Jessica by the Beach's Profile

I just spent weeks trying to choose chairs for my patio. Living in Florida by the beach, my furniture has been killed by the sun, humidity, and rainy season; plus the salt water air speeds up corrosion big time. After a few years, my pretty, white powder-coated steel chairs have turned to dust. (Mind you, I'm not one to bring outside furniture in or do much maintenance, so that's my fault.)

I think I'm going for the white Urban chair from Ikea, which I've seen on AT before. It's plastic but seems surprisingly sturdy, stackable, cute, low maintenance, has a small hole in the seat to drain water; plus at $40, it won't break the bank. Anyone know how these chairs hold up?

1. Being able to afford a place in a neighborhood I'd be locked out of if I decided to buy.
2. No worries about maintaining/renting a property or selling a house if I do decide to move.
3. No homeowners/flood/hurricane insurance to worry about. (Renters insurance is SO much cheaper.)
4. No property taxes.
5. No condo association fees.
6. No pool cleaning/landscaping/pest control bills.
7. No A/C or appliance repair bills.
8. Design/decor-wise, a really decent landlord that trusts that I'll take care of his property and leave it better than when I found it.

Now as a renter, I realize I'm helping someone else pay for these things and build equity in their property, but for where I am in my life right now, I'm perfectly OK with that.

The kitchen/great room look incredibly bland and impersonal (save the pretty red stools), but the use of prints and color in the rest of the house make up for it. It does make it seem like that area belongs to a different house, though.

The inside looks cute. The outside, not so much. Maybe it's the color? I don't know. I don't like the original oak finish, but I would've gone with a darker wood stain. It's got good bones, though.

@Infinitylove: I was just gonna say that I love that the red paint isn't complete. It's fun, and I think it goes great with the the style of the apartment. I also love the use of those beautiful rugs to define the different spaces. This place is not necessarily my style (the mirror propped on the sink is driving me crazy, and in general there just seems to be a lot of "stuff" around), BUT I love it because it's clearly a reflection of who they are. They found some really great pieces and incorporated them in a cool way. I'd like to go to a party in that house!

Two words: Empire Records.

When I moved back to South Florida, I used a free real estate agent/apartment hunter who specialized in the neighborhood I wanted to move into. I actually found her through Craigslist. The apartment I ended up taking was not even on the market yet, but I secured it three months before the previous tenant moved out. With all the crazy foreclosures, shady landlords, and the sheer amount of condos in the rental market, it was easier to let someone with inside knowledge do the legwork for me.

When I first moved into my apartment 2 years ago, I painted the accent wall in the living room Grape Juice by Benjamin Moore, and filled the room with orange, green, purple, and wood-toned accents. It wasn't until I was done with that I realized the colors matched my favorite maxi dress. So yeah, color inspiration can come from anything -- whether you're conscious of it or not!

Moving to South Florida, with the condo commandos, it was incredibly difficult to find a pet-friendly residence. A lot of these communities have a no-pets policy written in their HOA rules, so even individually-owned properties can be off limits. It definitely took some time and limited the amount of apartments (and even the neighborhoods) available to me. Luckily, I ended up finding a great landlord and a beautiful apartment in an awesome neighborhood. My landlord visited about two months in and saw that everything was intact and actually looked better. I gained his trust, and 2.5 years later, I'm still here.

Hmmm...I'm not finding my beautiful, dysfunctional state of Florida.