Today so many people are downsizing and
simplifying their lives in order to be
able to live the lives of their dreams and
get out of the rat race.
Levi Hildebrand is going to show you his
tiny apartment that is furnished with all
secondhand furniture.
The idea of this is to inspire you to see
that you do not have to buy new stuff to
have a wonderful place, and help you to
furnish your place secondhand.
Levi: Hello and welcome to an extra
special episode of Levi "Save-the-World"
Hildebrand, the channel where we prove
that you do not need to be a hero to save the planet.
I'm Levi. Leah: And I am Leah
Levi: And we started this channel to
showcase the awesome ways that you can
live a great life that is also great for the planet.
Leah: Yay! Levi: But today we are going to be talking
about how we furnished our entire 500
square-foot apartment using only second- hand stuff.
Leah: The only exception are some things
that Levi's dad built and we are going to
show you those right now. Levi: Alright.
Leah: Let us go look at them. Yeah!
Levi: So my dad built a number of
shelving units for our apartment,
including the big tall one that you see
behind me and the one that is behind Leah.
But most recently, he has built us a new coffee table.
This is my dad's coffee table that is not
actually his, it is ours.
He built it, that is the point that I am
trying to make.
My dad has put a lot of love and and care
and... he is a very detail oriented person.
As you can see, this coffee table has
wheels, which helps you pull it in and out
of the living room.
But you cannot pull a coffee table without a leash.
On the front here as you can see we have
this little rope that once you pull, fully extends.
Then you can lift, and drag the table.
Leah: So smooth.
Levi: And then inside, we have - Leah: Ah-ha!
Levi: Oh my God, why did that actually scare me.
(Leah's laughter) Levi: we spent so much time getting her
in there, and then somehow... Leah: Yay, say goodbye now!
Levi: All of the fun that you can expect
if you subscribe to my channel.
In all seriousness, the inside of this
coffee table was designed to be a functional thing.
Inside we have enough room for a
grown Leah, or this drawer and a bunch of
bedding that we use whenever guests come over.
Anyway, we have missed a key part of our
house, and that is the kitchen!
Leah: A lot of the stuff in our kitchen
has been gifted to us, but a few key
pieces are thrifted, including this gorgeous pan.
(Levi's laughter) Leah: Right? It is orange!
We got this Belgium-made, cast-iron pan
secondhand, as well as all of our other
pots and pans, from different thrift stores.
But probably the highlight, is our kitchen island.
Levi: Yeah. Leah: We got this off of "Used Victoria",
and it came with the microwave.
Levi: Why don't you... you got to... come on.
You cannot just say that it is an island, come on.
Explain how awesome it is. Leah: Sorry, the kitchen island, with the
tile top. (Jazz music playing)
It has the side bits here for your hand towels.
Levi: Mmm-hmm, yeah. Leah: And the space for the microwave.
And a little pantry underneath. Levi: Wow.
Leah: And it comes on wheels.
It is amazing!
Levi: Also, our shoe rack is secondhand as well.
Leah: And most of the shoes on it. Levi: Anyway.
Oh, that couch there, yeah, we could talk about that.
Leah: And this beauty, you ask? Also secondhand.
Levi: It also comes with this matching chair.
We got both pieces for $350 off of craigslist.
And that is pretty amazing for Canadian-
made vintage furniture that was in really
good condition before we got them.
I got this T.V. for switching banks a
number of years ago,
we got this table from Leah's old apartment,
we found this chair from one of Leah's
friends when she was moving, and we got
this piece of driftwood from a beach,
believe it or not!
Alright, let us go into the bistro.
Leah: Welcome to the bistro. Levi: Ah!
Leah: As you can imagine, this is also
secondhand off of "Used Victoria", and
these chairs we actually bought from a guy
and his grandpa had made them.
When we are not eating at the bistro, we
like to eat on the patio.
Look at my transition. That was so good.
Great transition. (Audience applause)
These pots are secondhand, and these clay
ones we just found on the side of the street.
Levi: This bistro set is not secondhand.
We bought it. Leah: Oh no, we did buy this, but we have
had it for five years. Levi: My... Our apologies everyone.
I know we really let you down.
Leah: We are real hypocrites. Levi: what click-bait, hey,
we just click-baited them so hard. Leah: I know. I will say though, this
used to be our coffee table, and we still
have it for garden supplies. Levi: Ah, true. Did we redeem ourselves?
Leah: I don't know, maybe? Hopefully?
Levi: I don't know.
Give this video a "like" if we redeemed ourselves.
Leah: Redeem!
Levi: And over here we have our bike
storage and our bikes are both secondhand!
Time to head upstairs.
Wait, before we go upstairs, this trunk
thing that Leah wont let me get rid of... Leah: I love it.
Levi: Was our first coffee table, so in
our house we have... Leah: 3 coffee tables!
