Wow, thats some crazy stuff, I cant imagine waking to a rat. I once did with a centipede and I still remember it :S
I think mental health and peace is more important than space. Your brain needs a lot of energy to be creative. Doing repetitive, manual work is easier when tired.
Also personally I need silence or relative silence for best concentration, otherwise I need music.
I'm sorry you went through that, I'm glad to hear you finally found a place ^^ Best of luck with it and for your future creative work there :D
thanks @kristyglas, you bring up an important element - sound or lack of it! Very important! For creative work I need quiet too, or ambient sound can be fine but relative quiet is best and not to be disturbed. Mental health, peace - yes yes yes, well said.
Thanks for your contribution to the conversation!!
And bugs, rodents....not fun to wake up to!! I actually woke up screaming with bad dreams of rodents on me for several nights after the real thing LOL!!