- Hey everyone, it's me, Hallease,
endeavoring to persevere as always.
If you're new here, I make weekly videos
about my chaotic good life.
So consider subscribing.
(soft music)
Today I am coming at you from the dog park
with the every furry, every poofy Dakota.
We are out here for the morning
letting her run around and get some moves in
before we start our day.
So for all of 2018 my husband and I
were displaced from our home
and living in my childhood bedroom at my parent's house.
Now as we're figuring out the final stages
of this whole home buying fiasco
we currently rent an apartment in downtown San Antonio
that is around 600 or 700 square feet.
And we love it.
Poochy, are you ready to play?
The first thing I really love about this new space
is the location.
We are right in the heart of downtown San Antonio,
so Mister Hallease and I can finally experience the city
in a way that we've always wanted to
and walk everywhere.
Anyway, I wouldn't necessarily say that we're minimalists,
but we are trying to do more with less.
So here is a tour of the apartment
and some of the pieces we have
that have helped us downsize.
(toy squeaking)
And my dog, Dakota, can you not?
Dakota, quackers may need to be retired,
'cause yeah.
So this is like 80% of it.
This is 80% of the apartment.
Living, kitchen, dining, here we go.
Let's do it.
The biggest thing I love about this space
is how much we have simplified the kitchen.
It's the right combination I feel like
of aesthetic meets function for us.
One of the extra purchases we did make moving here though
was this sort of flex table that's to my right.
I don't do much of the cooking,
Mister Hallease does the bulk of it.
I know how to, I just,
he, it brings him more joy,
so I just let him do it, you know what I'm saying?
But the table also acts as additional storage.
Since it's made out of metal
we purchased these little magnetic hooks
that can hold up to 25 pounds each.
And we have then hooked all along the bottom of the table
to hold the different pots and pans,
so that way it gets them out of the cupboard
and onto a space where they can be easily reached.
We also have the hooks holding
to the sides of the table as well
for a few extra utensil items and whatnot
that you're gonna need at the oven.
So I really love that we invested in that table.
I actually wish we had bought the bigger one,
but Mister, I don't know why,
but when I first saw this place empty I was like,
I don't know if the bigger one's gonna fit in here.
And he was like, it will.
And I was like, I don't believe you.
And so we bought the little one
and we got here and I was like, dang it,
we should've got the next size up, you were right.
The other thing too is, again, we simplified
a lot of our appliances, which I'm really happy about.
Now we only have the Keurig, which we really love,
'cause we use it pretty, I use it almost every day
for tea and coffee.
The other big appliance that we use a lot,
like a lot, Mister Hallease is in love with this thing,
is the Instant Pot.
And I feel like everyone knows what Instant Pots are,
I don't need to explain them,
but they're basically like everything
you could ever need in an appliance in one.
And so he's completely obsessed with his
and that got rid of a lot of appliances for us too.
We have my standing mixer.
As you all know from my sans-gluten days
I was really on my gluten-free baking grind.
Especially now that we have our own space again
I will hopefully get back into gluten-free cooking
and baking for y'all from time to time.
Let me know in the comments below
if you'd like to see more sans-gluten stuff.
The other pride and joy I have is our kitchen table.
So I'm literally gonna turn the camera around.
Hello.
So if you watch The Beast Cast you'll know that this
is where we actually usually shoot it.
This kitchen table is actually from IKEA
and it's a really cool table,
because it folds down.
So the table can literally fold down
if you want it to
creating just a standing spot.
The other thing that's really cool about this table too
is that it also has storage on either side.
So we have our dishware,
or we have our silverware on one side
and then placemats and other things
that you'd probably need at the table area
in the other side.
The other thing that's cool about this
is that, so this side folds up
and we usually keep this side folded up
to have dinner with each other,
'cause it's usually just the two of us.
But if we wanna have more people
then the other side folds up too
and can seat four people comfortably.
I think it can seat six,
but you might be pushing it a bit.
The chairs we use
are basically these simple, foldable picnic style chairs
from IKEA as well.
The table's IKEA, this is IKEA.
Along with these extra cushions on them as well.
We usually leave them all folded.
Also, when I'm working from home
I work here at the table.
I just set up my run and gun setup,
which y'all have seen in a previous video.
I'll link to all of that gear
if you wanna have a mobile setup for your computer.
