This looks like the kind of Silicon Valley house where Steve Jobs invented the Apple computer in his garage. It's nearby in the Mountain View neighborhood -- right in the heart of Silicon Valley. This sweet rental would be perfect for those who, say, work at Google but don't like the grind of the daily commute from San Francisco.

Whether or not you're trying to create the next, great computer, you'll probably love this 3-bedroom, 2-bath house with big backyard. And the location allows you to be close enough to San Francisco, for weekends in the city, but also offers the serenity of Mountain View with it's quaint downtown filled with great cute stores, restaurants and coffee shops.

Looking to get romantic this Valentine's Day? Who isn't. Try installing a dimmer switch to adjust the light in your apartment. It's easy to do yourself and, as an added bonus, it can save electricity.

WARNING: you must be extra-careful when working with electricity. If you have doubts, consult a professional.

Banish the winter blahs with green additions to your apartment. We've presented our case in the past on how adding plants to your urban space will instantly energize you and lift your mood, but now's the time that you should consider gardening. You may not have three feet of space to build a plot outdoors, so this is micro-gardening.

Yes, we know that last year's trend of indoor composting is probably taking up some valuable space, but think about the ability to season dishes with freshly picked basil from your indoor planters. We don't need to go all Michael Pollan on you and explain the importance of good food and knowing from where it originates but, really, if you're going to try out your green thumb why not try it with some edible greens.

Here's a round-up of some of our favorite ideas to bring a mini-garden into your own apartment.

I recently saw the Christian Bale movie, American Psycho, on IFC. In the film, he played a Wall Street fat-cat (who was also a psycho) and lived in a sweet rental that looked pretty similar to this amazing New York condo.

If you're living large, then you might want to consider this amazing 1,200 square-foot, two-bedroom loft in New York's Financial District. Added bonus for Masters of the Universe: It's close to work. It even has views of the N.Y. Stock Exchange from your 25th-floor windows.

Forget the snow: Your lawn chair-sitting days in the middle of Times Square have been extended! Mayor Bloomberg has decided to keep Times Square a pedestrian-friendly walking mall.

This is tremendously good news for mid-town residents. Will the area be seen as a more desirable rental location in Manhattan? Will nearby nabes like Hell's Kitchen benefit from the "angelic" glow of close proximity? If you already live there we recommend you stay put before rents skyrocket.

Apartment residents in the Times Square area now have more benefits: reduced traffic noise, cleaner air, and safer, even easier walks to the tremendous number of shops, restaurants, theater venues, and bars nearby.

Just eight months old, the walkable mall has been hugely popular with locals and tourists alike. However, many feared the walkable mall would revert back to heavy traffic and exhaust fumes since the dramatic change hasn't delivered on the traffic-quelling utopia Bloomberg promised.

Once again it's time for nightmare roommate-wanted ads found on Craigslist. This week we take you to the Midwestern town of Minneapolis, Minn.

What do we have in store?

Potential terrorists, a single dad who wants to make you his kids' new mommy, and that dude from Silence of the Lambs.

In the west end of Toronto, artist Morgan Mavis runs the Contemporary Zoological Conservatory along with her partner Christopher Bennell. She's the director, and he's the conservationist, and together the two have created a space full of taxidermied bears, deer eagle, and a wallaby head. The conservatory is part of an ongoing conceptual art project Mavis has been creating since graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2004, and has turned her rented apartment into a curated art gallery/home.

Morgan spoke with Rented Spaces about the genesis for the conservatory, her collecting habits, and the particular struggles of living in an art tableau.

The loft trend has hit the SoMa area of San Francisco, where this sweet rental lies. It's a unique, 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath live/work space with a whopping 1,170 square feet to call your own.

My dream pad would be a large San Francisco loft like this one; a huge space with maple hardwood floors, washer/dryer, a patio/deck, and most of all, San Francisco parking! This bi-level beauty has all that you want from an arty loft. Once your startup company goes public this would be its ideal home.

How would you like a generous benefactor to pay a portion of your rent?

Fortunate groups of 20-something Jews across the country enjoy just that, in a Real World-styled living arrangement. The New York Times reported today on Moishe House, an innovative idea started in 2006 to support young Jews - a model that other religious, ethnic, or social groups might consider duplicating.

In exchange for the rent subsidy, members of a Moishe House chapter must organize social events for other 20-something Jews. No free lunch, folks!

But, what a sweet arrangement for the three or four - dare say it - chosen ones. Given the proclivity of 20-somethings of every stripe to enjoy socializing - not to mention rent payments, and in the case of Moishe House Philadelphia, ready cash for such events - it is easy see why the Moishe House model has spread by word-of-mouth to 29 cities, from Beijing, to Cape Town, to Warsaw.

So how does it work, and could your community benefit from developing something similar?