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This week on Sweet Digs, R29 video producer, Brianna Donnelly, takes us on a tour of her one bedroom apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. While showcasing her place, she breaks down what $2,250 a month will get you in NYC. Watch this video to see how this millennial woman lives!

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High rent, small spaces, nosy neighbors β€” we put up with A LOT of things to live where we love. In Sweet Digs, Refinery29 gets a peek inside the homes of the coolest people we know, from tiny studios to sprawling houses, and ask the real questions like, "Wait, how much is your rent?"

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TALENT
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Transcript
00:00Hey, I'm Brianna. Welcome to my sweet digs. I'll let you in, but first hit that subscribe button. Cool.
00:05Come on in. I live in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn with my boyfriend, and we pay
00:09$22.50 in rent, and I actually think that's a pretty good price to pay just because I paid the
00:13same thing in my last apartment for a lot less space.
00:24We made this cute little corner where we could hang our coats, put our mail.
00:27This is a painting of Bill Murray, and that is Mike's. This is Mike, and we found the perfect place
00:34for it, where it's just slightly hidden.
00:37Right when we got to the apartment, we knew that we wanted to kind of create a hallway because otherwise
00:41you would just be walking right into the living room.
00:43So we really did that by putting in this couch and the bench because, as you can see, the wall
00:48stops pretty abruptly, and then it's just the living room.
00:52These are our records. They're mostly Mike's. We got this shelf at World Market. We just really wanted to do
00:58something with this wall because it was blank.
01:00Just put some pictures up. We have this dead orchid. We can't keep plants alive.
01:04And we have The Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman because he actually lived in Clinton Hill at one point.
01:10Our TV console holds all of our DVDs, and we have one board game, Settlers of Catan.
01:17We are sitting on the most expensive piece of furniture in the apartment. It's from Raymer and Flanagan. It was
01:23about what?
01:24Eight hundred bucks or something. Eight hundred dollars for the couch. Seems like a good deal for a couch.
01:28Mike's requirement was that he had to be able to lie down on it. Look at his couch if he
01:32can't lay down on it, right?
01:33The living room kind of opens up into the bedroom. We have these French doors. We have two llama pillows.
01:42Mike got me one for my birthday, and just a few days later, my sister sent me the same exact
01:48pillow as a housewarming present.
01:50Once we had two, we were like, well, we can't return one now because we feel like they're our pets.
01:55We haven't named them yet, but if you've got any good ideas, let us know. Comment below.
01:59This piece of furniture was completely repurposed. It was my aunt's. Originally, she had painted it green,
02:05and then my sister took it to college and painted it yellow. And then we took it here, and we
02:11did this.
02:12It's a faux feather sponge paint. We have these two nooks that we wanted to do something with instead of
02:18just
02:19having dead space. So we turned this one into Mike's corner, and this one into mine.
02:27Mike. Mike, you're supposed to turn around and I hit you.
02:31This is Mike's jam corner. He had it his way. It would be a jam apartment.
02:35You should have seen my old apartment.
02:36In high school, I picked up a guitar, and I was like, I have no idea how to play.
02:39So I just started playing every day, and I just got really into it.
02:44This is kind of like my little emotional release corner.
02:48Sometimes I'll ask him to make me a song and play a song for me, but it still hasn't happened
02:54yet.
02:54And I've been dating for three years, so I'm thinking it's not coming.
02:58I'm not a singer. I shouldn't be singing.
02:59Other than that, sometimes I'm like, can you stop? This is my corner. This is a painting that my
03:06friend made for me, and I covered the hole in the wall with this little picture.
03:12Mike made the hole in the wall when he was putting the shelf in the wall, but now you can't
03:17see it.
03:18One of my favorite parts about the bedroom is probably this headboard that we made ourselves.
03:22I saw one that I wanted that was really overpriced, and so I figured we could just make our own
03:26for a lot less.
03:27I designed it, picked out the supplies, and then Mike and my dad physically made it.
03:33Probably the least favorite part about my apartment would be the bathroom.
03:36It doesn't have a window, so it kind of feels like a dungeon,
03:39and the marble walls and the dark tile floors were really aggressive,
03:44but we really lightened it up, I think, with adding some green and light colors into the mix.
03:50I painted this.
03:51When we first moved in, we only had one piece of wall art,
03:54which happened to be a watercolor of some cactuses or cacti.
03:58Then we decided that we were going to paint one night.
04:00We found inspiration in the cactus, so we also painted a cactus.
04:04One we hung in the bathroom and the other we have to still find a place for.
04:08It's actually Mike's.
04:09It hasn't found a home yet.
04:10It's an amateur painting, but it's made by me.
04:14So this is our kitchen.
04:15When we first moved in, it looked very different.
04:19My best decorating tip is definitely that small changes can make a big difference.
04:23The kitchen is a great example of that.
04:25The walls were white, the same as the cabinets, and it was just very washed out.
04:29The hardware were actually like white plastic hardware,
04:33and they were like peeling.
04:34They were really gross.
04:34So we just painted the walls this blue color,
04:38and switched out the hardware for like 60 bucks at Home Depot.
04:42If you saw it beforehand, you wouldn't even know it was the same place.
04:45What's in my fridge right now, we're having Friendsgiving this evening,
04:48but after that dinner's gone, all we'll have left is one ravioli that was left by Mike.
04:54And the same one for you.
04:56So, Brie will cook one week.
04:58I'll cook the next.
04:59I need a recipe.
05:00I have to do the grocery shopping ahead of time and have everything planned.
05:03I'm more of an impromptu.
05:05I'll just pick up stuff and try to figure something out.
05:07By far, we're both good cooks.
05:08Who knew?
05:09I didn't.
05:09And we got these really cute little salt and pepper shakers from Road Market.
05:13They're probably one of my favorite things in the apartment.
05:15This is our bar cart.
05:16This also came from Wayfair.
05:19We have this wine rack down here.
05:21Unfortunately, we can't ever stack it with bottles of wine,
05:24because when they're in the house, we will drink them.
05:26This leads to the best part of the apartment.
05:29My favorite thing about the apartment is the outdoor space.
05:32It was the number one thing we were looking for when we started apartment hunting.
05:36You can have a cup of coffee out there.
05:37You can have dinner out there.
05:38You've got friends who are coming over.
05:40We go out there.
05:40Mike really enjoys building things.
05:43I did make the planters out of old pallet wood and cheap wood from Home Depot.
05:48Mike planted all of these flowers.
05:50Some of them are dying, unfortunately, because he forgets to order them.
05:53This also belonged to my aunt.
05:57We're having Friendsgiving this evening, which is why we have this nice little setup.
06:01We'll have the lights on.
06:02It'll be really nice.
06:03We found this place actually on Trulia.
06:06As soon as we walked down the street, it just felt really homey.
06:09It was like everything that you needed right in one place.
06:11And it happened to be the one.
06:12We just moved in together.
06:17I think the transition's been great.
06:19At first, Mimi, I was like, oh no.
06:21It's like living with a roommate.
06:23But it's nice because unlike a roommate, you can be like, hey, put your dishes away.
06:26And he'll be like, okay.
06:27What do I sound like?
06:29Like this.
06:30It's cool.
06:39Thanks for stopping by and checking out our sweet digs.
06:41If you want to watch more videos, click here.
06:43And to subscribe, click here.
06:45I mean, you guys can stick around, but we don't have many seats.
06:49See you next week!
06:49That's cool.
06:50See you next week!
06:50Stevens!
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