- [Matt] Well, here we are again, my friends,
another apartment,
another minimalist apartment tour.
This one, a little bit less minimalist
and a little more festive.
So, when we set out to look for a new apartment,
we had three non-negotiables,
lots of natural sunlight,
two bedrooms,
and the washer and dryer in the kitchen.
There's just something about the aesthetic
of the laundry next to your food
that says you haven't quite made it yet.
Believe it or not,
this is the first apartment
where we actually have a coat closet
instead of a place where our coats and shoes
are just out in the open.
This is one of the smaller details
that's actually my favorite thing about the apartment,
because I hate a messy entryway.
And while Nat doesn't have a ton of shoes,
she does have a lot of food-themed costumes.
This is our little breakfast nook
right next to the entryway.
It's also become Natalie's office.
If it was up to me,
I probably would have kept this corner
a little bit more minimalist,
but I know better than to go in between Natalie
and a faux fur blanket.
Just next to this area is our breakfast bar.
And I know what you're thinking,
a breakfast bar and a breakfast nook?
This apartment isn't very minimalist.
What can I say?
We love breakfast.
The kitchen is right in the middle of the apartment.
You've already met our washer and dryer.
I think the one thing that you always notice
about the minimalist aesthetic
or minimalist apartment tours
is that everything is always so freaking perfect,
but we really try to use things
until they're unusable,
or at least as close to that point as we can get.
Case in point,
our dishes.
They've been shipped to hell
over the past six years,
but we still hold onto them.
In my opinion,
this is really what minimalism should look like.
I also just love something
about the random assortment of coffee mugs
versus the cookie cutter matching set.
And while we don't have many,
they do hold some sentimental value.
Drawer organization is always important.
We found a couple of different ways
to keep these ones nice and tidy.
Okay, I'm not perfect.
And that brings us to our living room.
I really love this room.
This is probably the space
where Nat and I spend the most time together.
Our favorite part is definitely the couch.
I mean, there's just so much room for activities.
I mounted our TV on the wall
so we can pull it out when we want to use it,
but it also doesn't need to be the center of the room
all the time.
- A lot of people in the room,
you need more space.
Voila, right into the wall.
- Wow.
- I used some cable hiders and a white HDMI cable
to keep things looking nice and clean.
We got a real Christmas tree this year.
It's the first legit Christmas tree we've ever had.
And we love it.
Although if I'm being honest,
we did have a months-long battle
over whether or not to get ornaments.
I was adamant that we should keep it simple
with just lights.
I lost that fight.
One thing that I love about our apartment is
that we didn't feel the need to put something
in every corner on every shelf or every wall.
When we see an empty space,
we feel like we need to fill it,
but you really don't.
And when you realize that,
it takes a lot of the pressure out of decorating
and making your home feel complete.
Okay, let's go upstairs.
This is our bedroom.
It fits a bed.
This is Nat's nice end table.
And on my side,
she said we only had a room for a stool.
Minimalism doesn't mean that everything needs to be
either white or black.
So, we wanted to go with more dark and earthy tones
with this apartment,
which I think makes it feel especially cozy.
Lighting is really important to me
so we did get some smart light bulbs
that allow us to dim the lights really low at night
when we're getting ready for bed.
I'm actually pretty impressed
that we were able to fit all of our clothes
into this small closet.
My biggest regret in life is this dresser.
We were trying to keep our budget reasonable
for this apartment
and we thought that this one was a decent price,
but it's basically made of cardboard.
I definitely would prefer to buy quality once
and make it last for life,
but, hey, mistakes happen.
Pretty much all of my clothes fit
into the top two drawers here,
and then Nat's got the rest of the closet.
But to be fair,
she has gotten much more minimalist over the years
and she really doesn't own that many clothes.
This is our bathroom.
It's nothing special.
This is where we poop.
This is where we shower.
And this is where we do cocaine.
I'm only kidding.
We poop in the other bathroom.
I want to make it clear,
we don't do drugs.
And finally, we come to our home office.
If I'm gonna be honest,
it's normally much messier than this.
I often leave my gear set up all the time,
but since I'm having guests over,
I felt it was appropriate to clean up.
This is my workspace where I work on all my videos.
I've gotten really intentional
with all of my gear storage.
I've used this Ikea dresser
to store most of my equipment.
So, this is where I put my lenses,
cameras, cables, wires,
and all the little knickknacks
that go along with filmmaking.
And on the other side of the closet,
I've installed some garage hooks that hold my stands.
When you're working with
a really small studio space like this,
you have to get really creative
with how you store and organize things.
For me, this is the perfect size office.
I don't have to spend a lot of time decorating
or buying new furniture
so I can get that stuff out of the way
and get back to the work that I love sooner.
And actually, I've got this video that I'm making
about a minimalist apartment
that I really need to finish up.
And that, my friends, is my minimalist apartment.
I hope you got some inspiration
for how to keep your own place simple.
Before I go,
I wanted to let you know that I'm hiring.
I have a few positions that are currently open
at my company, Slow Growth.
If you've been following along,
you know that over the past couple of months,
we've made a bunch of hires
from writers to video editors,
and we've got about three positions
that are currently open.
And so, if you want to learn more about that,
if you want to work with me and my team,
I would love it if you would apply.
Go to SlowGrowth.com/hiring
to learn more about those roles and to apply.
And secondly, if you didn't know,
I actually have a newsletter
that I put out every week.
It's a really simple newsletter.
I write about self-development,
minimalism, and productivity.
They are one-minute reads you get every Friday
and they're intended to give you
a little bit of encouragement
for intentionally going about your days.
And so, if you want to get
that very short, very minimalist newsletter,
go to mattdavella.com.
That's it for this video,
I've got to get back to work.
(light music)