apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've painted the last few places I've lived and it's was never a problem. As long as you paint it back when you leave, what's the big deal. And don't do stuff like paint over cabinet and door hinges. Hate that.

Our landlord has this UGLY orange/yellow as an accent in the living room, and had a dark green on the CEILING of the master bedroom, so we were given permission to paint those areas...the rest of the house is a butter beige color.

In my apartment complex they don't want any unauthorized color on the wall! And if anybody wants to put up a picture, they're supposed to do it without using a nail or anything that will put a whole in the wall!!! Mostly people ignore that last one.

My lease says that I cannot paint. The leasing agent told me that I can paint, but would have to "pay a fee" when I move out. She couldn't give me a specific dollar amount. Since she's not here anymore, I'm glad I decided not to paint.

I really don't know. But since I've been living there for 10 years and the landlord has to repaint free of cost to me, I'm seriously considering it's time to change my dull white walls.

In Los Angeles I wasn't aloud to paint my apt. but was given permission when I moved into an apt. in New York.

Who cares if your landlord says "Don't Paint" or "No holes in the walls" - They're not going to see it when you live there...
...and all it takes is some spackle, a $50 5-gallon bucket of Antique White and a weekend to turn it back to what it was before.

My landlord lives in the house 8 feet in front of mine, I think they'd see it while I lived there.

we were allowed to paint the interior of the house we rent- which we did... but then took it a step further and put wallpaper on one wall without asking...

the owner saw it and didn't say anything...probably cause he made his house look 1000% better.

Our lease says we can't paint, and the building manager is very strict about that. He comes into our apartment occasionally to do repairs, and so he would know if we had gone ahead and painted.

When I lived in Connecticut we rented this awful apartment where the floors were all painted a scratched to hell grey, and the walls had random wall-paper borders (and I mean random like some walls had them and some didn't and no wall had the same border because adjoining walls had different width borders. Apparently the layout was different when it was a house before it was converted to apartments) and we were told we weren't allowed to paint over it (because the landlord claimed he thought they were pretty), or even paint the floor. To this day I've never understood why he cared because in general he was a slumlord. Did he really think the next time he tried to rent out the flat the potential tenants were going to be "oh, I've no problems with the rusty, mildewy fridge you've got in the kitchen because the old one died and instead of getting a new one you bought one that had been in someone's garage for 10 years for $15, but I just can't deal with the blue walls."

(To AmyA:
By the way, the phrase is actually "free rein," not "free reign.")

Our landlord said it was totally cool as long as we gave him the brand swatches of the color we used. We assumed it was in case the next tenant liked the color, he would have the color on hand.

Of course, we haven't painted yet :)

Our landlords not only gave us permission to paint they gave us money for all the ceiling paint, bedroom paint, and bathroom paint!

They did this because the bedroom and the bathroom were HORRIBLE colors, and the rest of the house (including the celings) had been painted with semi-gloss yellowy off white. I also don't think it had been painted for probably close to 10 years, from the amount of dirt and grime that came off when we washed the walls. The bedroom was poopy brown, and it made the ceilings look the same color since they were semi-gloss, even tho they were white! The bathroom was horribly sponge painted with a yellow-brown. We painted the living room a pretty blue, the kitchen is bright green, the bathroom is a teal-ish color (with white bead-board on the lower portion of the walls) and the bedroom is now a cool grey. Just painting the ceilings a clean, bright (matte) white made the house look a million times bigger and cleaner than when the last tenants lived there. When our landlords came over to check out what we had done, they said it was HUGE improvement, and said that we didn't even have to paint over it when we moved out because they like it so much. The old tenants came over to get some mail, and were floored that the house looked so good! They had moved out because the wife thought it smelled (washing the walls and covering it with fresh paint made any smell go away - we have had zero problems with smell) and they moved to an apartment (from a house) that is less square footage and about $200 more a month in rent! They are kicking themselves now, for sure.

I think the key to painting is taking the colors to your landlord first, and offering to pay a paint deposit so if they next tenants don't like the colors you picked, you will paint it back white (or give the next tenants paint money or whatever), and letting them know that you love the house/apartment and want to make it look even BETTER. We have awesome landlords, but I think as long as you let your landlord know you want to improve the space, they are game.

