That apartment.

[icarus]

You know, we're not sure we want this apartment.

- It's too dark. This is Seattle, it's grey, and we need light.

- It's ground floor so we'd have to keep the curtains shut since WG walks around naked all the time, so it would really be dark.

- WG is concerned about noise. The laundry room is right across the hall, and it's ground level, so he's concerned about street level noise as well.

- We both think our friends won't like how dark the place is and wouldn't want to spend time there, which negates one of the points of getting a new place.

It's a nice place, good location, but most apartments in Seattle have a better light situation, and that's important to us.

I think we've decided to call them and say no, we don't want it.

Comments

[lherelenfeline.livejournal.com]

There you go then. All of the above make perfectly good reasons not to get that place.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

We've decided that while we want a lot, the two things we can't compromise on are:

1) light (we've said for months that we don't want any apartments on the north side of a building, but even with western exposure, light is the point) and

2) space, because that's the whole reason we're moving.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Light -- and feeling comfortable in a home -- matters too much.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I know that WG will be really freaky about being on the ground floor. He has very strong privacy issues. Just you wait. He'll have all the curtains shut, 24/7, and that place will be a cave.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

I too am fond of being...not clothed, but my pricacy issues aren't all that strong. *g*

And yeah, ground floor is not what I personally liked; even in the courtyard apartment back in the old home, folks kept walking by and STARING IN. WTF?

[rabidfan.livejournal.com]

Go with your gut.

I live in the sunniest place in America...and I STILL crave more light in the house. No dark rooms in Seattle, please.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

He and I rated the apartment about a 5 or 6 in terms of the light issue. It means that we'll likely be here another year though. *sigh*

[abigail89.livejournal.com]

You've made a good decision. If light is important, then this apartment is absolutely not right for you. And being across from the laundry room is the pits.

Hold out for the right place.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yes. I'm a little discouraged because the timing for this place is perfect and it is quite nice. But... no. I don't want to live in a dark hole. WG will definitely close all the blinds and make it a cave.

[emeraldsword.livejournal.com]

My new accommodation is ground floor and I expect it's going to be very dark. Which will probably bother me a lot more than I realise yet as I'm used to living in light rooms, but even if my room's dark, maybe the rest of it will be light. The pictures she had of it showed light coming through the windows anyway...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Your new accommodation? Are you able to pick your room, is this an apartment you're renting or-?

[emeraldsword.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be renting a room in someone else's flat. At the moment, I'm renting a room in a shared house - there are four others here, it's a big house and only me and one other girl (who I don't get on with) actually do any cleaning so it tends to get steadily grubbier until I get fed up and give it my version of a proper clean (this occurs about once every couple of months, so you can see that I'm not a neat freak). Plus, the landlords are in Australia at the moment - they went for six months in January so naturally we've heard nothing from them since, until we emailed them to tell them about the letter we had from the bailiffs because they hadn't managed to set up a direct debit to pay the water bill. It will all be hilarious once I've actually moved out...

So, too many housemates I don't really like who never ever clean anything plus incompetent and long-distance landlords mean that I've decided to cut my losses and move on. From October 12th I will be living with one girl who is actually the owner of the flat and so has a vested financial interest in keeping it habitable. Fewer people to interact with = good, and she has a Bengal kitten which I will be able to play with but will not have to be responsible for! Instead of getting weird looks if I dare to mention science fiction, I will be able to borrow her sci-fi books and she's already invited me to join her book group (if one of my housemates weren't a journalist, I'd suspect the lot of them of being unable to read). Win-win.

the accommodation issue touches a nerve or two, could you tell?!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Er. Yeah.

*g*

[emeraldsword.livejournal.com]

*g* Sorry! I look forward to being a Proper Grown Up and not having housemates, but this day is still far off.

[venivincere]

That's a sound decision. You'll find a light, airy, larger place if you keep looking. You're not in too much of a hurry, are you? You'll find a place. :-)

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

I can't stress enough how important having a favorable light situation is. Three apartments ago I lived in a ground floor cave that only had a couple of tiny windows and I was miserable every minute that I didn't spend out by the pool. Last November I took a pass on a place with an extra bedroom, 400 more square feet, and $100/month lower rent in favor of my current apartment mostly because of these windows (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattthebruinsfan/2301337842/in/set-72157602315338900/), and I'd do it again in a heartbeat despite the higher cost and lack of storage space.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yep. The light was about like this, only the windows are slightly smaller.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

And what I mean is that the light level in that apartment, with the windows open and uncovered, is about what you have there, with the blinds drawn.

On a sunny day.

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

Hmm, it may not be as bad as I was envisioning then. I pretty much keep the blinds closed because the morning sun is pretty dazzling even through them. But as you say, if the ground floor location means you'll have curtains drawn all the time, you won't be getting the benefit of what natural light you do have, regardless.

I tend to think it's counterproductive to move to a new home that won't be satisfactory - at least staying in a current apartment that you want to change will be familiar, and there won't be any reluctance to move again if something better comes along in the near future. (Of course, I also hate the ordeal of moving, so once every three years or so is about as much as I can take even if there's good reason...)