One that we use as a coffee table.
Levi: Wait. did we use that thing as a
coffee table as well, that holds the T.V.?
We have four coffee tables in our house! Leah: In our tiny apartment! I do not
recommend having four coffee tables. Levi: But we keep using them.
Leah: Unless they are trunks. Woo!
Levi: What do you think, are you pro-trunk?
Leah is definitely pro-trunk.
Leah: That really sounds like a political statement
(Levi's laughter)
Levi: This is upstairs on our apartment.
We have a triple-function space up here.
We have the bedroom, the gym... Leah: The yoga studio.
Levi: The yoga studio.
And we have our work station as well.
This is where all of the videos get made.
This is where all of the papers get written.
This chair is actually secondhand from Leah's dad.
It is his old office chair. Leah: Thanks Dad!
Levi: This table was secondhand, we
bought it for $50 off of someone on craigslist.
We even got these two posters from someone
at a clothing swap that we went to a
couple of years ago.
Let us move in to the bedroom part of the
bedroom, shall we?
So this bed was also secondhand.
We found it in Leah's parent's garage,
which makes it a lot less sexy but no less functional.
A free bed is better than no bed. Leah: Still a bed.
Levi: This trunk has a bit of a story.
This is Leah's grandfather's trunk.
He used this to travel the world when he
was a travel adviser a really long time ago.
He is now 93 years old, so this thing has
been around for a while.
And Leah's uncle has made it functional
again by putting these legs on the bottom
of it, and now, it stores all of Leah's underwear!
Leah: Okay let us close that. No.
Levi: Moving on over to the other side. Leah: Are you a gymnast?
Levi: No, and I am very dizzy.
This lamp here is secondhand.
It is also very bendy. (Leah's laughter)
This bedside table is secondhand as well.
These books are... Leah: Maybe secondhand.
Levi: Well, actually probably most of them
are secondhand, too.
But this thing over here is... Leah: Ugh, it is hideous.
Levi: There are some things that are
difficult to find secondhand, and a fan
is one of them.
This is not a good fan, and I do not like this fan.
I do not want to keep this fan, but do you know what?
This fan cost $12, and we did not have a
fan when we bought it, and it got us
through last summer.
You know what? We will keep it for now.
That is enough of this fan.
Let us get in to how we recommend that you
get the best out of your thrifting experience.
Follow moi. Leah: Suivez-moi!
Levi: I think a lot of people do not
thrift because they just do not even
consider it as an option.
They have not done it, or they do not
feel comfortable with it, and therefore
they miss out on a lot of really incredible opportunities.
Thrifting is incredible in a number of ways.
You can help save the planet, you can save
yourself money, and you might be able to
get some really high quality products
while you are at it.
Leah: For example. we could not have
afforded these couches regularly, but
because they were secondhand, people like
us could actually own them. Levi: I think it is also kind of unique
the way that shopping used exercises your creative muscles.
Maybe we would not have bought bright
yellow couches if we were sitting in a
show room floor with a bunch of other
options at our disposal, but we've bought
these couches now and they have really
spiced up our life. Leah: We sound so vanilla.
Levi: We bought a couch, and now we are happy.
Leah: It spiced up our life, our sex life!
Levi: We have sex on the couch! Leah: And the chair.
Levi: And the chair.
Jokes aside, we managed to furnish our
entire apartment for less than $500,
which is pretty incredible considering
that what we own here today is probably
worth a lot more than that.
When it comes to thrifting there are a
few basic rules that we follow.
Leah: Number 1 is to do it often.
You can not expect that the first time
that you go on to one of these sites that
you are going to find exactly what you
are looking for.
You have to be able to put the time in to
look for what you need.
Levi: Number 2, do not be afraid to use the phone.
A lot of these platforms offer multiple
forms of contact, and if you are able to
get somebody on the phone, you are really
likely to get the thing that you want
because the people will just be eager to
get rid of it.
Leah: And 3, use a bunch of different platforms.
For us, we use facebook marketplace,
BUNZ, craigslist, Used Victoria, and
there are so many other ones that I am
sure that you might have access to in your city.
Thank you so much to Rob Greenfield for
featuring us here on your channel.
I think it is great what you are doing,
and I am sure for people who are watching
right now, you already know that Rob is great.
Levi: Thank you so much for watching. Leah: Bye!
Levi: Bye!
Rob: I hope that you got a lot out of that video.
If you did, make sure to subscribe to
Levi's channel, you can also follow him on social media.
The links are in the description below.
And make sure to subscribe to this channel
as well, where I have a lot more
inspirational and educational videos to
come, both from guests like Levi, and
myself as well.
And if you want this information to get
out into the world, make sure to "like",
to comment, and to share this with friends
who could learn from it.
I love you all very much, and I look
forward to seeing you again, real soon.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community