And yeah, I just work from this table as well.
Hey (laughs).
Yeah, so living room.
Here we are in the living room now.
As you saw, we were in the dining
and now we're in the living.
This couch is also from IKEA
and this is the original,
this the original couch from where we used to live before.
We got rid of our other couch,
so we just have one now.
The TV did make it here after all,
along with a few movies and the Xbox as well.
You know, technology, you gotta have it, right?
One thing that I really love about our couch
is these pillows.
My mother actually made them for me,
had them made for me two Christmases ago.
And I love them, I just think
they're such a fun accent to the couch.
And they just fit with the overall aesthetic.
If you haven't noticed as well,
all throughout the apartment
I have a lot of old cameras everywhere,
because they were all owned by my grandfather,
my mother's father.
And after he passed away she gave them all to me.
And they're one of the few sort of decorative items
that I have around.
The cameras are a big.
Hi,
you're just like bombarding this video.
So yeah, the cameras are a big part of just my identity,
what I do, being a video producer
and digital storyteller and what not.
Excuse you.
Excuse, excuse you.
Shall we show them the bedroom?
So as I said, I was just sitting over there.
The bedroom.
Excuse me.
Hey, so yeah, if you're a Patreon producer
then you probably already know this setup pretty well.
This is how I usually shoot myself to check in with y'all
during the Monday motivations that are exclusive
to the Patreon producer folks.
If you're interested in that that's where every Monday
I put out a quick informal video
talking about my to-do list
and everything I'm trying to do as a digital storyteller
and what do they call us?
Creative entrepreneur.
That's where you can ask a lot more specific questions
about what I do and how I do it.
So if you're interested in that check it out,
patreon.com/hallease.
They come out every Monday.
But yeah, this is the bedroom.
It's very simple, it's a bedroom.
There's a bed.
We each have two nightstands,
which are also from IKEA,
as well as we used to have two large dressers,
so we have the one dresser now
that we still use, that we share,
because we actually got rid of a lot of our clothes.
We got rid of so much clothing, which was really cool.
We're in the bathroom, if that didn't,
if you weren't keeping up with me.
We're in the bathroom.
But something that's really interesting and cool
about this complex is that the bathroom
is combined with the closet
and like the laundry area,
so it's all just one big space
and the door is right there.
I really like this bathroom,
because we have a nice, large counter space,
which is cool.
Even though there's only one sink,
we finally have like the space to put just stuff, you know.
Something I am still working on
is the amount of products I do have.
Like I feel like a lot of this stuff
that's under the sink is just excess products.
You know, you wanna try something new,
this, that, there, blah.
And you just end up accumulating things
that you don't really need.
So what I'm focusing on for the first half of 2019
is just getting through the products.
Right now, I mean, the closet's pretty well organized
and again, y'all don't know how much clothes we had before.
We really downsized in regards to how much clothing
and attire we have.
We keep our linens in just one
of the travel boxes that we had before,
we just keep all the linens in there when we need them.
And then also we have just like a few boxes
and like luggage that we just keep
for when we're traveling and things like that,
we have stuff to use.
Boop.
So yeah, that's pretty much the whole apartment.
Again, I hesitate to call us minimalists,
because while we are trying to do more with less
and definitely downsize and not have too much,
I don't know, we're not,
I don't feel like we're terribly extreme in that regard
or I just, I wonder if like there's an ideology thing
that we maybe aren't necessarily hitting.
Let us know in the comments below.
And also, there's still areas of the apartment
that I'm like, we could get rid of more stuff there.
For example, to my left, camera right,
is a bookshelf situation
that I'm still trying to work through.
You know, like there's things in this shelf
that we definitely need,
but then there's also knickknacks there
that I'm just kind of like, uh.
And then it's also the way it's organized
is a little bit of an eyesore, but at the end of the day
it was one of those things where I was just,
I just needed a space to put some stuff,
so we brought it.
And then, like I said, the closet
is a bit of an area that I'm still kind of like,
there's room for improvement there for sure.
But for now it's getting the job done.
So yeah, in the comments below let me know,
how are you doing more with less?
And would you consider yourself a minimalist?
Would you label yourself with that term?
If you're new here, consider subscribing.
I make videos every week about my chaotic good life.
I'm Hallease, I'll see you when I see you.