- 5 years ago
On this episode of Sweet Digs, we check out Alexis' luxury Brooklyn apartment. She has customized her minimal space, making use of every corner. Watch this week's Sweet Digs to see how she lives.
Watch more Sweet Digs here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJEQBmLpTgd_OriL0srVHWGDzfqGIdGyh
ABOUT SERIES
High rent, small spaces, nosy neighbors — we put up with A LOT of things to live where we love. In Sweet Digs, Refinery29 gets a peek inside the homes of the coolest people we know, from tiny studios to sprawling houses, and ask the real questions like, "Wait, how much is your rent?"
ABOUT REFINERY29
Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/
RELATED CONTENT
What $1,200 Will Get You In Texas
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JG5M0rZB6XE
What $710 Will Get You In Missouri
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5FwsZ-dgecc
What $2,000 Will Get You In Texas
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U5aQYZfW8Ro
SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29
Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29
Follow Alexis on Instagram: https://instagram.com/alexisbarber/
Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/
Follow Somos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29somos/
Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/
Watch more Sweet Digs here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJEQBmLpTgd_OriL0srVHWGDzfqGIdGyh
ABOUT SERIES
High rent, small spaces, nosy neighbors — we put up with A LOT of things to live where we love. In Sweet Digs, Refinery29 gets a peek inside the homes of the coolest people we know, from tiny studios to sprawling houses, and ask the real questions like, "Wait, how much is your rent?"
ABOUT REFINERY29
Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/
RELATED CONTENT
What $1,200 Will Get You In Texas
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JG5M0rZB6XE
What $710 Will Get You In Missouri
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5FwsZ-dgecc
What $2,000 Will Get You In Texas
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U5aQYZfW8Ro
SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29
Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29
Follow Alexis on Instagram: https://instagram.com/alexisbarber/
Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/
Follow Somos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29somos/
Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Pro tip if you get takeout like McDonald's or something put it in the
00:03air fryer for like two minutes and it'll taste exactly like you just got it off
00:06the stove. Huge fan! Hi everyone I'm Alexis and welcome to my Sweet Digs. I live in a
00:14luxury downtown Brooklyn apartment where I pay $2,050 a month but the last few
00:20months of my lease are free so it comes out to be $1,760. I think it is an
00:26incredible deal for where I live. I'm not only super close to things like Target
00:30and Trader Joe's which are just around the corner as well as Fort Greene Park
00:34and Brooklyn Bridge Park. I'm also in a really really nice building and then as
00:38a doorman a gym amenities and it's really all that I could ever need in this
00:43apartment. I love this entryway this is something that was very Pinterest
00:50inspired that I'm very happy I found pretty much on a budget. I come from a
00:55super low-income background I grew up between a trailer park and the projects
01:00and the north side of St. Louis. I had no financial support and I haven't had any
01:04financial support from my family since I was 17 so I furnished this all myself
01:09and I'm very very proud of myself for being able to do that. This is a gorgeous
01:13little curved mirror and I always stand here and check my outfit before I leave
01:17then I also have a little plant. To be honest I'm not a plant girl I don't love
01:23when people just like put a bunch of plants in their apartment and then call
01:26it decor it kind of bothers me but I do think having a little bit of green it
01:30definitely opens up the space and makes it feel a little bit more homey and this
01:34cute little bust that I think is adorable and reminds you just embrace your body
01:38ladies. I work full-time at a big tech company doing marketing I got started in
01:46that because I was in a program in college called Management Leadership for
01:49Tomorrow which really helps connect black and brown youth who are interested in
01:53business to large companies learn about the world of business which I had
01:57previously had no clue existed especially in tech I had no idea there was
02:02business opportunity for someone like me who did not learn their multiplication
02:05tables and I'm also a content creator. This is my pride and joy which is the
02:11washer dryer in unit I am obsessed I'm so happy I have one I've never had this
02:16before and I'm so lucky that I was able to get it in this apartment I do
02:20laundry all the time now so that's the entryway let's go see the rest of the
02:24apartment this is my living space I would describe my home style as minimal chic I
02:35was really thinking about functionality and then just wanting to have a
02:38separate space for everything staying minimal staying neutral I think is super
02:42important in a small space and I loved doing that and then adding up a pop of
02:47personality and other ways throughout the space pink is clearly my accent color in
02:51this space so of course we have the Rihanna book I always get fresh flowers
02:56every week from Trader Joe's I think this space just calms me down I feel really
03:01good I sit here and I journal every single morning then over here is my couch I
03:08invested in this one from world market I love it it's so comfortable and it's
03:13beautiful like it's never gonna go out of style I started off super low budget
03:17because I just was moving sort of out of the blue so when I first moved here I
03:23rushed and I bought cheap furniture that I didn't love as I started to make a
03:28little bit more money from content creation and that sort of becoming a big
03:32part of my life I decided to switch out the space that I could be exactly what I
03:36wanted so I invested in a nicer couch and a nicer rug and in some more decor
03:41pieces so that I could feel like it really represented who I was it's so
03:45worth it to have a place where you can feel comfortable because at the end of
03:49the day you're gonna spend a lot of time on the couch you're gonna spend a lot of
03:52time entertaining friends here this is where I eat all of my meals I will say
03:56that I have a basket of blankets over here because I spill a lot despite someone
04:00who loves white everywhere I spill every single meal that I've ever eaten and so
04:07I always sit on like three blankets before I sit down and eat on my couch my
04:13least favorite part of the apartment is the view which is like a very small thing
