Lynne M S's Profile

I'm not clear how storage can be an issue when there are empty shelves and spaces throughout this home? I'm also curious to know who "names" these spaces? Is it the contestant or AT?

This is so great. Cozy and warm, yet bright and not over-whelming. Well-done, Katie! My first apt. in Vancouver was a one room in a Kits heritage bldg. I built a 12" high platform for my "living room" and my mattress would roll out from under it on a plywood base with fridge casters. It was the best. Much better than a loft bed in a tiny space.

What's even cooler, is that there is Cole and Sons' 'Woods' wallpaper INSIDE that cathedral!

Kidding. ;)

As a landlord I can tell you I do not want my tenants snaking their own drains or pipes. I rent a 100+ year old property and you can do a lot of damage if you don't know what you're doing. Further, I would rather know if there is an issue and attend to it. That's a landlord's job. That's what your rent pays for.

Um, yeah I would not be making a decision from what folks chime in on a photo. GET. IT. TESTED. Period. I had "80s" tile in my kitchen which I started chipping out in an old house. A friend stopped by and suggested I test it to be safe. Sure enough, there was not asbsetos in the tile, but there was in the thinset and grout. Same thing with the wallboard. Not the board, but the jointing mud. You can never tell and a test will set your mind at ease one way or another. Meanwhile, until the tests come back, hands off!!

I live in the oldest neighbourhood in my city and the houses are less than 6 feet apart. I also work at home. In the winter, with windows closed, it's not so bad, but summer comes and the notion of "quiet enjoyment" goes out the window. I can hear conversations 2-3 houses away, smell cigarette smoke INSIDE my house, and even, dare I say it, the sounds of "intimacy" from the tenants next door. The newest annoyance is folks' dryer sheets which spew perfumed air across my back deck for hours! Luckily my immediate neighbours are lovely: they speak quietly outdoors and live respectfully of others, but the rest drive me nuts. As soon as I can afford it, I will rent out my place and buy another home in a less dense area and hope the neighbours are off-shore owners! Meantime, I play my radio on low all day long to distract me from all of the above. Sometimes I wonder if I am I just getting old or if this noise pollution is seriously impacting my health...

If you like this Brooklyn Toile you'll love the work of the Timorous Beasties. They started this trend first with Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, New York toiles and many other great, edgy designs.

"Noted for surreal and provocative textiles and wallpapers, the design studio, Timorous Beasties, was founded in Glasgow in 1990."

http://www.timorousbeasties.com/shop/wallcoverings/

Best remedies I have used:

1) keep it super clean and clutter free
2) replace chrome rings, grease catchers and sometime elements/knobs on stove
3) swap out the lights, faucet, and add a dimmer
4) under counter lighting
5) paint if you can, if not distract with large, colour rug, art, or small appliances.

Have you chosen a final finish? Perhaps a nice semi gloss will give it the kick you want. I would suggest simple brass MCM handles to mediate the darkness of the wood and the starkness of the white. Great work!

As a landlord, I would want to hold a tenant responsible who brought bedbugs into the building. Why should I pay thousands of dollars to rid your apartment of something you brought in? Not to mention possibly needing to fumigate the other tenant's spaces in this wood frame building as well as the stress of bagging, dumping, and otherwise ridding yourself of things you've owned for year? When new tenants move in, I give them a bed bug information sheet because now even folks who frequent the public library in Vancouver are bringing them home in the books they borrow!

Can someone please invent a non-toxic way to rid ourselves of these pests???