Yesterday night, as I was standing in my new place, I found myself cursing three things: Trading Spaces, my optimistic nature, and the male species.
Trading Spaces because the show has romanticized renovation, making turning dumpsters of places into avant-garde works of interior art look easy and exciting.
My optimistic nature because when I saw this basement suite I was able to overlook the mess and stench to see it for what it could be: the only affordable two bedroom apartment in North Vancouver which would include a whole room as my studio!
The male species because they are dirty. This place has been inhabited by boys for at least the past four years, I think. And it appears as if they didn't clean the whole time. This place is deep down dirty: it smells, there is grime in the corners, and (worst of all) there is mould growing in various corners of the carpet, kitchen, and bathroom. All this was hidden by boy stuff (computers and other various forms of technology along with garbage) when I looked at it, so I was somewhat unaware. I am sorry to blame an entire gender, but I felt like my frustration was big enough to do so at the time. (I apologize to any clean boys out there.)
The place was left in a mess and since the owner is a sweet 78 year old lady I thought I would help her out by cleaning it up. Instead, for much of the time I was there, I walked around thinking, "where do I start?" and "what have I gotten myself into?" I finally tackled the fridge and some of the garbage laying around. Then I went around the place spraying everything with my homemade mixture of tea tree oil and water which will hopefully disinfect everything. Ever since I watched an Oprah episode on "Sick schools" (schools infested with mould which made many chronically sick) I have been terrified of mould.
Since I am past the point of no return I will persist, I guess. This place is scheduled to be painted on Thursday so hopefully it will be livable after that.
oh, the perils of being a near aparment owner. I am realizing how little I know. And how much can go wrong.
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3 comments:
Oh boy, you better use more than just tea tree oil.
Oh mould! Bad news. I hope things go better for you, Sara. Lysol may be a better option for your disinfecting needs.
Lysol is good but I'd like to go chemical free as much as possible. I guess it will probably be unavoidable, though, as I've heard the only thing that kills mould is bleach.
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