There is a trend here in CA with newer apartments that the landlords are putting in "designer" paint, meaning various shades of taupe and beige rather than white. While taupe may not be what folks would paint if they had their way, at least it makes the place look a little more spruced up than plain white.

I don't understand why landlords want to impose white walls on everyone. I hate matte white! It records every kind of bike tire streak or pasta sauce fight. I always thought the rule was that you have to paint your apartment back to its original state when you leave.

In my rental, I gave the super my own blue paint before moving in. He was very happy because he didn't have to go to the store and buy the paint and he probably kept whatever money the landlord gave him for it.

yes, but we have to re-paint with the exact color they use. and it's special order only, so we have to order it through the office.

Our lease forbids it but I can't see them taking me to eviction court over it. Can you see a building manager telling the judge, "Yes, she pays on time. But you see, she painted over the mismatched builder's special white with Benjamin Moore's Cement."

Worse case scenario...I'd forfeit my security deposit...which they don't have, anyway.

For some reason the page won't let me submit my vote.

In my experience (and everyone else I know who rents), here in Australia it's always stated in the rental agreement that we have to get permission to do ANYTHING to the property.

I can't imagine ever being allowed to paint. It's much stricter here, unfortunately. In our last place the only thing we did was put up a few things on the walls with removable hooks and the real estate agents still insisted on taking money out of our bond for a tiny little chip of the wall paint from one of the hooks, a weed in the courtyard, the oven not being clean enough (according to them), and a few other equally ridiculous things. I had spent a week cleaning the place from top to bottom. So, being able to paint is a dream of mine that won't come true until hubby and I buy a home.

do what makes the place feel like your home.

Not allowed to paint. And I hate the hideous yellow-white that my LL chose. Booooooorrrriiinnngg. Luckily, there are lots of windows in the living/bedroom area.

Seriously...for all those who "aren't allowed", what would happen if you did?

Thank you, San Diego AT... My Landlords live directly above me. I have a charming little cottage in law, but they can hear every time I shove a tack into the wall and I'm sure they'd notice a green bedroom when they came down to fix the plumbing... yeesh.

With Sabrinaa's advice though, maybe paint isn't out of the question. Thanks!

We are allowed to paint as long as everything is back white before we leave. But with lofted ceilings in the living room and the rest of the rooms with tall ceilings, it's really too much of a hassle. We just deal with white...it's not really that bad as long as you add enough color in other ways.

Yes. I was allowed to paint....a fresh coat of white.

MCBfly, does that mean a landlord in California is legally required to paint your place after a specific number of years lived in?
I just painted (without asking), because I could not live with the sratched walls anymore after 8 1/2 years in the same apartment.
BTW: the carpet is falling apart in front of the sliding doors to the balcony. Can I get it replaced at the landlords cost?

I'm not allowed to paint or put 'unreasonable' holes in the walls (meaning I can hang pictures but not shelves and such). I did hang a few shelves. But since I don't really plan on staying in this apartment for very long, I decided it isn't worth it to incur the fines for the paint.

I have always been very lucky and have been able to paint. Once my apartment manager actually painted for me. He told me that he was going to paint the apartment and was tired of white so he said I could chose any color I wanted.

I wonder if people that paint their apartments (with permission) are likely to stay there longer since it feels more like home. There is something to say about the feeling of ownership in your home even if you are renting.

Crazy timing -- just yesterday and today, I started the process of painting... for the first time. I've spent thirteen years renting and was never allowed to paint in any of the apartments I've had, but I finally bought my first apartment. It's 950 sq. ft, with moldings on the floors and ceilings. Taping took more than half a day.

I thought we'd be able to tape and prime the living room, bedroom and foyer/hallways in one day (just me and my dad). How wrong, how wrong... by the end of the second night we finally finished 2.5 coats of primer on the living room walls and ceiling (both of which were painted a very dark color, so we had to be vigilant about covering fully). Tomorrow, we prime the bedroom. We've decided to go without primer for the foyer/hallway and take our chances with a dark paint color. Sunday, after all the primer is dry, we'll do the actual paint job itself -- I'm hoping that with five people coming over to help, we'll finish in one afternoon.

enmnm, I can only really speak for where I live in Australia, but what would happen for me if I painted without asking is that I'd likely lose most of, if not all, the bond I paid when I moved in (about $1000 - Australian dollars) and probably also get put on the black list that real estates use to check prospective tenants for the owners. I know I couldn't afford to lose about $1000 for each property lived in and being blacklisted here makes it very difficult to rent future properties because a lot of owners will simply not rent to you. We also usually have property inspections every 3 months at first and every 6 months after you've been there awhile, so simply changing things back when you move isn't an option.

when i moved in i asked and they said no, but there are other people in my complex that have painted. . .soooo i might just go ahead and paint anyway.

