Hey guys and welcome to my new apartment!
Right now we're standing in my bedroom, as you may not be able to tell, because there's literally no furniture in here whatsoever.
Really there's not a lot going on, but that's kind of good for me because it's setting the bar low, so
Even if I do a crappy job taking over this place it's gonna look better than it does right now
I have four wonderful blank white walls. I have this pretty decent sized window.
I have a little closet in one corner; This wall, which is just completely blank. So that's super exciting.
And then this wall which has the door, which is also super exciting.
The only furniture that I have right now is this sad little foam mat that's on the floor with my bedding.
Pretty much the only thing that I hate about this place is the carpet. I know I sound dramatic, but it's absolutely fucking disgusting...
It's just like so many colors, like, pick a color to be.
Probably the real reason I hate it is just because it's giving me PTSD to my high school, in which all the rooms were covered with this carpet.
So there are a lot of awkward memories attached to that,
A lot of unrequited crushes,
A lot of acne in unfortunate places on my face.
First step, is going to be going to Home Depot
[And I said it]
Not even on the 405 yet, why is there traffic? It's 1 pm on a Thursday???
Oh, I love LA.
[it's not about personality matrixels and charts. It's all about the b-bumps in your heart]
Alright guys, I just got back from the Home Depot
My makeup and my dignity are nowhere to be found.
My bank account is not happy with me because it turns out that power tools and carpet kind of add up.
I will say though the men at Home Depot are amongst the nicest people with a y-chromosome I've ever met in LA.
Two Scandinavian guys who were parked next to me helped me boot these giant ass carpets into my car.
I also saw this guy who looked like he was straight out of an Abercrombie catalog returning a single plank of wood.
So I'm gonna take a shower now.
I'm gonna eat some cereal, because that is the only food that I own currently, and then I'll catch up with you guys,
and we'll start putting together this room.
Hey guys, so I'm a back from the shower and I'm wearing this exciting, new, other white t-shirt.
I apologize that my outfit are not gonna be cute in this video. You either get home improvement Ashley or fashion Ashley
There's no intersection of the two.
First thing we're gonna do is move out my pseudo bed...
Depressing ass situation. We're gonna move that out of the room. We're gonna bring in the rug.
Feels mildly sexual and I don't know why...
Just kidding, this never happens to me.
There he is.
But not bad
So to explain what's going on here basically my room is the most inconvenient set of dimensions possible
It's thirteen point seven five feet by eleven point two five point. I honestly don't know who the fuck designed this
So in order to cover this entire ugly-ass carpet, I bought two eight foot by 10 foot rubs
Now the problem here is that no matter how you configure these two routes. They will not cover the entire room
however
there is enough total square footage between the two carpets so my plan is I'm gonna unfurl one of the rows and I'm just
gonna leave it as is and then the other rug is going to be my
Torture victim and unfortunately, I'm going to cut it apart with a box cutter.
I am so sorry for this rug and its family members
Because you're about to watch a murder on the screen.
I feel like Gustavo on Breaking Bad
[Gustavo: you do this,
All you have left is an eight million dollar hole in the ground]
This is going to be so painful, this feels so wrong
After I cut the carpet to size and put it in place
I just kind of juzzed the edges where the two carpets met a little bit to make that seem less noticeable
And then I just repeated that process for the remaining pieces of the carpet. Nothing too complicated
One thing I did pay special attention to though was that the knots on this carpet are going in a certain direction
You can see it if you flip the carpet over and there are these ridges
So I made sure that those rows went the same direction lengthwise across my entire room
So next up we're just gonna start bringing in some furniture.
I've bought me some furniture from some really random ass places so far
I have this big ass mirror that I got off of Craigslist
I also have this desk from Ikea it was only three dollars, which is super freakin affordable
And then I also have some shelves that are in the same style that I'm gonna build
So an unseen disadvantage of this carpet is I think I dropped a screw somewhere and
It's literally impossible to find this bitch because she is so thick.
