00:00Hi, my name is Michael. Welcome to my sweet digs. And before you come in, feel
00:04free to leave that jacket on because the heating is not on unless you're going
00:08to contribute to this electric bill. Come on in. I live in East Harlem, very close
00:12to Spanish Harlem, and I pay $18.95 in rent. But I do know that I could be living
00:16in Ohio for a third of the price, for triple the space, but I would also be in
00:21Ohio. This apartment is about 500-ish square feet, so just enough space for one
00:28person. My name is spelled M-Y-C-H-E-L. So growing up, I had kind of a complex
00:33about
00:33never being able to find my name spelled anywhere. So now as an adult, naturally, I
00:38get everything monogrammed. Keep an eye out for all the M's throughout my
00:41apartment, like this one.
00:47Over here, my bathroom, which is pretty great size for New York. I was really
00:53excited about having my own apartment, having my own space. I really want to do
00:56like something cute in the bathroom. One thing I love in my apartment is this
01:00Mean Girls print. It has my favorite quote. You're like, really pretty. I thought it
01:04would just be something fun to have in the bathroom. I'm about a year and nine
01:08months into my natural hair journey. I've been in a trial and error phase of
01:12trying to find hair products. I have everything under the sun, kinky curly, curly
01:18pudding, hydration, elation, whoa! Oh, that was a good catch. I am a product junkie, but I'm still in the
01:25process of finding like my exact routine, hence the braids. So one of the worst
01:29things about this apartment is that I don't have any closet. I do, however, have
01:33this beautiful water heater closet that fits absolutely nothing else except for
01:37this water heater. And then this is my bedroom area. Because this apartment
01:42didn't have any closets, I had to make one. I decided just to get a $25 shelf from
01:46Amazon. It's a little bit high for my height, but it works because I can keep
01:51hoodies and towels and things below underneath. Unfortunately, what usually
01:55happens is all the clothes I've worn throughout the week end up on the floor.
01:58And then I have a vicious cycle of picking it up, putting it on the bed. And then when
02:02I come home to get in the bed, the clothes are still there. So then I just move them
02:06back to the floor. One day I'll get it together. And this is my like living area. It has my
02:10favorite picture of my grandmother, which is the self-portrait. She made it in the 80s
02:14after she retired and was taking art classes. It's my favorite thing in my entire
02:18apartment and something I'll always put up wherever I live. My decorating style
02:22mostly comes from using a lot of color with these pillows or the couch. I got it at World Market
02:28when I lived in LA for around $600 and it was on sale. So I lived in LA for almost
02:34a year. Moving
02:35back to New York for me just was the best thing for me. I have close friends here that I've
02:40had for
02:40a long time. I love the pace of the city. It's something that I've gotten really used to,
02:45and New York really feels like home. I'm originally from Dayton, Ohio, and it's a really great place to
02:50grow up. It's very normal. Everyone's really nice and really Midwestern. And how it compares to New
02:57York, it doesn't really. This is my kitchen area. One thing that I always have in my fridge are like
03:04half drunk drink, drinking, half empty bottles of seltzer. I actually tried to wean myself off of
03:11regular pop. I found this clock actually at like a dollar store in Ohio when I was on my way
03:15to visit
03:16a friend. It ticks very loudly so I actually don't use it for its timekeeping function. It's purely
03:22decorative because it's so cute. This is my dining area. I got this table at a thrift store in Los
03:28Angeles and the cool thing about it is actually originally from West Elm. I got it for $45 and I
03:34think it retails for like $350 or something like that. So something else like I got a really good deal
03:39on. I eat here. I work from here. It's just a really good spot especially right by the windows
03:44that have the trees going by and when it's nice like today it's a great spot to stay and work.
03:50One thing about this apartment is that it is literally across the street from the metro north
03:54but for me it just is white noise. I found this apartment on Craigslist. I decided to come check
04:01it out and within five minutes I walked in and it was a bright sunny day. There's lots of light
04:05in this
04:06apartment. I wanted it right away. Before I moved to LA I lived in Chelsea for three years so I
04:11lived a little
04:11more downtown. It's definitely a different vibe than living uptown. My downtown friends still like
04:16to go out a lot and drink and have fun and be out late. Uptown it's more about having like
04:20a nice
04:21dinner or going out to a lounge. If my apartment was a pop culture character it would probably be
04:29Isa from Insecure but next season when she's maybe got it together a little more. I think I can relate
04:35to being a bit transitional but I'm finally a little more stable in my life and in this apartment and
04:42it
04:42feels good. I feel really lucky to have found the place that I really like and don't plan on moving
04:47until maybe I get married and even then he better be really cute because I do not want to go
04:52through
04:53this New York apartment search ever again.