I will be so happy to live in a place that I'm allowed to paint. (None of the apartments I've lived in have ever let you paint.) And actually, I would LOVE if my walls were painted white. This probably sounds crazy to many of you, but in comparison to the murky yellow that my walls currently are,... what I wouldn't give for a nice fresh coat of white to brighten up the place.

Rental agreement says I can paint, but that I would have to paint it back to white upon moving out. I hate white walls, but seeing as how it kind of goes with the look of the place, I decided to keep the walls white. Although, my plain white bathroom bugs me.

I've only lived here a little longer than a month, so I am just giving myself time to adjust to it before I go nuts and paint it all sorts of colors.

I can paint so long as it is white before I move out. My LL is supposed to supply their generic paint for free, but I've yet to put that theory to the test. After 5 years in the same place I wish I had painted more sooner. But since I'm hoping to move out soon I've banned myself from painting anymore.

Also, if anyone is looking to paint with minimum $$ since it is a rental, I suggest the "oops" paint at home depot. That's how I decided what color my bathroom would be. And I couldn't be happy with it.

We painted one wall of our last rental lime green and we planned to paint it back before we left. While at Home Depot to buy the "white" paint, I realized there were a million shades in the white family and our walls were definitely more on the creamy off-white end of the spectrum. On a hunch i went with the home depot brand "swiss coffee" or something that didn't sound anything like a shade of white, but seemed to be heavily stocked in the huge jumbo paint bucket section, making me think it must be a "go to" color for people who paint a lot of bland spaces.
tada! it was the exact shade! If I had just bought white, I'd have had to repaint again cuz it would have stood out like the "after" shot of a teeth whitening ad.

I'm in Canada and I've been allowed to paint all three apartments I've lived in. In the first one the landlady bought everything for me, which was unsurprising since the previous tenant had sponge- and faux-painted every surface in every room in the most hideous manner possible. In the second the owner said he didn't care what I did, and in my current place the landlady just wanted to approve the colours ahead of time, and I have to paint it back to white if the next tenants don't like my colours.

If you want to repaint it beige later, may I suggest recycled paint?

http://www.sfrecycling.com/sfhhw/recycled_paint.php?t=d

It's free.

my landlady told me I can only use light colors.

I have the same comment as above about Australian landlords and real estate agents - Rentals are extremely strict here! I can't imagine painting any of the places I've lived, and I'm so jealous whenever I hear about people overseas having relative freedom to do so. Most agents do regular 3 month inspections, so you can't get away with anything.

The last place I lived in, I stuck a few mirrors to one wall and put a nails in for pictures. The only way I got away with that is because the real estate agents lost the orignal entry report, so couldn't prove that I'd done anything. I imagine they would have taken a fair bit of my bond otherwise.

They also stung me for professional carpet cleaning, even though the carpet was this synthetic, anti-staining stuff, and it looked PERFECT after a good vacuum. But my lease required a professional steam clean, even though it was a low rent, low quality rental. They charged me $66, and I seriously doubt that as a private individual, I could have got anyone to do my carpets so cheaply.

Moral of the story? Renting in Australia means you have very little freedom to decorate your home, and have to be constantly vigilant, otherwise they'll do whatever they can to take as much of your bond as they can. I can't wait to own :(

enmnm, if your lease says you can't make changes without permission, you could be evicted for painting if your landlord wants to be a jerk about it. So not worth the risk if he won't give the okay.

I'm with Rainbowbright. In Australia, it is unheard of to be able to paint walls or even put up hooks etc in the wall.

The lease says do not paint. I have lived here 14 years this June. There is no manager on the property.

Of course I painted.

No rational landlord is going to go through a pricey eviction process in lieu of just asking you to repaint the apartment in the original color. Especially not in this economy. They are thrilled to have dependable tenants. Paint if you want. Just remember to repaint to the original color (or reasonable facsimile) before you vacate.

