00:01Hi, I'm Kai and welcome to my home. I live in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. I've lived
00:06here for about 10 years. We rent it for about $2,600 a month. This is one of the
00:12premier spaces that people move to this neighborhood for, the brownstones, so it
00:17is a really special space. My grandmother actually owns this building. It was the
00:21first building she bought. She came to this country back in the 80s from
00:25Grenada as a single mother of three and didn't have a lot of money but just
00:30saved some money from a job she was working at NYU. So she bought this
00:37building in Bed-Stuy and everyone thought she was crazy because back then it was
00:41still do-or-die Bed-Stuy and from that point on just continued to buy property
00:46in this neighborhood and actually became like a really huge influence in Bed-Stuy
00:51and helped a lot of young people of color do the same. So I just had a baby
00:57and life as a mother has been wonderful and life-altering of course. This is Che,
01:05Che Rainey. He's being a little cranky right now though. I think you're hungry,
01:11right Bobs? Yeah? My life has certainly changed drastically so I'm working from home a lot more.
01:23My business name is Sincerely Tommy. It's a lifestyle concept store. The front of the space
01:29is a cafe and the back of the store is primarily clothing but we also sell jewelry and accessories,
01:37lifestyle products. So I rely on technology a lot to run my business. Whenever I get like a new
01:44gadget it's such a blessing and using the HP Folio has been really great because I'm not only able
01:53to update my website and use social media which is a huge part of my business but we're also able
01:59to share calendars which comes in handy a great deal right now because my mind is scattered with the
02:05baby. Just being able to be here with him makes everything much easier. Everything I do now is with
02:17my child in mind. With that comes a lot of different changes and one of those changes was kind of
02:24making
02:24the entryway into the apartment his little nook. So we just kind of keep all of his things in here
02:30right now and it's just a nice little space that doesn't feel as though it's like ours. It's kind of
02:37his
02:38area. The rug is from Serbia and I just thought it was so cute because of the little goats on
02:43it.
02:44Yeah I really love it in here. I think it's really cute and cozy and I just enjoy it.
02:52So this is my living room. It's kind of a dual space in that the dining area is in here
02:59too. It's
03:00not a huge apartment so really tried to make the best use of this space. My space is a thousand
03:06square
03:06feet. I don't feel like it's enough space for my new growing family but we're making it work. A lot
03:12of
03:12the pieces that I have in here are things that I've collected from my traveling. I don't really
03:18believe in buying things to match. I like to have things that have some sentimental value so kind of
03:25everywhere I look reminds me of a different place that I've traveled to. So this chair I really love.
03:31The chair in the corner it's a really beautiful piece. It's called a Brazilian Rosewood Percival Lafer
03:38chair. It's a really long name but they're really hard to find. I've been trying to get it reupholstered.
03:44I actually got it in really good condition and then I decided to put it in my store for some
03:50reason.
03:50They range between about $1,500 to $3,000 depending on the condition that they're in. I bought two of
03:58them for my store and in the cafe area I just wanted people to have a place to sit and
04:05hang out and with
04:06that came a lot of wear and tear so it looks pretty worn out at this point. If anyone knows
04:12a good of
04:12reupholstered I would love to get this guy fixed. When it comes to furniture I think I get this philosophy
04:19from my mom who tends to be kind of a shopper like me. I believe in investment pieces so I'll
04:26spend
04:26money on something that I know I'll have for a really long time. This table is probably my biggest
04:31investment but it's also my favorite piece that I have right now. The dining table was $2,600. I felt
04:38like investing in a good table that I know I'd have for a really long time. It's a great place
04:43to just sit
04:44and feel inspired. It's probably my favorite place to work just because of the natural sunlight.
04:48It's a really cozy nook. I love having friends over and cooking and just entertaining. So that was
04:55like the first inspiration is just having kind of my naturally minimalist style with also being able
05:02to have people over and entertain and make it warm and homey. The fireplace is an original part of the
05:10building. People ask me often like who the people on the tiles are and I have no idea. They're kind
05:17of
05:17creepy but they're really beautiful too. I wanted to kind of show you these moldings on the entryway.
05:24They're really cool because obviously they're original to the building but there were layers of
05:30paint on it and we stripped it down and just these really cool details were underneath and they're just
05:36throughout the apartment. It's one of my favorite details of the space. So now I want to show you my
05:42kitchen. This apartment was actually two separate apartments and the wall to separate it was here.
05:49So when I moved in we knocked the wall down and made it kind of a bigger kitchen space. We
05:55did a few
05:55other updates like add these more industrial looking features because I just wanted to modernize it a
06:03little bit. I really do love cooking. It's one of my favorite pastimes. I feel like it's really therapeutic.
06:10I was raised vegan so I've actually never had meat in my life. My mom in college decided she was
06:17going
06:17to become vegan so she just raised me that way. I have West Indian roots so I love cooking West
06:23Indian
06:23food. It's like comfort food. Let's go in my bedroom. So my bedroom's my favorite room. One because the
06:31light is so great in there but also it's just so cozy. I think there's something really special about
06:36having a bedroom with like this natural light and then this wood and you know the original woodwork
06:43and everything just it makes it really cozy and I think that room in particular just is my sanctuary.
06:50When I wake up in the morning the natural light really energizes me and gets me started. It's really
06:55cool to just be able to put on some music and wake up with the sunlight coming in and it
07:01just it's a nice
07:02way to start the day. My sheets are probably my favorite thing. I love a good linen sheet. They're
07:09just so soft. The minimalist design in the room just definitely ties into the rest of the apartment
07:16and I try to utilize the corners in here to just be like another cozy space. Bed-Stuy means a
07:23lot to me.
07:24I always pictured myself raising my family and my child here because it is such a community oriented
07:31neighborhood. Just knowing all of the work that my grandmother put into this building and kind of
07:36how hard she worked over the years to be able to buy all of the properties that she has now
07:41is part of
07:43what motivates me a lot too to do what I'm doing. Thank you so much for coming to my home.
07:48I really enjoyed sharing it with you. Take care. Bye.
07:54Bye.
