Wicked expensive Los Feliz Rental at $1770/month, but if you and your successful responsible and upstanding boyfriend wanna move in - you could split the rent and kitty makes three - you’ll be a happy happy family.
Emily is apartment hunting in Los Angeles. Someone always is around here!?
So, here we go. Emily is well aware of the rental market situation, so she fully intends to see what a landlord might do for her in terms of discounted security deposit and first month’s rent. (as anyone who is looking for an apartment in LA should right now!)
Emily is looking for a relatively affordable 1br. She currently lives in a apartment in Silverlake that I can only think to describe as PHAT. Sorry for the indulgence with that aged term, but seriously. The Silverlake place ($1950/month between her and a roomate), is sick to death. Its on a hill, with a view, situated in a neighborhood just above my favorite road in all of LA (Hyperion). It sprawls, it has early century spanish bungalow charm, a brick patio with a fireplace and brick oven, and a bamboo garden that leads into A YARD… (Man, I miss grass). However, besides the fact that her and her roomate are parting ways - they decided to get out initially cause of the noise factor of the upstairs neighbors. (These are the kinds of things that you just can’t always get a feel for in your apt hunt.) Even with all the yard, they feel that the price tag is too high for a basement apartment.
Let’s help Emily flesh out the pros and cons of the option below, its in West Hollywood near all of the great furniture thrift stores that we went to this weekend!!! (and the Target shopping center at La Brea & SM). ((and kinda near the Farmer’s Market which is near that place where the chick from The Hills lives if you watch TV and otherwise don’t have any reference for how much of a wasteland of concrete LA is.)) I’ve mapped it above for ya. Her current commute from Silverlake to work is probly bout 30 mins w/ Traffic.
It’s a little Guest House, which immediately fairs well in assessment. A guest house means no shared walls, so hopefully that means quiet times. It’s way closer to work. Its little face is cute, and I think immediately that it suits her in charm. The front porch is beggin for a brightly painted metal glider. It’s NOT a studio! Hardwood floors are a must have for decor freedom, so that’s a go. Parking, Laundry and an included refrigerator are all pluses. And for a girl that loves outdoor coffee and privacy to sit back and think on a Sunday morning - the french doors/back deck is happening in a major way.
The only downsides I can see:
Could be some decades old grime to contend with, and without seeing it, I’d carefully inspect the windows, bathroom and kitchen faucets to make sure you can feel at home.
Also, It’s important to try to get a grasp on if the front house tenants are cool (she describes them as 12 year old hipsters, so this could go either way.)
It’s $50/mo over budget.
Emily, I kinda love it. I’d go ahead and man up and ask them if they’d consider knocking that extra $50/mo. off too. It never hurts to ask.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Gonna have to do some weeding through the resources. There are tons of apartments on the market. No need to rush into buying a Westside Rentals account though. Seriously. I say don’t do it until you’ve exhausted yourself with the free ones. Even if you do pay for it you’ll likely find your place from Craigslist, or a driveby. Personal Opinion, but I don’t really care for Westside Rentals.
Most of the time I just hit up Craig and do a keyword search for “bungalow” and pick through. Then “cottage” and pick through, emailing myself the ones to think about further. (I’m a recent fan of padmapper which pulls craigslist listings that input the address correctly, and displays them on a map.) But have had my best luck with clicking through various searches on Craigslist. Once you’ve perfected your search terms, hit the RSS icon in your browser bar to subscribe to new listings that match if you wanna.
Let’s pretend you know you wanna live on the Eastside.
I’d immediately suggest living here on this hill somewhere near Montecito/Lincoln Heights. I don’t know anything about the neighborhood, but could you care with that view/balcony/lightfixture(the nelson)/moulding? $1575/month
Or here, for $1850. Not cheap but super interesting. Note fun tile and Hobbitish ambiance. Plus its in Silverlak/Los Feliz area, so you can totally be Modern Bohemian.
Actually, that black tile in the kitchen is the sickest thing I’ve seen in a craigslist kitchen image.
If you are concentrated on a specific neighborhood, it might be less frustrating for you to use a map option like PadMapper. OR search by neighborhood using a service called Rental Girl. This fantastic genius group of women got together and each pretty lady represents a different area of town. They specialize in finding rental options with character and appear to cover a wide budget (including a little one like mine). I checked out the Pasadena page b/c sometimes that’s where I live when I close my eyes real tight.
Here’s a steal at $1,000/mo. (Um…… MARGARET!!! Margaret wrote in and said she’s scared she’s gonna get stuck renting a room in a box b/c she’s had a hard time finding character). This place is super cozy.
I don’t have much to say other than this isn’t a finished plan, its just me exploring ideas. I’m missing some bookshelves and some money to make it a reality. But…….. its really fun to Photoshop decorate, so I’m sharing my amateur hour product again.
