Behind the Apartment's Door

In Boston, most leases start on September 1st.  Since a large percentage of the city is populated by undergraduate or graduate students, a good portion of the city ends up moving at the same time.  Boston quickly becomes a maze of U-Hauls and trailers at the beginning of September.  I joined the chaos, arriving to move in on September 1st knowing I had a roommate I had never met in person and an apartment I had never seen.  I have one roommate and live in a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with sky high rent in the city.

I met up with my roommate in person for the first time as we picked up our keys and headed back to unlock the door to our apartment for my first look.  I got there first, unlocked the two deadbolts, and opened the door to find....an absolute WRECK.

What we found on the other side of the apartment door is not the sight that you hope for when you see the place you are going to live for the first time.  There were piles of trash, four abandoned bed frames spread throughout the apartment, the shelves from the fridge were in the bathroom, there was a hole in the wall, the air conditioner didn't work, the refrigerator didn't work (though the freezer did), the floors were marked, stained, and filthy, the toilet was stained brown..and on and on and on.  In fact, it appeared like three people had moved out and one person hadn't even bothered- leaving behind everything from clothing to a nicely made bed.

We called the rental company immediately, asking what was going on.  They looked into it and eventually let us know that they hadn't realized it but they were still missing a set of keys for our apartment, so they would delay us being able to take occupancy for 24 hours while they addressed the problem, changed locks, etc.  Thank goodness my parents were staying at a bed and breakfast where I could stay as well and that the movers weren't scheduled to arrive with my stuff until the next day!  We had to leave not knowing what it would look like the next day when I would need to move in.

The next day we went to the store and stocked up on even more cleaning supplies than we had originally brought with us.  I had to go to orientation for my PhD program (more about that) so my parents met up with my roommate and her parents to go see the unknown.  After orientation I came back to maintenance people, my roommate and parents geared up in gloves scrubbing everything, and a whole bunch of boxes!  It was already a marked improvement!

Now, less than a week after we originally moved in I can say that all the boxes are unpacked and we are settled in what has FINALLY become a livable apartment.  Here are some before and after pictures to give you an idea! (Although frankly the pictures don't do justice to the original filth because you can't see the grime and holes, etc.)

Living Room:

Before

After

 Kitchen:

Before

After

 My Bedroom:

Before

After

 Bathroom:

Before

After

 I am going to avoid moving next year if at all possible!