall. So in an effort to inject color, establish a theme for the room and hide the blinds, I put up light olive green and white Moroccan print curtains. The bay windows are now my favorite part of the room!

If you'd like to share, the good, the bad, the ugly of living in a rental, email me your submission with 3-4 pictures of your apartment!

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