Oh sorry bud! It's okay. It's okay. Hi, I'm Erica and this is
Deacon. Welcome to our DIY
sweet digs. Come on in. I pay $1200 a month for a
one bedroom studio in Dallas, Texas by White
Rock Lake. For the size of the space,
I think the rent is actually a pretty good deal
especially this close to the lake with
all of the hiking and biking trails. I share the space with my
65 pound Belgian Malinois named Deacon. So this is the bathroom. I knew that I wanted to keep
it very minimalist in here because it is a
small space. So the only thing that I really
focused on in terms of decoration here is the art, which I made all of the art
in here. I have the little sign that says,
"Wash your hands you filthy animal." "Get naked." And then of course the big
Prada sign. I didn't really like the sliding
shower door because I feel like it really
truncates the space. So I went ahead and put up a
curtain because having that very long shower curtain
I feel like really elongates it and makes the room feel
bigger. In my next apartment I
absolutely have to have a bathtub. I love taking baths. I didn't really think that
I would miss it that much however living my life without
a tub for the first time ever I'm now regretting all of
my life choices. One of the first things I did
when I moved in, is I got rid of all of the doors
on the closets. There's one, two, three here. And I knew that I wanted to have
easy access to all of my clothes so I went ahead and just took
them off before I even moved in and put up curtains instead. One thing that I changed pretty
quickly once I had moved in is cover up this barn door,
which was just this very boring grey color. I found someone who made
these really cool floral print wallpapers. Unfortunately it was a little
bit smaller than my barn door, so only half of the
door is covered. I just make sure that I don't
ever close it all the way and then no one has to know. This is the bedroom. The bedroom was a little
bit of a challenge because it's a ten foot by
ten foot room and I needed to fit all of
my books, my bed, and and my dog's crate in
this very small space. The first thing I did was I set
up the bookcases. We ran into some problems
in terms of anchoring it because there is no wall to
anchor the top two cases to. I actually had two of my friends
come over, one of who is an engineer and they helped
me anchor the bottom ones to the wall,
then the top ones to the bottom ones. The top of the top ones to
the ceiling of the room. And then of course to all of
the side walls as well. We knew that because there
wasn't enough room for me to have a ladder in there,
I would have to be able to climb the shelves themselves
to get to the books on the top. So it had to be structurally
sound enough that all 100 pounds of me could
move up and down it without putting my life in danger. It's funny. A lot of people would
say, "Why so many books?" This is really not that many
books. I have very clear and distinct
memories associated with a lot of these books. Like, Watership Down I read
in the car on the way to a motocross
competition. And like I remember where
we were like at state lines depending on what chapter
I was in, right? I remember what was playing
on the radio when I read certain pieces. And that was, you know,
almost two decades ago at this point. I really struggled with the bed
because I needed a way to fit both my dog's crate
and my bed in the same footprint with as much
storage attached to it as possible. I got an idea from Ikea hackers. There was a college dorm that
had used cowlicks underneath their lofted bed. And I thought, "Well what if I
used cowlicks on two of the sides, the side and
the back and then did a Mong also on
one side." Then I could put standard
bed slats across the top, put the crate underneath,
and then I can pull the crate out and access the
storage as well. And it turned out really well. Aside from the crate, the
most expensive thing that I've purchased for my
house is the bookshelves and then the
Mong and cowlicks that make the bed. I got pretty much everything
else second hand for this. I really wanted to make sure
that the structural integrity was there and that
they were new and that they all matched. Yeah, that one Ikea trip
really put me back. But it was okay, it was
worth it clearly. How did I meet Deacon? I actually had a deposit on
a German Shepard puppy from a kennel. And they said, "Hey, we have a
dog from a different litter, from a Belgian Shepard litter,
who we think would be a really good fit for you. But
would you like to come meet him?" And of course I left with
him after meeting him. I knew pretty much
immediately that he was the dog for me. So it was love at first sight,
if you will. This is the living room and this is the kitchen. So the kitchen and the living
room are just all one big room. Whenever I'm baking, I tend
to be watching TV at the same time. Usually it's a hockey game,
but sometimes I will put on The Great British
Baking Show and watch that while I'm
baking. And that's like a special
treat. So I found out I had celiac
disease my freshman year of college, so I learned
very quickly that if I wanted a good
tasting dessert I had to pretty much make
it myself. Which thankfully is not
really the case anymore, but that necessitated
getting a couple gluten free cookbooks. Specifically how to make
cupcakes because that is my vice. I found a wall hanging that
I really liked, but several hundred dollars. Definitely could not afford
that, so I went to Home Depot, got myself a
dowel rod, ordered a bunch of yarn
on Amazon, then I just sort of put it
together in a way that I thought looked good. And I think I did a pretty
good job. I actually found an art
installation that was being taken down on
Craig's List for $20, which was basically this
but quite a bit larger. And as you can see, I cut
off the sides and turned two of the sides
into those shelves. Both of my parents are
engineers, but my dad grew up on a
farm and as a kid he kind of raised me with
this idea that you try to do everything yourself. With YouTube as an additional,
helpful resource I found that in most ways,
I can figure out a way to construct something
on my own. The honeycomb shelves,
I actually made with my dad. They're one of my
favorite things in the apartment. So it's a fun little reminder of
a very entertaining weekend spent with
my father. The most sentimental item oh well that would be
Carlos. So my mother knits and
crochets and so when I moved, she said
she wanted to make me something. And I said, sort of jokingly, "Oh you
should make me like a succulent pillow." And the next time I came home
she had a cactus pillow made for me. She would do quite well on
Etsy, however she's too busy being a high
powered engineer. So I am an only child and
because of that I'm very close with both
of my parents. My mom actually sends me
cards at least once a month. The newest one goes on
the tray by my fruit bowl, but the rest of them get posted
on the hallway wall next to the mirror where I
put on my jewelry every morning. And then obviously my dad
has helped me with several of my projects around
the house. So having like very visible
forms of their affection for me present in my life
is pretty important, yeah. I definitely like to keep things
tidy. I'll let like a little but of mess
build during the day, like I might leave some dishes
in the sink or something. But every night before I
go to bed, pick up all of Deacon's toys, I make
him help me sometimes, so that when I wake up every
morning I have like this clean slate to start
my day. Part of what I love about
this apartment is the fact that my view is
very calming. And I can just sit there and
write for hours while looking at the
preserve. I have my bird feeder set
out there for that exact reason. I have all kinds of birds
that will come and eat. You get like this really
wonderful juxtaposition of like wildlife but then also
like creature comforts indoors. Which I really enjoy. Thanks for watching my
sweet digs. To watch more videos like
this, click here. To subscribe, click here. Say bye, Deacon. Bye.
