Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I'm Alethea from Like What Ever blog! Long time follower of MadeByGirl! I'm here this Tuesday to share my rental experience with all of you! Here we go! 

The GOOD

I live in a great neighbourhood in a great part of the city (Toronto).  Supermarket, library, dry cleaners are close at hand.  I love that it's all within walking distance and that I don't live in the suburbs where you have to drive to your mailbox. Yikes!  On the weekends, restaurants are a plenty. 

Great dinning options and night life are all nearby. Love it! My space itself is great. I really lucked out! Unlike most condos in the city, the living space and bedroom are huge. I've recently started to entertain and my friends always say how comfy they are which makes me super happy.

The BAD

Nothing would make me happier than to have my own laundry area.  I wish, wish, wish I had by own washer and dryer. Especially because my apartment is on the top level of a four floor walk-up.  No elevators here! The good thing about condos is each unit has their own en-suite laundry. And elevators.  


In addition to no laundry, I can't exactly break down walls in my apartment rental - but if I could, I would definitely break down the wall in my bedroom to open up the closet.  How amazing would a closet with french doors be. I wish! The bathroom is great but the separate faucets for hot and cold water are so not charming.

The UGLY

You haven't seen ugly until you've taken a look at my kitchen counter top.  Now that's ugly! You'd think since it's white it shouldn't be that bad, but it is.  It absorbs everything.  Wine, soy sauce, beet juice... everything.  So maybe it was originally white but now it's just a hodge podge of different stains. Don't even get me started on the kitchen floor which extends to the dinning room.  


Again - it's white.  And even though it's fairly easy to clean, it's 10x easier to get dirty.  Plus with a shedding cat.. forget about it.  I thank god for Swifter Wet Wipes.  Also, I don't mind watching TV every now and then.  I love me some Glee just like the next person - but do I really have to listen to my neighbour's TV too?  Since I live in an apartment rental, the answer is yes! Paper thin walls just can't be helped.

So that's it.  My good, bad & ugly of renting.  For the most part I do like my place a lot and will probably stay here until I purchase a cute little fixer upper to really get my creative design juices going. In the meantime, I've learned to live with all the not-so-good stuff because the really good stuff is far more.  I'm comfortable, the location is great, it's close to work, church, friends and family.  I don't have to shovel snow in the winter and every summer a nice garden suddenly appears in the front yard.  So what's not to love?!  Trekking up and down the stairs for laundry is good exercise for my thighs any ways. 


Glass half full.

Are you renting??
 
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!