Dear Apartment Guru,

I signed on an apartment in Queens and paid the first and last months' rent, a finder's fee to a broker and a security deposit. But when I went to move into the apartment there was a flea infestation, the place was a mess and new water damage had practically destroyed the kitchen. Needless to say, I didn't move in. I did, however take pictures. I have pictures from the time I went to look at the place to show my husband, so I have proof that it was not in such awful shape when I signed.

Can I recoup any of my losses? Ideally, all of them? What do I do?

-Bitten and Burned

Homeowners of the future may have a lot more options when it comes to illuminating their pads. Thanks to the Hungary-based design firm, LiTraCon, architects and designers can construct entire walls that glow. Incorporating optical glass fibers in the construction design, the fiber-concrete blend creates almost microscopically small see-through patches, making each block of LiTraCon concrete significantly less opaque than traditional building materials.

Since fiber optics only comprise approximately 4 percent of the wall's design, the concrete can bear the same weight as traditional building materials, the only difference is, you can see glimpses of what's on the other side. Because the fiber optics are built into the concrete itself, thickness doesn't matter. LiTraCon walls can be up to 65 feet thick without losing their translucent glow. Luckily DIYers looking to get that effect in their own homes needn't pony up the $1,069 a three foot-by-three foot LitraCon block will cost you. Here's how to create light-emitting concrete yourself:

Hideaway beds are one of the most creative, space saving ideas out there. Especially, for those of us who live in very tiny spaces. When you have company over for a dinner party or want to spread out to work on a crafting project, you can literally hide your bed.

Let's take a look at the history of the hideaway beds (a.k.a. the Murphy Bed) and a few examples of how this idea has evolved.

The Murphy Bed Company was created by William L. Murphy who "moved to San Francisco at the turn of the century where he met his future wife. He lived in a one-room apartment that had a standard bed taking up most of the floor space. Because he wanted to entertain, he began experimenting with a folding bed, and applied for his first patent around 1900."

The Murphy Bed Company is still open for business and has a number of unique designs on the market.

These days you read more about homes being underwater than up in the air. But with more artists and architects building tree houses, some of today's coolest and most avant-garde homes are nestled in tree branches.

Equipped with amenities including electricity, plumbing, heating -- even Wi-Fi -- big-kid tree houses provide a creative alternative to life on the ground and provide an airy escape from packed streets. Many are made from recycled materials and use eco-friendly systems like solar power and rainwater recycling. And, of course, you can't beat the views.

In celebration of these digs in the sky, here's a look at some of the most amazing tree houses in the world:

"See that?" says Jane Solomon, a mother of school-age twins, pointing to an intersection that has a chipped-paint crosswalk and no traffic light in her Washington, D.C. neighborhood. "Death trap!"

As kids head back to school, making that crosswalk safer is more important than ever. The intersection is but one trouble spot along this 3.5-mile stretch of Connecticut Avenue in Washington where there have been more than 100 pedestrian injuries, including three fatalities, since 2000. Traversing the six-lane thoroughfare is especially perilous during rush hour, when a middle lane reverses direction and drivers ignore the 35-mph speed limit.

That situation galvanized Solomon and two friends to form Connecticut Avenue Pedestrian Action (CAPA) last year. Their mission: to make this major commuter artery, which cuts through a residential section of Northwest DC, safer for foot traffic.

They're not alone. In communities across the country, pedestrian task forces are working to protect residents, homeowners and renters alike.

We've got the up, the down, and the all-around this week on RentedSpaces. So whether you're looking to go upscale with a six-figure kids room, to downsize to just 100 possessions or to hear an all-around building manager horror story, we've got you covered.

Kids' Bedrooms Get the Royal Treatment
For those people who can't quite seem to find enough ways to spend money, we present the $100,000 child's bedroom. Wait, what? Yes, really. Read more.

How to Downsize to Under 100 Things
Probably not targeted the same group who would drop $100K on their kids' rooms, but there's a movement afoot to downsize to just 100 items of "stuff". Read more.

You've finally sold your house and have made the decision that you don't want to go through that again. But you've owned a home for so many years now-you can't remember the rules of renting. Whose responsibility is the leaky faucet? Do you have to buy your own clear plastic recycling bags?

While some answers will vary depending on the apartment you choose to rent and the city in which you rent it, others are fairly straightforward. If you are looking for a few answers to Renting 101, look no further:

Sentimental objects can be difficult to part with because they have meaning -- they aren't just random trinkets or clutter. But keeping and displaying sentimental items is especially difficult for tiny-space dwellers. If you're faced with the problem of too many meaningful mementoes and not enough room, here are a few ways to get the situation under control.


1. Consider passing along heirlooms.

In "The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Living Guide," Francine Jay -- a.k.a. Miss Minimalist -- writes, "Instead of squirreling away mementos, honor the person you lost by sharing stories and photographs of them with friends and family.... Our obligation then is not necessarily to keep the items we inherit but to find the best possible home for them. We've been entrusted to steward them to a new home; but it doesn't have to be ours."

Jay recommends lending valuable or historically significant items to a local museum or historical society. Other options include selling less cherished objects on eBay and digitizing old photos and postcards.

If you're anything like me, you probably don't have a porch or huge backyard for a fruit and vegetable garden. But chances are that you have a roof, and that's a great place to start an edible gardening project.

Apartment Therapy recently featured the story of Basil Lee. He's a Brooklyn-based architect who has transformed his roof into an "urban escape" where he grows pots of heirloom tomatoes and blueberries, as well as parsley, mint, basil, rosemary and sage. His example shows that it's possible for small-space dwellers to have access to fresh, homegrown food.

College students return to campus this week. Many of them argue -- and some even convince their parents and student loan officers -- that living off-campus is cheaper than living in the college dorms.

Seems plausible. According to the College Board, students attending a four-year, in-state public institution spend an average of $6,960 per year on room and board. For a four-year private college, housing costs top $8,000 a year.

But the truth is, students moving off-campus will rarely find that renting is less expensive than dorm life. Additional costs, such as utilities, food, transportation and even furniture, all add up. In addition, students receiving financial aid may discover that their needs are based on campus living costs versus off-campus renting costs, leaving them with a greater financial gap to close.

But renting off-campus does have some other potential benefits. (And no, we're not just talking about learning to manage your beer fund.) Here are four ways to make living off-campus pay: