Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly....

Hello, my name is Sarah, I'm an artist currently living in an apartment in Mobile with my husband and two dachshunds. I'm also the creator of the blog and website Sworley Thoughts. Below is my rental experience...

The GOOD

The good about renting an apartment is that it gave my husband and I a chance to figure out our style as a couple. We are newly married and this is our first place together. Living in an apartment has given us the time to adjust to living together, combine our things, and to think about what kind of house would fit into what we both are looking for.

It has also forced us to be clean and organized. Space is limited so I have to be creative in how we store our things. We don't have room for junk, so we had to purge through our things and get rid of everything but what we really truly needed. We don't have anything in our apartment that doesn't have significant value to us. Life is so much better once it's de-cluttered.

The BAD

The bad part of renting is the obvious lack of privacy, paper thin walls that you can hear everything through, and no free space for our dogs to run around in. There's no creative freedom as far as flooring, light fixtures, cabinets etc. As mentioned before, space is limited. The cabinets are small, the closets are small, it's all small. We've only lived here a few months and it already feels like we've outgrown this space. We also had to give up our tradition of grilling on the weekends since our apartment does not allow grills or fire pits of any kind to be used on the property.

The UGLY

The ugly portion renting, for us, has been the horrendous parking situation. The parking lot is way to small for this property and there aren't enough spaces for the amount of cars that park here every night. It's a daily battle for a parking space, and since Mobile doesn't have any kind of reliable public transportation set up, it's a necessity to have a car.

Despite the bad and the ugly of renting, I think we made a good decision in renting before we go and jump into buying a house together. Us living here doesn't have to be permanent and we have the option of leaving whenever we feel the time is right.

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! 

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Renting: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hello there! I'm Erin owner of Clementine + Olive as well as blogger! This week I'm here sharing my view on renting.


The GOOD

I live in an up and coming historic community so choosing a home was fairly easy because the historic part means that most homes in my area have incredible easy to decorate architecture like wainscoting and old world detail that you won’t find in a big city with out a big price tag. The up and coming part means that I get everything for an affordable price tag with out loss of culture and forced in to apartment living. Win-win. So why buy right now.

My landlord is probably the most easy going in town. Allowing me to up date the vanity to painting the front door. After putting my year in I realized I might just stay here a little while so I decided to conceal some big eyesores.

The BAD

Being a previous home owner knowing my funds beautifying a home that isn’t mine or paying rental money I’ll never see in my pocket again kind of bites a familiar bullet that makes me long for a home I can rip out the counter tops for some carerra marble.


Also another issue that comes with renting besides the obvious “decorating around” theory is buying furniture and moving issue. You are always left with furniture that doesn’t fit your space size well or compliment the era of the home. 

The UGLY

A major issue you always, see renting is the choice between settling for carpet vs. hardwood especially when you have dust allergies that can rule you life. I may have gotten everything I wanted out of my home but, vacuuming twice a day and professionally cleaning these nappy carpets every 4 months is a royal pain especially since I have twin babies which means a dozen coffee stains with in a month. 


The kitchen isn’t the worst of the worse but, it’s plain oak cabinets with vinyl flooring and although, I know my creative energy is hinged by it every time I walk through there. I know, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it and must let-it-go and be thankful of such a rad home for such a steal that offers my little family everything I could need.

 
 
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 & an intro! 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

Hello MadeByGirl readers! I'm Elizabeth Sullivan- Interior designer & blogger over at Modern 24/7 blog! This Tuesday, I'll be sharing my rental experience with all of you!

THE GOOD

I have always lived in rentals. I have a nomadic nature and I love to move every six months to a year. I also sell everything from my apartment when I move and start over with a different look. Being able to change things up because you are not obligated to anything and you have so little space to fill. 

You can try out different styles and furnishings and not feel like you have to keep them forever. You are not responsible for any problems with the apartment and can just call the super to fix things. You usually have great security and amenities in a rental as well. 

If your landlord lives in another state like mine does, you can pay them via Paypal & never have to see them at all!

                                          
                                        
  

THE BAD

Now, the unfortunate part of apartment living: you are paying for someone else to build equity. You are literally paying another person's mortgage. 

You could probably find a home to own where your mortgage would be the same as your rent and you would be building equity and putting your money somewhere you could get it back out.      
                                                

THE UGLY

And the super ugly of renting – like several people have mentioned, living in a building with hundreds of other people is just gross. Someone on my hall is smoking or cooking exotic food every day and I have to smell it when I come home. There is also the noise of the garbage chute and the general dirtiness of the building to look at.   

But all in all – the pros outweigh the cons for me. I love the FREEDOM renting affords me. Wishing you the best of luck on your rental adventure in the city! You are going to have an amazing time! 

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!

-images by elizabeth sullivan

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