Or, as the image of the Pantone color book suggests, you could print your walls a different color!

RichardinLA -- The landlord will likely toss you if he finds out - it is against the lease and since you usually need the last landlord's reference when you get a new place, he/she is not the person you want to p*ss off.

Where we are, we can paint as long as we paint it back at our expense - they won't pay for the paint. So it's easier while having an apartment to deal with light. I just have hung a lot of art and things - one of the many uses for toothpaste (besides brushing your teeth) is it can be used as cheap spackle.

We are allowed to paint. Our property manager has to repaint our apartment before the next tenants anyway. He said as long as it only takes one coat of paint to cover, if not he will charge us. He lives in an apartment here and I know his living room is painted orange.

I painted the bathroom and the hall. We just renewed our lease so I am planning on painting the bedrooms and the living room.

This is the first place we have been allowed to paint as tenants.

LilyC - our last apartment was new construction and was painted beige with white trim. It was so much nicer than white walls and white trim. We are in NJ.

We live in Australia and are bound by ridiculous rental agreements. The owners and some random person from the rental agency come over every 3 months and checks that we haven't ruined anything and leaves a little check list behind. They enter and walk around regardless of whether we are home or not. We are not even allowed to put holes in the walls without asking let alone paint. We also had to sign in our lease that we'd have the carpets professionally cleaned when we leave (despite them not being done before we entered).

Thankfully the owners of our apartment are nice people who renovated and lived in it previous to us so it is in pretty good condition. I happen to know that they don't like way the colour they painted the walls looks in the afternoon light so they would probably be happy if we painted it a colour that they approved of. We plan on buying a place soon though so have no desire to spend money improving someone else's investment.

I'm like ashleywasadiver. Yeah, I can paint, but I have to return the place to original condition when I leave. Unfortunately, "original condition" involves some rather expensive textured paint. That means I'd have to prime it down before repainting, and then prime down *again* to repaint before I left.

Fortunately my walls aren't white. Unfortunately, they're green, yellow, burgundy and white...in a studio with light brown tile floors.

I may be buying the studio soon though, and if I do, the first thing I'm doing is priming down and painting. I already know what colors I want.

My lease forbids painting. But to make it worse, the landlord tried to get us to sign lease riders agreeing to pay part of the cost of repainting when we move out! Which is illegal in Viginia (at least, that's how I and an attorney friend of mine read the landlord tenant laws here). I didn't even bother talking to the landlord about it. Just ignored the rider completely. Never signed it. Never heard a word more about it either.

Here in NYC, everyone paints rentals. The landlord is supposed to paint (every 2 years? I'm not sure) and since I have lived here 10 years, he owes me several paint jobs. Since I have painted my whole place with deep colors, I know I will have to at least prime everything before I leave. I'm hoping to negotiate one of those paint jobs he owes me so I don't have to do it myself! I don't plan on leaving anytime soon, so whatever...

In California, I'm pretty sure by law a landlord has to repaint an apartment between tenants, but I'm not sure if it's required each x number of years.

I'm with msmezzo - will probably have to prime my walls when I leave, but it was so worth it to live in an apartment painted the colors I chose.

I've never been allowed to paint.

Worse, though, is my current apartment has a horrible wallpaper border of bunnies, baskets, berries, and hearts..in the kitchen and livingroom.

And I was informed that I cannot take it down, and I can't even paste another border over it. Because, I guess, some day a future tenant is going to LOVE that border.

I only planned on staying one year, so I haven't bothered with it, and I'm moving in three months.

I've decided that I will paint my next place, permission or not. But I'll paint it white.........I learned here at AT that there are a million colors of "white", so maybe I can use a subtle green-white in the kitchen, for example, and the landlord won't notice.

Maybe?

I have always been allowed to paint before, but in my current place the owner picked the colour and wants it to stay. I tried to talk my way into just an off-white in the kitchen and bedroom thinking it might pass, but no. And I can't get the paint name from them, so I couldn't do the "paint it back" trick. *le sigh*

Not only am I forbidden to paint but I'm forced to live with a horrible 90's floral wallpaper border in each room! I will lose a months rent (deposit) if I remove it and I have no interest in replacing wallpaper border when I move. I'd like to come up with a way to maybe cover it without it looking obvious...