When it will inevitably stab into my foot, I guess I'll find it then
I have a bunch of mirrors and plants that are actually from Damon from the Travel Channel Damon Joe
I don't know if you guys know them
They're like the best fuckin travel youtubers but they're actually moving out of LA
So they left me some plants to take care of and also some really lovely decor. So thank you so much Damon for that
You guys today is
What fucking day is it? you officially know that it's summer when you can't remember what day of the week it is
It's Tuesday. It's about four days since I've moved -wait- Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Apparently I can't do math either so good thing. I'm a film major
It is six days after I moved in I have been sleeping on the floor like a fucking badger
I had a guy over and I had to explain that there was literally no furniture is my room
But we may do that is too much information. Anyway, as you can see my bed has just arrived today initially
I was really set on building one myself and I spent like six hours of watching YouTube tutorials I online but the problem with living
Alone and being weak is that I would have to take the entire bed once I built it outside into the back of my apartment
in order to do with the furnish and then I have to bring the assembled bed all the way back up the stairs and into
This apartment which given the fact that I haven't exercised in about four years is damn near impossible anyways
Because I did want to save fifty dollars and not have to pay the delivery man to us and will this for me?
I'm assembling it myself and turns out that unlike IKEA furniture. It doesn't fucking come with a manual
So I'm just gonna wing it as I go along
So today is Thursday
Officially a week since I moved in another day another who plain white shirt and shorts because my outfits are popping in this video
honestly
the room looks are really good from this angle but um
There's actually just like a pile of random crap on the floor
Because I've been that awkward in-between stage where I'm still trying to organize all of my stuff
Anyway, so today we are tackling this wall behind me. I decided I'm gonna try to install a faux brick wall
This faux brick wall idea by the way is almost completely ripped off TheSorryGirls
Hi Kelsey and Becky. If you're watching this. Kelsey and Becky are actually lowkey my bosses because I take two years for them as well
I'll link the original video below. It's gonna be way more professional than whatever the fuck I end up doing here
But basically what we're doing is burning a brick pattern into some Styrofoam sheets
So I have my measurements of my wall written out on this sheet of paper
And I'm gonna try my best to kind of Tetris these pieces into the shape of the wall that I need
So I started out this project by cutting my styrofoam to size
And yes
I am using a sewing tape measure and a small ruler to do this because I didn't want to pay like an extra
$20 for proper measuring tools hardware stores, usually carry eight foot long sheets of styrofoam insulation, which would make this process so much easier
But I had to buy smaller ones so they would actually fit in the trunk of my car
The one upside is that these pre-cut pieces are a lot cheaper
This is 3/4 inch thick styrofoam and it only cost me around $30 for enough to cover my entire wall
Once I had a panel cut to size. I started tracing out the brick pattern
I first traced out rows that were four inches apart then cut a brick template out of cardboard
Any random cardboard box you have lying around from your excessive online shopping will work for this
I just cut out a template that was four inches tall by eight inches wide and I added a line down the middle which will
Help us later when we're laying down that alternating brick pattern
Sorry for the hideous lighting, by the way, it's like nighttime now because tracing that out of me way longer than I expected
I am probably going to be up to like 2:00 a.m. Tonight, but now it is time to use this thingy
This is a plastic welding tool that I got of Amazon for like $25
Which was definitely way too much to spend on a tool that I'll literally never use again
But it basically just like heats up and then this triangle will hopefully melt my styrofoam for me
I would highly recommend going outside if you can but first of all
I didn't want to get caught filming outside by my attractive neighbours and second of all
I live on the second floor and I don't have an extension cord large enough to go down the entire staircase
So we're gonna make do by just opening the windows and blowing event fans
I'm not gonna get cancer lose a good like two years off my life span by doing this but I'm gonna have a really good
Fabric wall for about twelve months while i live here so.
