I recently had a client move out of one of my offices.
Nothing dramatic. Nothing unusual. She’s a therapist who was winding down her practice and wanted to test how coworking worked before committing to another long-term commercial lease. Smart move. Coworking made sense for her: lower cost, more services, flexible terms, and no multi-year commitment. From a business standpoint, it was a good decision.
She was only with us for about six months. Maybe a year at most. She realized she wasn’t using the space the way she expected, downgraded to a different service plan, and moved on. That part? Completely reasonable. Happens all the time.
What wasn’t reasonable came after.
Flexibility Does Not Mean No Accountability
When someone rents an office in my space, we give them a lot of freedom.
Our member service agreement clearly states that members can decorate their offices. Hang artwork. Paint walls. Bring in their own furniture. Make the space comfortable for themselves and their clients. I want people to feel at home in their office. I want the space to feel personal, warm, and intentional.
But that flexibility comes with one very clear boundary:
If you damage the space, you pay to repair it.
That includes excessive holes in the walls, unapproved paint, stains, broken fixtures, or anything that requires labor and materials to return the office to standard. This is not hidden in fine print. It is explicitly stated in the agreement every member signs.
The reason we collect a service retainer at contract signing is simple: spaces are used heavily. Things happen. Walls get scuffed. Furniture wears down. Minor wear and tear is expected and absorbed as a cost of doing business.
Actual damage is not.
The Reality of Turning Over a Physical Space
When this client moved out, we inspected the office.
Every single wall had multiple holes in it. Not a couple. Dozens. Across all four walls.
This wasn’t a picture here or there. This was extensive wall damage that made the office unusable in its current state for the next member.
I cannot hand over a damaged office to a new client.
My product is not just “four walls and a door.” My product is a clean, corporate, comfortable, ready-to-use office. Smooth walls. Fresh paint. No visible signs of the previous occupant. When someone walks into their new office for the first time, it should feel like their space — not someone else’s leftovers.
If I let standards slip, my value goes down.
What Fixing It Actually Costs
Let’s talk real numbers, because this is where people tend to lose perspective.
If I hire a professional painter to prep and repaint an office, it costs me a minimum of $350 per office. That’s for taping, mudding holes, sanding, priming, and repainting. That number goes up quickly depending on severity.
In this case, my husband Brandon handled the repairs himself. He took an entire day to tape, mud, sand, and repaint the office so it was ready to go for the next member.
We didn’t charge for full repainting. We didn’t charge market labor rates. We didn’t bill for a full day of work.
We charged $200 — roughly one-third of her retainer — to cover materials, labor, and the time required to return the office to standard.
That $200 covered:
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Drywall repair materials
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Paint and supplies
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An entire day of labor
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The ability to turn the office quickly for the next client
That is not punitive. That is cost recovery.
“I’ve Never Been Charged Before” Is Not a Defense
After we sent the invoice, this former member called me — not to ask questions, not to clarify, not to have a conversation.
She called to complain.
She told me that in her 20+ years of renting space from commercial landlords, she had never been charged for putting holes in walls. She stated this with what I can only describe as righteous indignation. And then she hung up.
No discussion. No curiosity. No attempt to understand the difference.
Here’s the calm, factual reality:
I am not a commercial landlord.
Coworking spaces operate fundamentally differently than traditional commercial leasing. Commercial landlords often don’t care about nail holes because:
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They amortize damage across long leases
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They renovate infrequently
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They pass costs down the line
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Or they simply don’t maintain spaces at a high standard
That may have been her past experience. That does not override my agreement or my standards.
Just because someone else let something slide does not mean it was correct — or sustainable.
Coworking Is Not “Landlord Lite”
Coworking spaces have faster turnover, shared environments, and significantly higher expectations for readiness. Offices don’t sit vacant for months waiting for a full renovation. They are flipped quickly. Standards matter because perception matters.
When someone walks into my space, they are evaluating:
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Cleanliness
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Professionalism
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Care
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Attention to detail
Smooth walls and fresh paint are not cosmetic luxuries. They are part of the value proposition.
If I allow damage to accumulate because “that’s how commercial landlords do it,” I degrade my product. And once standards slip, they are very hard to recover.
Accountability Is Part of Doing Business
Here’s what really bothered me about the interaction.
This wasn’t confusion. This wasn’t a misunderstanding. This was entitlement.
The expectation that someone can damage a space, cause hundreds of dollars in repairs or an entire day of labor, and then expect the owner to absorb that cost without question is not reasonable. It’s dismissive of time, effort, and ownership.
What’s even more telling is that I have had multiple members over the years proactively offer to fix damage themselves. People who say, “Hey, I put holes in the wall — do you want me to patch and paint it, or would you prefer to handle it and bill me?”
That is what accountability looks like.
I don’t care who does the repair — as long as it gets done properly. If you want to paint it yourself, great. If I find it damaged and I have to fix it, then yes, you are going to be charged.
That is the agreement.
Standards Are Not Optional If You Want a Premium Product
My space is clean. It’s corporate. It’s comfortable. It’s cozy. It’s well-maintained.
That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because standards are enforced consistently — even when it’s uncomfortable.
Charging for damage is not personal. It’s operational.
If I stop holding boundaries because someone is annoyed, experienced, or loud about it, I train behavior I cannot afford to maintain. And once owners start subsidizing other people’s disregard for shared spaces, the business quietly bleeds value.
Premium environments require discipline.
The Bottom Line
If you break things, expect to pay for them.
That is not harsh. That is not unfair. That is how responsible business ownership works.
Your past experiences do not override written agreements. Your frustration does not negate repair costs. And flexibility does not mean absence of accountability.
Standards protect value — for the owner, for current members, and for the next person who walks through the door expecting a clean, professional space.
And I will continue to enforce them.