“I’ve been a renter for 25 years and can’t imagine living any other way”

Who: Shanna Flodström, 46 Space: A 350-square-foot studio loft in Parkdale
Rent: $2,200 plus $100 for utilities Years spent renting: 25

I used to bounce around a lot. I grew up in Kamloops, moved to Vancouver Island at 18, and spent my 20s and 30s renting in cities throughout BC, Alberta, Quebec, Ireland and the UK. I lived in more than 40 different apartments, moving once or twice a year. Picking up and changing locations was as easy as giving my landlord notice and renting a U-Haul. When I was younger, having that kind of flexibility was everything to me. I could switch apartments if I was going through a break-up, my roommate situation changed or I just got bored of wherever I was living.

In 2019, I came to Toronto and sublet a friend’s one-bedroom near King and Dufferin while they were on the road with Cirque du Soleil. A few months later, I rented a one-bedroom at Shaw and Dupont with my then-partner. Now I’m back in Parkdale. My boxer mix, Juniper, and I have been in our current place for the past year. It’s one of 75 lofts in a converted toy factory, so it has high ceilings, large arched windows and exposed brick.

I don’t feel compelled to move around these days, but renting is still the most attractive option to me. I get to role-play home ownership without the responsibilities and costs that come along with it. If a pipe bursts or my dishwasher floods—which it did this past January—I just call my landlord. That convenience is precisely why I’ve rented for two and a half decades.

Being a renter doesn’t mean you don’t care about your place. I’m an interior designer and wallpaper artist, and what my living space looks like is hugely important to me. Maybe I’m lucky, but the usual design limitations renters face haven’t hindered my creativity. Most of my landlords have been quick to approve paint jobs, tile installations and even larger DIY projects. When I moved into my current apartment, it had one free white wall. It was in the living room, where a TV would usually go, but I was set on having a large uninterrupted space to hang art, so I needed to find another place for the TV. I thought about how they’re often suspended from the ceiling at airports and decided to take the same approach. The loft’s hardwood ceiling made the installation trickier than I’d anticipated, so I ended up hiring someone from Taskrabbit to do the job for me. Now I have an unobstructed gallery wall, which is glorious. In another DIY project, this one paid for by my landlord, I replaced a 15-year-old Murphy bed with a sleeping platform that I designed and built. Now I wake up each morning and climb down seven feet via a mini staircase.

The rest of my unit is just as fun. I’m not afraid of bright colours or patterns, and I’ve incorporated eye-catching wallpaper and vibrant contemporary art pieces that contrast with the building’s industrial vibe. My place is filled with vintage furniture I’ve collected over the years, and each piece is unique. I gravitate to anything with an unexpected shape or cool colour, like my royal-blue velvet dining room chairs or my knock-off Roly Poly chair from Eternity Modern. A lot of my artwork comes from artists based in cities I’ve lived in, and those pieces remind me of the connections I’ve made, even as a renter. I may not own my space, but it still feels like mine—and I don’t have to pay property taxes.