04:16to complain about but it looks directly into the next building over so like I
04:22often think that my neighbors are watching me even though they definitely
04:26probably aren't at least I hope coming over here we have my bookshelf which
04:32is also a dupe of a super expensive one that I found at Home Depot I love them
04:37for home stuff there's no need to like waste a ton of money on things when you
04:42can find an equally attractive piece of furniture for a lower price I have a lot
04:48of stuff that's really sentimental to me on here my picture of my seven little
04:52siblings I just like having this picture of them here to remind me what I'm here
04:56to do which is create a better world for them I grew up in an extremely chaotic
05:00environment and the oldest of eight kids and I also went to boarding school for
05:06six years and had roommates and then lived in the dorms and then sorority house in
05:11college I have never been able to have complete control over my space until now
05:16the reason I like to keep it very minimal very white very clean is because it's
05:21all mine and it's chill and it's a reflection of how I want to feel when I'm at
05:25home in my space which is calm I have this little box that I got from my very
05:30first trip to New York when I was like 16 years old obviously had probably like
05:34$30 in my bank account and I bought this little ornament for my mom for Christmas
05:40and it came in this tiny little black box and I've kept that with me I have kept
05:46every note my boyfriend's ever given me all of my like tickets from really cool
05:50stuff I went to in college some sentimental items from my great-grandparents but it
05:55is something that holds all of my cute little sentimental items and it's a cute
06:00little piece of decor because Barneys no longer exists anymore so I guess it's
06:03vintage I got this little bistro table mainly so that my boyfriend would have a
06:09place to sit while I work if he ever wants to but the chairs have actually
06:13turned out to be super functional if I have someone over I can have extra space
06:19this is my bedroom slash office area I'm very happy I was able to fit a queen
06:25size bed in this apartment because of course in studios sometimes you have to
06:29sacrifice on that but I'm so happy that I have a big girl bed this tiger print
06:33from CB2 I think adds a lot of personality which I love two nightstands so this one is
06:39for my boyfriend who you can see pictured there we have a really great system where
06:44he pretty much comes over every other day we spend the weekends together and when
06:49we are together it's very intentional so there's no laptops there's no phones out
06:53well we are probably watching tiktoks together but we're not working so that
06:59when we are together it is for us and so I think that time is way more valuable
07:02this is my cute little okay sign I love it because it holds my rings at night
07:09but it also just reminds me that everything will be fine transitioning
07:13over to my office area I over here have a pretty basic setup I don't really like
07:20a lot of clutter when I'm working and throughout the day this gets pretty
07:23covered up with like my salad bowl my water my coffee all that stuff so I like
07:28to have it pretty sleek I do spend close to 16 hours sitting at this desk every
07:33single day working on whether it's my own projects or my projects for my job just
07:38you know getting everything done which is nice because I don't know if I'd be
07:42able to do it all if I was not working from home it is a little weird though to
07:46have it all be in one space so I do try not to work from bed but sometimes it's
07:51just so comfortable you can't really resist my favorite part about this
07:54apartment is the amount of storage space I got I love this closet it is huge and
08:01holds all of my clothes it also is where my actual pillows reside the silk
08:06pillowcases which are necessary every single night you've got to sleep on these
08:10especially if you have curly hair all right so let me show you my kitchen I
08:15have a closed kitchen away from everything else in my apartment because I
08:19really hate the smell of food and I was really looking for a closed kitchen
08:23because most studios have like a kitchen on the side of the wall and that is
08:27just not my bad I used to be a huge fan of cooking before the pandemic like I had a
08:31whole Instagram dedicated to it but because I've had to cook for myself for the last year I think I'm
08:35kind of over it
08:36so I got these caraway home pans to hopefully make me feel more into
08:41cooking and they worked because they are gorgeous and I'm a huge fan however I
08:46pretty much cook exclusively in the airfryer I use it for lunch for dinner
08:51every day pretty much I make airfryer salmon the backsplash that came in this
08:56kitchen was green I got these little like $45 subway tile white backsplash that you
09:04just put on its contact paper it really helps open up the space make it a lot
09:08brighter do not look too closely at it because it doesn't really all match up
09:14perfectly
09:19this is my bathroom I love my bathroom I think it's very white and bright and
09:24airy it's sort of like a haven for me I really needed to make efficient storage in
09:29this bathroom so luckily it did come with some pretty good bones so I have these
09:34little medicine cabinets here that are built into the wall that I can put a
09:37bunch of stuff in but I also went ahead and added these acrylic shelves I tipped
09:43these up to the wall these have everything that I use on a daily basis the
09:48most important thing in my skincare routine is sunscreen if you are not
09:51wearing sunscreen I'm so sorry but you're gonna like age a lot faster and your
09:56acne second clear up but just make sure you're wearing sunscreen over here is my
10:00sink I love a clutter free countertop it is beautiful it's so helpful this is my
10:07bathtub and shower so when I was looking for an apartment having a bathtub was
10:11really important to me because a good bath and a good shower will cure anything in
10:15my opinion so I love coming in here at the end of the day and just you know
10:19turning on the water turning on a good podcast and relaxing I love the marble I feel
10:24like that just makes it feel very luxurious and then I obviously have a big
10:29head of hair so I have a ton of curly hair products content means tons of
10:33products having hair means tons of products being a woman tons of products
10:38I love having a studio I really enjoy how I've laid it out I feel really
10:42comfortable here and I really like that it just fits all of my needs perfectly my
10:47next dream home I would want like a two-bedroom apartment in New York but I'm
10:52in no rush to get to that place but I do one day hope to have a beautiful little
10:56two-bedroom that I can live in all by myself and decorate exactly how I want
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