For seven years now, I have been living in a beautiful apartment with a screened-in balcony and a lovely courtyard view. When I sit out on the balcony, it feels like I am in a tree house and I love to soak up the sunshine, stare at the clouds, watch the trees blow in the gentle breeze and say goodbye to the day with a gorgeous sunset.
Even from inside the apartment, when all the blinds are up, I have a wonderful panoramic view. And I wasn't planning to leave this place for a good many years to come.
In spite of the fact that my allergies have gotten worse since I moved in, no doubt in part due to the formaldehyde in the new carpet and paint on the walls since we were this apartment's first residents. I knew that hardwood floors would be much better for me, but loved living here and planned to stay.
Until the no-good, awful and very unpleasant Drama with the Blinds.
One night, when I began to lower the blinds in the corner of my dining room, they suddenly fell. So I called maintenance the next day and within another day or so, they had replaced them with a brand new set of blinds.
And I really think that that was the beginning of the end. Within days, I began to get sick. I knew that offgassing was the problem, but thought it would be over in a week or so.
It wasn't. In fact, about three weeks later, I was so sick I had broken out in hives all over the bottom half of my face, had a constant upset stomach, and was finding it difficult to breathe normally.
I had asked maintenance to take them down, but they were too busy, so I got permission to take them down myself, but when I did, I walked them across the room and then stuck them in a trash bag and put them outside.
Apparently, doing so spread whatever was so toxic, and made me worse for a bit instead of better. I ended up going to one of those minor med places and they gave me the medicine that fixed me up in a few days, but I was miserable.
That window still has no blinds on it!
I think it bothered me that they didn't ask if I was okay, didn't offer to pay any part of my medical bill, and basically seemed unconcerned about the incident, in general.
But that all happened during the winter. It wasn't until spring that I considered leaving. Stay tuned for that story...
And if you have concerns about formaldehyde or offgassing in your home, here's an article with more information about how to solve the problem with air purifiers.
