segacs's Profile

This is a super common issue here in Montreal, where the classic Victorian triplex apartment typically has a "double-room" living/bedroom separated only by a doorway like the one in your photo. The typical go-to option for people not wanting to spend a lot of money is to hang IKEA curtains, but really, anything that creates separation and privacy will work.

Houzz has lots of great ideas and inspiration for how to do this:
http://www.houzz.com/curtain-divider

Lease laws vary by region and sometimes lease-to-lease, so the responsible thing to do in this article would be to warn tenants to consult their local laws and lease terms before doing any work. Having said that...

My last two apartments had attentive landlords but strict rules. My current apartment has a deadbeat landlord but it's pretty much anything-goes with the rules. And I take the attitude that a bit of investment is worth it, since it's my home and I'm the one getting enjoyment out of it. With no plans to buy in the near future, I take a long view of renting; it's worth fixing things up if I'll enjoy the space more.

I was bored with white walls so I decided to paint my apartment in bright colours. Doing the labour myself, I spent less than $150 on supplies, and it has made my life a lot more pleasant and cheerful. I also added curtain rods and sheer curtains in the living room, and a custom blackout blind shade with drapes in the bedroom. And I added a medicine cabinet in the bathroom, some towel rods, and some shelving in various places including the laundry room, which desperately needed it.

I still wish I could do something about the ugly vinyl imitation-wood floor, outdated 80s cheap kitchen and bathroom cabinets and countertops, and ugly sliding closet doors. The kitchen cabinets are particularly bad, and since the doors are those ugly melamine-and-fake-wood types with integrated handles, there's no hardware to switch out. I also hate how the electrical outlets are wired so that the light switches operate exactly the wrong outlets in every room. But there's only so much money I'm prepared to spend, so I live with those things.

One of you should take the bedroom, and use it as a bedroom + living space area for personal things. The other should curtain off a section of the living room to use as a bedroom. That way, you'll avoid constantly being in each other's space, you'll have some privacy, you can more easily deal with different schedules or -- dare I say -- the occasional overnight guest.

The person who has the curtained-off living area may prefer a daybed or futon, depending on space. The bedroom person can get a full-sized bed or -- to compensate for the sacrificed living space -- may prefer a loft bed that will allow for more usable space underneath.

As for the rest of the space, you'll have less shared space so you'll need to maximize it. Arrange your bathroom, kitchen and non-curtained living space efficiently so you can both enjoy it. If you have an eat-in kitchen or dining area, even better; this can become your common space.

Seriously, if you want this living arrangement to last more than a month or two without killing each other, claim separate spaces.

Ooh, I love the couch! You could go Spanish-style with reds and yellows. Or you could go with a more modern-art aesthetic with bright primaries.

Bravo, Mélanie! Way to represent Montreal on the international stage. Félicitations.

@Portlandrules: There are small towns now that are paying people...some of them paying off people's student loans if you will move there.

It's my understanding that these sorts of incentives only apply to certain types of in-demand professionals, particularly doctors and lawyers. Generally speaking, they're the ones with the most options anyway, financially, and not the ones having trouble finding a place to live for <30% of their income.

For the average person in most fields of work or study, small towns offer very little in the way of job opportunities. That's why people move to big cities in the first place.

Hey, our taxes go to a lot of idiotic things too, like lining the pockets of corrupt politicians and mobsters, or financing our language police (yes, really). And we have roads and bridges that are falling down, budget cuts everywhere, and potholes the size of small countries. Nowhere is perfect.

BUT... a perfectly nice one-bedroom apartment with rent control in a good centrally-located neighbourhood can be had for less than $800/month.

Everywhere has pros and cons. Most people choose where they live based on work, school, family or history. But ultimately, you gotta be able to afford your life, whatever it is. If you're spending more than you earn, housing could be a culprit.

@Pearmelon, that depends on the age of your property, its condition, etc. but a good rule of thumb for a house is to set aside 2-4% of the house's purchase price each year for maintenance and repairs. If you don't end up spending it that year, you should put it in a dedicated account so when the big stuff happens, you'll have money set aside.

If you're living in a condo with monthly maintenance fees, you can probably include those fees in the 2-4% and just set aside the balance, since some major stuff will be taken care of by the condo association. But check to make sure how much they keep in reserve, and how often owners get assessed for unforeseen maintenance costs. And don't forget that you're still responsible for the maintenance of your own unit, so you'll need some money for that.

(Hence the reason why I rent. One of many, anyway.)

@FixItChick: "another piece of the rent v purchase equation not mentined here is that purchasing a house insulates you from rent increases"

So does rent control, if you're lucky enough to have it. (Ah, Montreal, I love you.)

And owning a house does not insulate you from property tax increases, mortgage interest rate increases when your term is up, or unexpected repairs.

IMHO, renting is far better from a budgeting perspective, since I can anticipate what my expenses will be far more easily than I could as a homeowner. Ownership is where all the uncertainty is.

Each time I move, I get a little bit lazier and a little bit spendier. The first time, I bribed friends with pizza and beer to help me move boxes. After that, I've hired movers ever since, and never regretted the money I've spent on them.

Likewise, my most recent move a couple of years ago was to an apartment that the previous tenants had left in a disgustingly dirty state. To be fair, they moved in the middle of winter, and had a baby and a dog. And it was a lease transfer, not a new lease, so the landlord didn't have any responsibility to clean up.

So I bit the bullet and paid to hire a cleaning lady for the day before I moved in. That's a luxury I generally don't allow myself in my daily life. But this was a godsend. It took me, my mom, two of my friends AND the professional cleaning lady a good eight hours to scrub the place top to bottom -- and it's not a big place! We were finding dog hair everywhere -- it was so gross! And don't even get me started on the state of the kitchen and the bathroom. Anyway, we swept, mobbed, scrubbed, vacuumed, dusted and washed every surface 'till we couldn't see straight, and we finally made headway against the dirt.

Afterwards, I felt like I could finally breathe, and when I moved in my stuff I could feel comfortable about putting it away and actually starting to live there. If/when I move again, I'll definitely do the same thing. It's worth every penny.