I have never been allowed to paint, but have sometimes done it anyway - I use a not-too-interesting color, and leave the extra, and haven't lost any deposit over it yet. The place I've just moved in to is really really nice though, which is mostly awesome, except I think I will be too timid to paint any of the beige parts a more enjoyable color...

My landlord said we can paint as long as we bring it back to primer white when we leave. I havent had time to paint yet and I have a hatred for primer white now.

The bathroom is a bit of an exception. When I asked If I could paint it they looked sad, they really loved the colour of the walls because it matches the counters. The colour is a pale flesh tone, the tiles are sea foam green and dark red. The combo is disgusting

I really dislike the color of our place, it's a yellow beige. The landlord might allow us to paint, although I doubt it, but the walls have a texture and I don't think painting them would be very easy.

I've lived with every possible variation. My first studio had the world's ugliest wallpaper -- pink swans in the bathroom and sailboats or something stupid in the kitchenette... and cheap paneling in the main room. I could do nothing. I didn't live there any longer than I had to.

In grad school, dorm rooms could be painted with one approved accent color, available from the school. So of course, the one I moved into had bright orange, gold, and cream walls. Fortunately, I sort of liked them, since the time I was going to be there was not worth the work. (My suite-mate had red white and blue, though -- THAT would have had to go!)

My last rental, I sweet talked my landlords (who liked me a lot -- it was a condo apartment, so IN a complex but not owned BY the complex...) They let me make any improvments I wanted and deduct the costs (with receipts) from my rent! I painted the bathroom, but was ok with the rest of the place. (I added some fittings to the kitchen, full length mirror to the bedroom, and some other things, though...)

But as for the "who cares, who's gonna know" concept... I am shocked that anyone wouldn't remember (or care) that somebody else owns the property, slumlord or not. Ownership trumps residence. If you are explicitly told not to paint or do anything else, and you don't like it, then you should move -- not take steps you aren't authorized to do. Some people paint very badly -- their handiwork has to be repaired, not just changed for color. Some people want vivid red. That takes blockout primer and one or two coats of color to change back to something neutral. Meaning four or more layers of paint added to a wall that maybe has already many layers on it. Some people DO paint over wallpaper or switch plates or hinges... that's vandalism, as far as I'm concerned. There are good reasons for landlords to lay down the law. If you are an above average painter, then try to talk them into your viewpoint, but don't just assume privileges. Persuade them you will be improving the place. Be a responsible adult.

I'm not allowed to paint and there's no way I would take my chances with it. Plus, I have twelve foot high walls and that would be a very expensive undertaking!

I'm also not allowed to put up my own curtains... I have to deal with gauzy white curtains on 10 foot tall, 4 feet wide windows that face east and turn my apartment into an oven as soon as the sun comes up. Good times! That's what I get for living right in the center of a tourist town in Canada.

I love white walls. Just cause colored walls are in fashion doesn't mean white is boring.

White is a canvas...

millemiki...you are my hero. Those type of mistakes make me crazy!!

In India, you can lean on your landlord to repaint before you move in (labor and supplies are cheap). However it's annoying if you're moving in anywhere between June to September because the landlord can use the excuse of the monsoons to put off doing the job (allegedly the paint doesn't dry well because of the high humidity and leads to cracks in the damp walls). Ours promised us he would do it in January but by then we had been living in the apartment for 4 months and were too lazy to empty rooms and deal with fumes and painters traipsing through the house. Hiring a guy for a day to sand, prime and paint costs about $15 and sometimes he comes with his own rollers, brushes etc.

When we moved into our flat last September, the walls were a buttery yellow. Quite nice, but not the color I would have chosen myself. Before I could say anything, my kind, elderly landlady pointed out the color and proudly mentioned that she and her grandson had done all the work together. So I felt too guilty to ask about repainting.

My landlord tells me NO! It sucks since I live in a cookie cutter style small aparment. I would LOVE to see an article (or twenty) on decorating walls WITHOUT paint on this site.

I live in the South and everyone I know plenty of people who lives in cookie-cutter, every apartment in the complex is the same, places aren't allowed to paint and either have to put up with white or beige walls.
Everyone I know that lives less conventional apartments, (converted houses, the second story of some commercial real estate) gets to paint, (as long as you paint it back, or forfeit some of your deposit). But they all have to put up with uneven floors, and old inefficient windows and doors.
I went for the less conventional... I'd rather have 10 foot ceilings, uneven floors, and bizarre bathroom nooks than stuck in a beige apartment that looks exactly like 20 others I've seen.