After about an hour of burning styrofoam and and a good 200 dead brain cells later
I genuinely
Felt like I wanted to throw up so I took a break for the night and woke up fresh and ready in the morning to
Do exactly the same thing all over again as I was melting the design
I made sure to line up adjacent pieces of styrofoam and melt right over the edge of the two pieces
So the design would match up exactly and help minimize the appearance of the scene
Next it was time to add some brick texture you can get pretty creative with this
You can go all Jackson Pollock on it if you want
But my main techniques were tapping the styrofoam light week to create at least tiny little dents and then dragging the tool quickly across the surface
To get rid of that bubbly looking styrofoam texture lastly
I went in with a coat of white semi-gloss latex paint as I was painting
I purposefully let some of that black sharpie show through in some spots because I felt like it helped create an illusion of a
Three-dimensional kind of worn in slightly dirty looking brick wall. I
I am about halfway through painting and I realized like an idiot
I didn't buy enough paint, what I didn't count for is that styrofoam was a thirsty ass bitch and she absorbs a lot of paint
I put like a thick coat on I like yeah, it's white, but it's still to me looks very
Clearly styrofoam me. It doesn't really have like that painted texture that I really want to get
So that means that I'm gonna go to Home Depot for the third time in a single week
And now a brief intermission for the least informative clothing rack tutorial of all time
So I just finished the second coat of paint and I've changed into something cuter because I realize that my outfits are getting a little
Depressing in this video. I still have paint on my knees though. So that's couture
So the first step is gonna be to measure out these things, these are rods. It's what they're called. Okay. Oh, I should probably have a sharpie
I don't wanna get up though uh
I just
So apparently if you don't have a Sharpie
You can just use some scissors to to Nick it and then you won't have to get up because you're a lazy piece of shit
The fucking worst type of packaging by the way, okay
So from what I hear, from what the kids on the street are saying is that you just unscrew this thingy
to fit your pipe and then you just
Give a little that action. It's like a little pizza cutter but for pipes. Oh we have breakage this seems kinda short
For a clothing rack, but we're gonna go for it since I've cut this piece now
I'm gonna pull you guys in for a nice shot on my crotch here so you can see what I'm doing
Oh god, that's very crotchal. Oh
One blister later we have all of the pieces cut
so now all we really have to do is assemble it using these little
Connect nub-aroos I did a super bad job of explaining this next part on camera
But basically I just use an epoxy glue to secure all of the pipe nubbins to the connecting nub-aroos
The official terms and then after drying overnight, this is what I looked like
All right now back to that brick wall
Because I wasn't trying to blow like $50 on command strips
I ended up using this blue putty it's what I used to use as a kid all the time back in my day
Before your kids came in and give command strips and betweens and socialism for extra security
I did use a couple command strips just at key locations
Like where two pieces of styrofoam overlapped before I laid in the last pieces of faux brick
I installed curtain rod holders on either side of the window and then cut a small slit in the styrofoam
So it would fit over nicely
Lastly I went back in again with some paint laying a pretty generous amount over the lines were two pieces of styrofoam net to minimize
The appearance of those seams and make it look hopefully more like one big brick wall and out some random-ass pieces of styrofoam stuck together
I
Spent the next few weeks
Procrastinating editing this video and I mean putting up some finishing touches on the room which in all seriousness
Was quite a task when you're as cripplingly indecisive as I am
I also went hunting for some furniture and my local thrift stores added a frankly excessive number of plants
Finally moved all my crap off the ground and onto the shelves and of course hid all the random shit that I still didn't want
You guys to see in this video under my bed. It's about three weeks later
And I finally finally have the room exactly the way I like it. So why don't you follow me and I'll show you around
Just gonna move the camera cuz I don't have a camera man
So let's start on this side of the room which might be familiar to some of you guys from my videos
This is my little like filming
modeling corner
I wanted something with a relatively plain background so I could film all of my outfit videos and shoot clothing for my website
But I didn't want it to like scream to visitors that I spend all day taking videos of myself
So this is a compromise that we've reached on this side. We have this freaking gorgeous mirror that I got from Damon
I was thinking about trying to hang it up on the wall, but it's so heavy
I was honestly really scared it would tear out my dry wall
So for now
She's just staying on the floor just in case you want to
Look at yourself while you're laying on the carpet as one does over here
We have our lovely clothing rack which has managed to not fall apart on me yet. So that's great
I just hung up some of my favorite and most worn clothing pieces
