shessomelicious's Profile

The apartment I lived in had horrible grey-beige walls when I moved in. Not just the walls, but the doors, moldings, window frames. It was light and soul sucking. The property management rep that showed me the place said that the colour would stay, but once I moved in I wrote them a proposal with what I intended to do, including paint colours (some were quite dark) and inspiration pages from magazines. They not only approved it, but paid for the paint and new bathroom fixtures. I ended up doing a lot of extra work (moldings to cover crappy wall seams, closet shelving etc), so I wrote them asking for a rent increase exemption. They agreed on the terms that they could keep the bathroom cabinet and kitchen lighting I had purchased. When I moved out they gave me extra money with my damage deposit for the window dressings I left, even though my lease said that the original ones (really crappy plastic blinds and grandma sheers) had to be reinstalled. They ended up with a much nicer apartment, and are now renting it for much more than I was paying.

It's worth asking for what you want, and developing a relationship with your landlord / property manager. And their reception staff. Totally key. Putting it in writing and giving a visual reference for what you want to do and allowing them to really envision the space as you see, and the potential benefit to them, can turn around a resilient landlord. It might not, but it's always worth trying.

I pretty much adore this.

Is it just me, or in the third picture does the monkey look like he's enjoying that lamp a little too much?

What about Euro-top mattresses with the 18 extra inches of puff on one side. They can't be flipped.

And the comes-with-mattress cleaning service ... is that ok?