Luckily my landlord let me paint, the hideous crackled white walls would of made me go insane.

I don't think my lease says anything specific about painting. But I knew when I moved in that I probably wouldn't stay for more than a couple of years if I could help it (and as it happens, I'm in the process of buying a place right now). So it was something I just never bothered to pursue, though I'm sick to death of white walls.

My landlord responded with a vehement and resounding, "NO!" but then stated that if I paid for the paint AND paid to use his approved painting contractors, I could "possibly" change the paint colors.

The walls in the living, dining, kitchen, hallway, and master bath are all Sherwin Williams "Svelte Sage" and the master bedroom, two other bedrooms, and guest bath are all an unidentifiable cool icy silver-tone white (different from the brilliant white satin footboards).

I'd love a more neutral light grey/taupe (love Benjamin Moore Aura "Pashmina") but I have to ask myself if it's worth to pay for paint & labor, and the possibility of having to pay for additional paint & labor once/if I move out. :(

Wow...who knew it would take this post for me to realize I could NEVER live in Australia! Real estate agents coming by every 3 months for a check in? I can't even imagine.

My NYC lease says no painting and no pets...and I painted and got a dog. My landlord has never come into the apartment in the 10 years I've lived there, and I don't think the super really cares what goes on, as long as it doesn't involve him doing any work.

If they insist on me re-painting when I move out, I'll just use the same super cheap white wash paint that they used before I moved in.

mllemiki & wanderinglight-
I actually looked this up. The Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms allowed for both spelling variants...

I'll second that jen of the north!! Would LOVE to see more ideas that don't involve painting. As much as I'd like to paint, we don't all have that luxury..

Oh, and Marie, Australia's a great place to live! ..as long as you don't rent!

Isn't anyone creative enough to list how they live without painting - like tips, how much art did they hang, etc?

It's really sad to see how many people do not care about someone else's property. If you don't own it and you change it, it's actually a criminal charge.

The apartment I'm moving out of was the first place that allowed me to paint (and I made up for it by painting EVERY room!). I had planned to paint it back to white when I left, but he said to hold off on it and wait till he rented it out. The new tenants said they were fine with the paint job and I could leave it as is. This landlord let me do pretty much anything though, as long as it didn't cost him anything or cause him to have to do anything.

I asked my new landlord about it (even though I actually don't have a desire to paint this one as it looks good with the white walls against all the wood in the place) and he was reluctant but finally said he would want approval of the colors and wanted me to use professional painters so I don't damage any of the wood. Both of which I thought was reasonable. He also kind of seems like the sort to "check in" on me occassionally, so I'd rather not push him much (at least until he's had time to consider me a "good tenant").

Here is Adelaide, Australia, it's pretty much assumed that painting is not allowed. I know a couple of people who ahve negotiated successfully, but they'd been living there for years previously.

Part of the problem is that a lot of landlords rent out their own homes, while they're overseas or interstate, or it's the childhood home, etc. So they object to any major changes. I'm trying to get hooks and a curtain rod (accross a BIG, COLD window) put up, and would you believe the run around I'm getting? It's ridiculous.

I cannot answer the survey.

I have been explicitly forbidden to paint in every place I've ever lived. This includes an old house with old, cracking, bubbling, peeling, scratched, marked walls, sloppy paint jobs, faded and peeling wallpaper, paint ON TOP OF peeling wallpaper, noticeably mismatched spackle in every room, holes with no spackle at all, and hideous, peeling/curling wallpaper borders in the bathroom. The landlady just added the last one a few months ago - and did the job herself, carelessly, in a hurry. It started peeling the moment she was out the door. The first three years we lived here, the bathroom had ancient, peeling, moldy wallpaper we could never get clean, no matter how much scrubbing. I offered to do the paint job, hoping to have my influence on the paint colour, and she said yes, forgot about it, and hired a couple of electricians/handymen to do the paint job. They got paint on all the non-painted surfaces, didn't tape anything, didn't try to follow the lines/edges, and made the cupboards and door impossible to close due to thick globs of drippy paint. Ugh. And the colours are awful. We are moving soon.