And also whatever made like an aesthetically pleasing color palette now a little farther over
I just wanted to show you guys this piece of artwork you guys might remember this from my last apartment
I took a lot of art classes as a kid everything else I've ever drawn or painted has just ended up in a pile under
My childhood bed never to be seen by the light again except for this piece over here
we have my little closet corner in the room as you guys saw before I have this big-ass mirror for Ikea this handsome little
Planty boy from Damon. I actually tied a little ribbon around his pod it helped tie in but don't
The plant with the rest of the room. Okay over here. I have the shelf from Ikea that's kind of like an accessories wall
random crap shelf
I have some bags some shoes some plants, obviously
And a little shelf for my makeup because I didn't have room for a vanity or anything like that
So in order to get ready every morning
I just pop this ball on this carpet and then as a final touch for this side of the room because I felt like it
Looked a little bit plain
I bought some extra curtains from Ikea and I just pinned them up at the top of the roll using a thumbtacks
It's a plain white but it still has some texture adds a little bit of dimension without being too overwhelming this
Is where the magic happens and by magic, I mean hours and hours of editing and also sex
Um, this chair is a new little addition to my room
I knew I was on the lookout for a big comfy chair because this space just felt a little bit empty and also it's right
Next to my closet and I don't know about you guys
but every single time I try to put an outfit together I end up with a mountain of clothes and that mountain had either been
Ending up on my floor or on my bed, and then I have to clean it all up before I could go to sleep
So like the master
procrastinator that I am I figured if I have this chair I can put all of my clothes on the chair then just go to
Sleep, you know deal with cleaning out my shit a lot later
I would also say this is a nice little cozy reading nook
But if we're being honest, I haven't finished a book in years
So really what it is an armchair for sipping tea scrolling through memes probably doing a lot of editing
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention
I got this chair from Council thrift stores for $50, which is honestly such a steal
I also put this little planty boi here
There is a distinct chance that I'm gonna kick this over at some point in my sleep
But that is something we're gonna deal with when we get to it up here
I also have a few travel themed things like a piece of hipster shit that I am
There's this big map of Los Angeles courtesy of Damon and then next to it
There's this retro California license plate that I got from the Melrose trading post paid like $15 for it
Which is too much for a fucking crusty license plate, but I think it looks really cute
Alright this side of the room is obviously home to artisanal faux brick wall dare
I say it's so nice that it was actually worth all the brain cells that I lost from inhaling styrofoam fumes
No, probably not but it's close. Anyways, I freakin love this wall
I feel like I'm transported to Soho or Tribeca or anywhere
That's not this sketchy-ass building that I live in we do have one new addition, which is this little fan
Which is vastly ill-equipped to actually keep me cool in a top-floor apartment without a/c but he's trying his best
So thank you and that brings us to our final side of the room. This section is kind of my workspace
It has my desk and my shelf from Ikea holding all of my kind of work stuff and also an excessive number of plants
I have this huge bag of receipts because I hoard receipts like a madman my filming equipment most of which is missing right now because
I'm actually using it to film this video a sewing machine that one of my subscribers gave me that I still need to learn how
To use and some packing materials and of course a little trash can because that's exciting great over here at my desk
I ended up changing out the chair
I used to have that little wooden one
But I felt like it was too many hard materials
Like the Shelf is metal and glass the desk is metal and glass and then the wood was also
kind of hard if that makes sense, so
I changed it out for this zebra chair that I actually found on the street for free
I live in a college town and all the students have been like in a mass migration
out of Westwood in the past couple weeks
So they just leave their furniture on the street and then desperate people like me come and pick it up
Does it have lice or bed bugs? Maybe? I don't know, but it was free
It is a little bit loud for my usual tastes. I would never buy this on my own but I honestly really loved it
I feel like it gives the room kind of like a vintage Safari vibe
Right, and I guess that brings us to the end of this video. Thank you so much for watching this entire
Journey, I said it before but I'll say it again
I am so excited and lucky to have a place of my own where I can just be
Creative a place that I can really call home. And yeah, I'm just so happy with how it turned out a huge
Thank you to you guys for making it possible for me to actually pay rent on
A room of my own really for making it possible for me to buy any of this stuff. So I really appreciate that
Thank you so much for watching those ads and helping me pay my rent. I can't wait to film more videos in here
I can't wait to live here for the next year, and thank you so much for watching. See you guys next week. Bye