Layers of old wallpaper in our next home, nr. 10
If the old walls in our next home could talk, I wonder what their stories would tell us...
We are a short week away from moving out of our wonky house and into our next place here in Brooklyn, home number 10 - which is nearly not ready...
Our kind new landlord decided last minute to replace the old kitchen with a new one and the old tub in the tiny bathroom went out as well. Add to this sudden renovation his very different approach to time management, and more needed changes (nr. 1: painting of the entire apartment), my short to-do list and relaxed time frame for this move, suddenly became longer and shorter - all at the time. Honestly, it will be alright in the end and I know we will live through these last minute renovation issues, dust and all. At least I can add all this to the story of how we got this surprise apartment in the first place... (I will share that in a separate post 'How to find an apartment in New York City').
This morning when I was there, I noticed a patch of old wallpapers on the kitchen wall. A little bit of Shabby Chic love peaking through, so I tried to safely remove it all for keepsake. But it's completely stuck and fragile at the same time. Maybe the house does not want to let go of it's history? How many families have lived here before us? Who stenciled the white print on the kitchen wall? Who decided the rose print was the perfect design to pick? Questions and layers of history - all reminding me of the people who created their stories before us. I wonder what they would think of the modern glass tiles the landlord has picked out to cover them up...
So, onwards we go - moving out and into another rental apartment here in this big city. Where realtors are behaving like sharks and (thank goodness) honest realtors exist as well; or brokers as they are called here. With their New York rental language - where Small means Very Tiny and Authentic New York experience means Noisy. And only in New York would they try to sell you an apartment where windows face brick walls, as if you have a view over Central Park...
It was an experience to find a place where our four bottoms can eat, sleep and live - all while our bank account is not completely drained by one month rent. Trust me, the rents here are ridiculously high - the same as in other cosmopolitan cities like London, Singapore, Zürich, Dubai, etc. Or as they like to say in New York, "Oh, that's cheap, you've got a good price". Trust me, my eyes have rolled back in my head many times hearing this...
Yep, the rental business here in New York is a whole other game, with written rules and 'everybody knows that'-kind of rules... I just had a crash course of it all, by moving twice in one year. And being on both sides of the rental market for the last 15 years, (we are landlords ourselves in The Netherlands) I still learn as we go, because every country is different.
"It's all part of living here babe, that's New York for y'ah - Welcome to the neighbourhood!".
