00:01Oh sorry bud, it's okay. It's okay. Hi, I'm Erica and this is Deacon. Welcome to our DIY Sweet Digs.
00:09Come on in. I pay $1,200 a month for a one-bedroom studio in Dallas, Texas by
00:16White Rock Lake. For the size of the space, I think the rent is actually a
00:21pretty good deal, especially this close to the lake with all of the hiking and
00:25biking trails. I share the space with my 65 pound Belgian Malinois named Deacon.
00:31So this is the bathroom. I knew that I wanted to keep it very minimalist in here
00:36because it is a small space, so the only thing that I really focused on in terms
00:39of decoration here is the art, which I made all the art in here. I have the
00:45little sign that says wash your hands you filthy animal. You get naked and then of
00:49course the big Prada sign. I didn't really like the sliding shower door because I
00:54feel like it really truncates the space. So I went ahead and put up a curtain
00:57because having that very long shower curtain, I feel like really elongates it
01:02and makes the room feel bigger. In my next apartment, I absolutely have to have a
01:05bathtub. I love taking baths. I didn't really think that I would miss it that
01:09much. However, living my life without a tub for the first time ever, I'm now
01:12regretting all of my life choices. One of the first things I did when I moved in
01:17is I got rid of all of the doors on the closets. There's one, two, three here, and I
01:22knew that I wanted to have easy access to all of my clothes, so I went ahead and
01:26just took them off before I even moved in and put up curtains instead. One thing
01:30that I changed pretty quickly once I had moved in is cover up this barn door, which
01:34was just this very boring gray color. I found someone who made these really cool
01:38floral print wallpapers. Unfortunately, it was a little bit smaller than my barn
01:42door, so only half of the door is covered. I just make sure that I don't ever close it
01:47all the way and then no one has to know. This is the bedroom. The bedroom was a
01:53little bit of a challenge because it's a 10 foot by 10 foot room and I needed to
01:57fit all of my books, my bed, and my dog's crate in this very small space. The first
02:02thing I did was I set up the bookcases. We ran into some problems in terms of
02:06anchoring it because there is no wall to anchor the top two cases to. I actually had
02:12two of my friends come over, one of who is an engineer, and they helped me anchor
02:17the bottom ones to the wall, then the top ones to the bottom ones, the top of the
02:22top ones to the ceiling of the room, and then of course to all of the sidewalls as
02:27well. We knew that because there wasn't enough room for me to have a ladder in
02:31there, I would have to be able to climb the shelves themselves to get to the
02:34books on the top, so it had to be structurally sound enough that all 100 pounds of
02:39me could move up and down it without putting my life in danger. It's funny, a
02:43lot of people would say, why so many books? This is really not that many books. I
02:47have very clear and distinct memories associated with a lot of these books,
02:52like Watership Down I read in the car on the way to a motocross competition, and
02:57like I remember where we were, like at state lines, depending on what chapter I was
03:03in, right? I remember what was playing on the radio when I read certain pieces, and
03:07that was, you know, almost two decades ago at this point. I really struggled with
03:11the bed because I needed a way to fit both my dog's crate and my bed in the
03:16same footprint with as much storage attached to it as possible. I got an
03:20idea from Ikea hackers, from there was a college dorm that had used Calix
03:25underneath their lofted bed, and I thought, well what if I used Calix on two of
03:30the sides, the side and the back, and then did a Malm also on one side, then I
03:35could put standard bed slats across the top, put the crate underneath, and then I
03:40can pull the crate out and access the storage as well. And it turned out really
03:44well. Aside from the crate, the most expensive thing that I've purchased for my
03:48house is the bookshelves and then the Malm and Calix that make the bed. I got
03:54pretty much everything else secondhand for this. I really wanted to make sure that the
03:58structural integrity was there and that they were new and that they all matched.
04:02Yeah, that one Ikea trip really put me back, but it was okay. It was worth it,
04:06clearly. How did I meet Deacon? I actually had a deposit on a German Shepherd puppy
04:11from a kennel, and they said, hey we have a dog from a different litter, from a
04:15Belgian Shepherd litter, who we think would be a really good fit for you, but would
04:19you like to come meet him? And of course I left with him after meeting him. I knew
04:24pretty much immediately that he was the dog for me, so it was
04:28just love at first sight, if you will. This is the living room, and this is the
04:32kitchen. So the kitchen and the living room are just all one big room. Whenever
04:37I'm baking, I tend to be watching TV at the same time. Usually it's a hockey game,
04:41but sometimes I will put on The Great British Bake Show and watch that while
04:45I'm baking, and that's like a special treat. So I found out I had celiac disease
04:49my freshman year of college, so I learned very quickly that if I wanted a good
04:54tasting dessert, I had to pretty much make it myself, which thankfully is not
04:57necessarily the case anymore. But that necessitated getting a couple gluten-free
05:01cookbooks, specifically how to make cupcakes, because that is my vice. I found a
05:07wall hanging that I really liked, but several hundred dollars definitely could
05:12not afford that. So I went to Home Depot, got myself a dowel rod, ordered a bunch of
05:17yarn on Amazon, and then I just sort of put it together in a way that I thought
05:21looked good. And I think I did a pretty good job. I actually found an art
05:25installation that was being taken down on Craigslist for $20, which was basically
05:30this, but quite a bit larger. And as you can see, I cut off the sides and turned two
05:35of the sides into those shelves. Both of my parents are engineers, but my dad grew up
05:40on a farm. And as a kid, he kind of raised me with this idea that you try to do
05:45everything yourself with YouTube as an additional helpful resource. I found that in
05:50most ways I can figure out a way to construct something on my own. The honeycomb
05:56shelves, I actually made with my dad. They're one of my favorite things in the
06:00apartment. So it's a fun little reminder of a very entertaining weekend spent with
06:04my father. The most sentimental item, oh, well that that would be Carlos. So my
06:10mother knits and crochets. And so when I moved, she said she wanted to make me
06:16something. And I said, sort of jokingly, oh, you should make me like a succulent
06:19pillow. And the next time I came home, she had a cactus pillow made for me. She
06:23would do quite well on Etsy. However, she's too busy being a high powered
06:27engineer. So I am an only child. And because of that, I'm very close with both of
06:32my parents. My mom actually sends me cards at least once a month. The newest one
06:37goes on the tray by my fruit bowl, but the rest of them get posted on the hallway wall
06:44next to the mirror where I put on my jewelry every morning. And then
06:47obviously my dad has helped me with several of my projects around the house.
06:51So having like very visible forms of their affection for me present in my life
06:57is pretty important. Yeah. I definitely like to keep things tidy. I'll let like a
07:03little bit of mess build during the day. Like I might leave some dishes in the sink
07:07or something. But every night before I go to bed, pick up all of Deacon's toys. I make
07:11him help me sometimes. So that when I wake up every morning, I have like this
07:15clean slate to start my day. Part of what I love about this apartment is the fact
07:21that my view is very calming. And I can just sit there and write for hours while
07:27looking at the preserve. I have my bird feeder set up there for that exact reason.
07:31I have all kinds of birds that will come and eat. You get like this really
07:35wonderful juxtaposition of like wildlife, but then also like creature comforts
07:41indoors, which I really enjoy.
07:43Thanks for watching my sweet digs. To watch more videos like this, click here.
07:47To subscribe, click here. Say bye, Deacon. Bye.
