monkeylizard's Profile

sorry, but as a Torontonian, i must say that "livable" only counts if you are a) pretty damn rich, or b) don't mind living in the outer, outer 'burbs (and that isn't really a city)

sure, rent is generally cheaper in "downtown" toronto than in manhattan, but at least with NYC you can live in washington heights or brooklyn for under $2000 and commute easily to work on the island. here, if you live in one of the suburbs (including etobicoke or scarborough) the commute is insane, or involves a car and road rage.

our city did not have enough time to grow before the car came and turned it into Sprawl-onto.

as for calgary - seriously???? it's even newer and more spread-out. yeuch. what criteria did the economist use, exactly? "in which place is it best to be rich, white, and not interested in culture?"

i used the trafficmaster allure tiles in my rental kitchen ... they'd had circa 1981 asbestos industrial looking, completely worn vinyl tiles. honestly they wouldn't notice if i had stuck down actual tile (it's a 300 unit building and they're ripping out kitchens as units are vacated anyway)... 200% better.

one caveat is that they scratch rather easily, so watch out moving appliances.

SherryBin, that's not cool. Putting up a curtain rod should hardly cause the landlord to lose sleep. Any landlord that tries to enforce such a draconian rule should become the landlord of a monastery.

Honestly, I feel sorry for you folks in America, land of the Dollar Bills. No place in Europe or Canada would get away with rental laws like you folks seem perfectly OK with. (Then again, you guys also get away with not having health care...)

To be honest, I agree with the just hang curtains. If your landlord makes a fuss, say that you have had a peeping tom. Hanging a curtain rod creates a hole the size of a pencil, and any normal human would also want curtains.

Dont. Paint. The. Tiles.

We live in an apartment that formerly had a pink tub. It was reglazed white very soon before we moved in, and
1) it's already cracking after 3 years
2) it is impossible to properly clean

If you can't work with the colour (which I fully understand, because it looks kind of brown-pink-tan-bleh) then please save up and hire some contractors to come and retile. White tile is cheap as heck and the install should only take about a weekend. Or DIY if you can.

Did I mention DON'T PAINT THEM?

Yeah.

Well, if you are "revamping" the bathroom, why not retile? And move that sink a bit further from the toilet?

But if you aren't ready to retile, then I would recommend going for a dark charcoal-grey. Nix the white - normally I love white in a bathroom but with the yellow tiles I think a crisp white will just make the floor look dirty.

I honestly would've passed on the apartment. (Both for the colour and because I'm horribly allergic).

LOL @ NicodemusBC

I think the "after" is kind of bleh, personally. However, it's a pretty good idea to "spiff" up the plain ol' brass and plastic thing. I personally would spray paint it.

looks very nice! i wonder how it'll hold up.

amen, ecuadoriana1.

although, here in canada we have sane, humane laws that don't allow for "security" deposits. (landlords can ask us to paint places back to white or pay them the cost.)

i hear europe also has sane rental laws. i feel badly for you guys in the US.

Dominion's comments make me sad - listen up landlords. you're in a service industry. you chose it. if you can't provide a quality service, you have no right to complain about less than stellar tenants. you wouldn't serve roachy chicken wings on dirty plates at a restaurant you own ... why expect people to live in roach infested / dirty / not maintained places?

agreed with not a pink fan but i assume it's for a young person's room. great idea turning it in!