The wretched house hunt

Having spent the last few weeks emersed in a search for a new apartment and still coming out unsatisfied is making me one grumpy young lady - gosh do i HATE it. This search requires of me to be logical and use phases like... "can't live there it has no bus/train route", "can't stay there it is too expensive" and  "the area is a bit scary or there crime stats are too high".

I feel a bit like an old hag (or a grown up); needing to balance finances, logic and the desire for a big garden with some trees and a wooden bench that i can sit on in hot summer day with a book. 

The pictures they use to advertise most of these apartments online was clearly taken like 10 years ago; over the last 2 years i have seen some wretched places and some ghastly expensive ones that makes me cringe and leaves me thinking that monthly rent could have put a child through University or fed a famine.

Finding a cozy place that i can live in for the next year or two and decorate with my bohemian colors, my photographs and my art is becoming a tall order. The optimist in me is becoming a tad pessimistic at not finding the right one that feels like home.