White turned pedestal table from BrocadeHome.com
Wingback Chair & Pillows from the Fabricadabra site
Dining Room pendant from DIY Light Stringy Thingy
Artwork by Patti Fennick (local Hickory, NC artist)
This is my vintage Remington portable typewriter after passing through some filters in Photoshop. Its not only good for looking pretty! It also invites impromptu lines from us and our visitors, banging on its keys is quite fun. It sits on the Jimmy (our buffet/console thing that we found on the side of the street). I love to stop by it occasionally to see what lines our friends have added to the most recent piece of paper! Regardless of who participates, it usually reads back like poetry. Its a great aspect of our apartment that is turning into our home.
I think its an excellent idea. I did it in my last home - a shiny glossy black over my dining room table, and I think I will more than likely do it to some scale in this new LA rental………
Talking about replacing light fixtures with spray painted brass chandeliers from the thrift store. An easy find, and a good idea for renters, especially if you don’t break your landlord’s piece that you are gonna stash. It is a great way to replace some lacking style with your own cheap trick for the temporary.
I’ve created this AWESOME photoshop sketch to map some ideas for my new tiny kitchen.
As I plan a rental version of an update, I am wondering if a kinda tiny interesting chandelier is what needs to hang above the sink??? I like the idea of the ornate fixture being in a less expected location - rather than the trad placement over the dining table. Can you envision it here?
Eh.. I’m not totally sold…. just thinking of options…. Meanwhile, take a look at this great collection of spray painted chandies. (an image that i grabbed directly from Apartment Therapy). Yay!!
I left three couches behind in North Carolina. I love all three of them. I equate my love for couches with my love for jeans. Its not so much that I go out and by the most expensive brands, I just like jeans and I want lots of them and I can’t bring myself to get rid of any of them. They are the staple of many a loved outfit for me.
So, the next phase of the LA Apartment Hunt indicates the dawning of new era! A NEW COUCH, the staple of building a room! I’m excited. Aren’t you? Since hauling my new three piece Ikea Karlstad sectional up the stairs to The Treehouse (that’s what we call the apartment), the place has felt a million times better. Its also helped to shape up some ideas for what to do with the common areas and I’m really excited about that too. Plus, Kate likes it.
This is what I haggled over in the As-Is section of the Carson Ikea until I walked away with it for $399. No joke!
With the low price tag for the size, I decided that I wouldn’t mind dropping extra cash down the road on a new cover for this sofa. They have a nice dark gray as well as an interesting natural linen that I could maybe choose.
I spent some time perusing the Ikea couch cover opions over at Bemz tonight….. and now I’m feeling like I wouldn’t mind going nuts with the options for my new huge L shaped sofa. But now I need my mom to start pricing out shipping on the older Ikea sofa that I’ve been hanging onto since my days living in Philadelphia. The Allerum… I really wanna make this couch sing out on my big patio with the right fabric choice (what do you think? Marimekko?)! $250 isn’t bad.
My friend Joel has a beautiful doll of a girl roommate named Aubrey and she is a genius. They rent a Spanish bungalow in West L.A. (total score… full on 3br 2ba house, exposed beams, an amazing backyard and studio out back. I’m gonna show you pics!)
Aubrey is a genius because she has a really fun ceiling, and she painted the room grey with a complimentary dark grey above and I love it. Don’t you!?
Here’s some more pics of the home, so you can salivate a bit. It’s affordable too. Affordable like less than $1000 per month per person.
I love the art deco tile that you run into in LA homes.
Sunbeam & Beams!!
Nice chairs. (Sarah must be wondering, but they are not Joel’s. They are the previous tenants)
What’s up trellis?
Kate and I have been talking a lot about what to do with the dining table and 4 chairs that her mother gifted her. The apartment is close to 100% empty and so we really don’t need to prioritize replacing it with the desired tulip & wingback combo (or whatever might be more desirable.) Looks like we have another project on our hands. I do love spray paint.
I was initially inspired by the upholstery on this chair at Downtown but I got over it when Sarah told me that she was not a fan of this chair.
So, we hit up some fabric stores today to see what we could find. The trip to Sew L.A. (in Silverlake) was a beautiful one. Sew L.A. is a fantastic resource for fabric made familiar by your favorite Etsy sellers.
I was hoping for a Chiang Mai, and thinking we could make a quick impact without too much effort. I probably wouldn’t normally have thought to go this route without the prod from Jamie’s recent addition to Furbish Studio, seen on iSuwannee.com.
(thanks Apartment #412 and Rowdy from Furbish Studio for the images)
After a quick stop in the coffee shop across from Sew L.A. I saw the green crocodile upholstery on the chairs there, and I couldn’t get it outta my mind, so the kitschy cute styles at Sew L.A. were no longer an option. In my single sightedness, we hit Sunset blvd toward downtown on the quest for croc.
The garment district was pretty awesome, starting first with Michael Levine Inc. After a few snaps with the camera, I was asked not to take pictures inside. (my apologies that I can’t visually share with you the awesomeness. You’ll have to come visit.) They had all of the novelty fabrics that Sew L.A. had and soo much more. (but not the right crocodile or chiang mai). All in all - a great day - though I came home overwhelmed and empty handed. Let me know if you have any ideas that I should be considering for a table make-over.
Not the right crocodile, but getting there.
Kate doesn’t know what Toile is. We’ll help her.
