Loving these hilarious stories ... makes mine seem tame. My flatmate and I had a spare room and kindly offered it to a friend. She moved in and all was going quite well (except the cartoons every morning, the late night fry ups and the various articles of clothing left lying ALL over the house). One evening when 'friend' was out, we two had a few friends over for drinks and a movie. Everyone was being polite and trying not to mention the smell that became increasingly offensive as the night wore on. Half way through the movie it was no longer tolerable ... "What the hell is that smell .. sorry girls, but I think you have a dead animal in here somewhere". So six of us went searching for about half an hour ... it was a pair of 'friends' shoes left pushed under the couch. The smell, up close, was worse than BAD ... no words! I decided to just throw the shoes into 'friends' bedroom but .. when I opened the bedroom door .. the full force of her many pairs of smelly shoes hit me and I almost passed out. The smell lingered in the living room for days later. We confronted 'friend' about the shoe problem and from that point her shoes had to be stored outside on the veranda, away from all doors or windows so the smell could never be allowed to permiate the indoors again. 'Friends' response was "how dare you open my bedroom door". All this led to us lying ... told her the lease was up, planned moving day, she moved, we stayed, and for the remainder of the lease we lied about where we lived. All that deceipt over smelly shoes.

Hi Z Cee A lovely headboard choice!! As mentioned in comments above, the headboard is the star of the show in this room but the choice of bedsides need to compliment it. I would look for something that echos the headboard with some texture, or patina but nothing too dark or heavy. Something in antique brass would look great and give a lift against the timber. Sidetables and stools make good options for bedsides if you dont need the storage. A couple of ideas below. Best wishes

Thanks Julie. That is exactly how I want this to look. We made this wooden bench to avoid buying ready made. I ll check cushion factory. I am considering a beige seat to ensure we can use all colors for any pictures I may want to hang in the background. Though I am tempted to go pink. :) I love the k mart stuff. I am just hoping to get some storage, so the third option looks the best. But this is an outdoor storage bench. You think it would look good indoors ? I am hoping to get something made of wood, so it does not damage. I do like the below , but again its particle board. Also, the coffee table I have will go in the veranda. So I could get a new coffee + side table. https://www.kmart.com.au/product/sideboard-oak-look/2078828?&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpvTcyc3m3gIVX_7jBx2Xxg2kEAQYASABEgISOfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Great to hear that you have had a good experience in an unpopular neighborhood. Our first home was an ex-army house in the extremely unpopular South Auckland of New Zealand. All we could afford then... and we lived there happily for seven of eight years. We loved our home and our initial neighbors, many of whom we are still friends with. But as folk moved on and a rougher element moved in, break-ins began happening, clothes stolen off the clothesline, plants, pots, ornaments, swing sets and even a trampoline! It was no longer safe to leave a door unlocked let alone open. The crunch came when youths began to harass our children walking to and from school simply because they believed it was their right to take what they wanted (uniform and shoes, food) and trying to force them to buy drugs, We moved on. I guess it comes down to; is it just an unpopular demographic area? or is it a rough area, gang related residents, drugs on the street etc? The question does not stipulate why an area may be deemed unpopular. I said above to choose the better area and this is what we did second time around, we live in a preferred area of a demographically unpopular rural town in Otago, NZ and love it here. We have renovated and will be mortgage free in our retirement. However we would never again live in an area unpopular because of the crime rate.