00:01Oh sorry bud, it's okay. It's okay. Hi, I'm Erica and this is Deakin. Welcome to our DIY Sweet Digs.
00:09Come on in.
00:10I pay $1,200 a month for a one-bedroom studio in Dallas, Texas by White Rock Lake.
00:17For the size of the space, I think the rent is actually a pretty good deal,
00:21especially this close to the lake with all of the hiking and biking trails.
00:25I share the space with my 65-pound Belgian Malinois named Deakin.
00:31So this is the bathroom.
00:33I knew that I wanted to keep it very minimalist in here because it is a small space,
00:37so the only thing that I really focused on in terms of decoration here is the art,
00:42which I made all of the art in here.
00:44I have the little sign that says,
00:46Wash your hands, you filthy animal.
00:48The get naked, and then of course the big Prada sign.
00:51I didn't really like the sliding shower door because I feel like it really truncates the space,
00:55so I went ahead and put up a curtain because having that very long shower curtain,
01:00I feel like really elongates it and makes the room feel bigger.
01:03In my next apartment, I absolutely have to have a bathtub.
01:06I love taking baths. I didn't really think that I would miss it that much.
01:09However, living my life without a tub for the first time ever,
01:12I'm now regretting all of my life choices.
01:15One of the first things I did when I moved in is I got rid of all of the doors
01:18on the closets.
01:20There's one, two, three here, and I knew that I wanted to have easy access to all of my clothes,
01:25so I went ahead and just took them off before I even moved in and put up curtains instead.
01:29One thing that I changed pretty quickly once I had moved in is cover up this barn door,
01:34which was just a very boring gray color.
01:36I found someone who made these really cool floral print wallpapers.
01:40Unfortunately, it was a little bit smaller than my barn door, so only half of the door is covered.
01:45I just make sure that I don't ever close it all the way and then no one has to know.
01:50This is the bedroom.
01:52The bedroom was a little bit of a challenge because it's a 10 foot by 10 foot room
01:56and I needed to fit all of my books, my bed, and my dog's crate in this very small space.
02:02The first thing I did was I set up the bookcases.
02:04We ran into some problems in terms of anchoring it because there is no wall to anchor the top two
02:10cases to.
02:11I actually had two of my friends come over, one of who is an engineer,
02:15and they helped me anchor the bottom ones to the wall, then the top ones to the bottom ones,
02:21the top of the top ones to the ceiling of the room, and then of course to all of the
02:26sidewalls as well.
02:27We knew that because there wasn't enough room for me to have a ladder in there,
02:31I would have to be able to climb the shelves themselves to get to the books on the top,
02:36so it had to be structurally sound enough that all 100 pounds of me could move up and down it
02:41without putting my life in danger.
02:42It's funny, a lot of people would say, why so many books?
02:44There's just really not that many books.
02:46I have 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,
02:57and I remember where we were at state lines depending on what chapter I was in, right?
03:03I remember what was playing on the radio when I read certain pieces,
03:07and that was almost two decades ago at this point.
03:10I really struggled with the bed because I needed a way to fit both my dog's crate and my bed
03:15in the same footprint
03:17with as much storage attached to it as possible.
03:20I got an idea from Ikea Hackers.
03:23There was a college dorm that had used Kallix underneath their lofted bed,
03:27and I thought, well, what if I used Kallix on two of the sides, the side and the back,
03:32and then did a Malm also on one side?
03:35Then I could put standard bed slats across the top, put the crate underneath,
03:40and then I can pull the crate out and access the storage as well.
03:42And it turned out really well.
03:45Aside from the crate, the most expensive thing that I have purchased for my house
03:49is the bookshelves and then the Malm and Kallix that make the bed.
03:53I got pretty much everything else secondhand for this.
03:57I really wanted to make sure that the structural integrity was there and that they were new
04:00and that they all matched.
04:02Yeah, that one Ikea trim really put me back, but it was okay.
04:05It was worth it, clearly.
04:07How did I meet Deacon?
04:08I actually had a deposit on a German Shepherd puppy from a kennel,
04:12and they said, hey, we have a dog from a different litter, from a Belgian Shepherd litter,
04:16who we think would be a really good fit for you, but would you like to come meet him?
04:20And, of course, I left with him after meeting him.
04:24I knew pretty much immediately that he was the dog for me,
04:27so it was love at first sight, if you will.
04:30This is the living room, and this is the kitchen.
04:33So the kitchen and the living room are just all one big room.
04:36Whenever I'm baking, I tend to be watching TV at the same time.
04:40Usually it's a hockey game, but sometimes I will put on the Great British Bake Show
04:44and watch that while I'm baking, and that's like a special treat.
04:47So I found out I had celiac disease my freshman year of college,
04:50so I learned very quickly that if I wanted a good tasting dessert,
04:55I had to pretty much make it myself, which thankfully is not necessarily the case anymore,
04:59but that necessitated getting a couple gluten-free cookbooks,
05:03specifically how to make cupcakes, because that is my vice.
05:07I found a wall hanging that I really liked,
05:09but several hundred dollars definitely could not afford that,
05:13so I went to Home Depot, got myself a dowel rod,
05:16ordered a bunch of yarn on Amazon,
05:18and then I just sort of put it together in a way that I thought looked good,
05:21and I think I did a pretty good job.
05:24I actually found an art installation that was being taken down on Craigslist
05:28for $20, which was basically this but quite a bit larger,
05:32and as you can see I cut off the sides and turned two of the sides into those shelves.
05:37Both of my parents are engineers, but my dad grew up on a farm,
05:41and as a kid he kind of raised me with this idea that you try to do everything yourself
05:46with YouTube as an additional helpful resource.
05:48I found that in most ways I can figure out a way to construct something on my own.
05:55The honeycomb shelves I actually made with my dad.
05:58They're one of my favorite things in the apartment,
06:00so it's a fun little reminder of a very entertaining weekend spent with my father.
06:05The most sentimental item, oh, well that would be Carlos.
06:09So my mother knits and crochets, and so when I moved,
06:15she said she wanted to make me something, and I said sort of jokingly,
06:18oh you should make me like a succulent pillow,
06:20and the next time I came home she had a cactus pillow made for me.
06:23She would do quite well on Etsy, however she's too busy being a high-powered engineer.
06:28So I am an only child, and because of that I'm very close with both of my parents.
06:33My mom actually sends me cards at least once a month.
06:37The newest one goes on the tray by my fruit bowl,
06:40but the rest of them get posted on the hallway wall next to the mirror
06:45where I put on my jewelry every morning.
06:47And then obviously 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 is pretty important, yeah.
06:59I definitely like to keep things tidy.
07:02I'll let like a little bit of mess build during the day,
07:06like I might leave some dishes in the sink or something.
07:08But every night before I go to bed, pick up all of Deacon's toys,
07:11I make him help me sometimes, so that when I wake up every morning
07:15I have like this clean slate to start my day.
07:18Part of what I love about this apartment is the fact that my view is very calming.
07:24And I can just sit there and write for hours while looking at the preserve.
07:29I have my bird feeder set up there for that exact reason.
07:32I have all kinds of birds that will come and eat.
07:34You get like this really wonderful juxtaposition of like wildlife,
07:38but then also like creature comforts indoors, which I really enjoy.
