00:01Hi, I'm Dani Roche and welcome to My Sweet Digs.
00:04You can come inside, but beware of dog.
00:18So this unit is about 1,500 square feet,
00:21and for Toronto standards, I would say that's pretty amazing.
00:25I really love furniture and design,
00:27so being able to actually have a space to hold everything
00:30feels like an incredible luxury.
00:41I live in the Queen West neighborhood in Toronto.
00:44I really like it because there's a really rich community
00:47of artists and designers,
00:48and then you have the perfect marriage between a lot of parks nearby
00:52as well as a lot of cool shops and restaurants.
00:59The first room in the house is the photo studio.
01:04With my agency, Castro and Pollux,
01:06we do everything from branding projects to still light photography.
01:09So this is kind of where the photo magic happens.
01:14Prior to moving in here,
01:16I was renting both a studio and an apartment.
01:20So when I was looking for potentially new spaces,
01:22I decided to combine both of them,
01:24and then I could get something kind of bigger, better, more light.
01:28So I spend $3,600 currently on rent for my studio live-work space.
01:35Not only is this where I shoot content,
01:37but it's also where I house all the things that need homes.
01:40It's a general catch-all for anything that I don't know how to put away.
01:44Over here, it's actually my favorite piece,
01:47which is this vintage Treco dresser,
01:49which in an ideal world would be housing clothes,
01:52but for the studio purposes,
01:53it's just kind of housing junk, to be honest.
02:00Because this is a live-work space,
02:01it's really important for me to have an area where I can just chill and relax.
02:06So this is my family room, which is obviously where I watch TV,
02:10but it's also the home to some of my favorite pieces.
02:15This sofa is a really exciting find.
02:18It's a Soriana sofa with original upholstery from the 70s,
02:21and beside it sits this handmade concrete side table
02:25by local artist Susan for Susan.
02:28And of course, over here is my beloved mirror.
02:31I saved my money for a couple of years to buy this one,
02:34but I think it will stand the test of time,
02:36as it's an iconic design from the 70s,
02:38and it lights up.
02:51My kitchen used to be one of my least favorite parts of the apartment,
02:55but now that I've started actively cooking and baking,
02:59I've grown to love it a lot.
03:00Cooking and baking are great because it helps me become
03:03a lot more sustainable with my choices.
03:06I definitely was eating out and ordering in a lot,
03:09but now I can kind of use everything that's in my fridge
03:11and try out new recipes, which is really exciting.
03:14And I recently got this espresso machine,
03:16so I've been learning how to make coffees.
03:18I'm not sure if they're as good as the ones that I can get outside
03:21in the real world, but I try my best.
03:28Sustainability is important to me because I want to be conscious
03:31in every decision that I make in my life.
03:33When I was younger, I definitely consumed a lot more.
03:36I was buying things that were temporary
03:37and not necessarily built to last.
03:40Now that I'm older, I'm a collector of things.
03:43When I make any purchases,
03:45I'm making sure that I'm going to hold onto that item for a long time
03:48and not just dispose of it after a year.
03:56This is the dining room,
03:58and this is the table that I both work and eat at.
04:01In an ideal world, I would have a separate desk,
04:03but alas, the right one hasn't come along yet.
04:07This space was always a place where people could come in
04:10and work and talk and collaborate,
04:12and now that everyone's working from home,
04:14it's definitely a lot quieter.
04:16Luckily, I got Suki,
04:18so she's the best co-worker I could ask for right now.
04:22The four chairs that I have here
04:23are actually a Facebook Marketplace find.
04:25They're Peretti DST chairs from the 70s,
04:29and they're originally from the Toronto General Hospital,
04:31so I think that's pretty cool that they're in my house now.
04:33And then over here are a couple of my plants.
04:38I actually have 13 plants in this apartment,
04:40and these two are in my favourite planters.
04:43They're made from recycled plastic,
04:45and they're from IKEA.
04:55I feel super fortunate to have a moderately big bathroom
04:58with beautiful lights.
05:00In places that I've lived before,
05:02the bathroom is either super small or no windows,
05:05and I have the luxury of having this beautiful window.
05:09And there's a tub.
05:15This is my bedroom.
05:17It's one of the smallest areas in the house,
05:19and really lacking storage for my clothes.
05:22That said, one of my latest finds is this IKEA storage bed.
05:26It's called the Nordli.
05:27It is made out of wood, which is a renewable resource
05:30and really helping me on my sustainability journey.
05:33My favourite parts of the room, though,
05:35are two things that are made by my friends.
05:37So, on the bed is a quilt made by my friend Justin,
05:41and on the wall is a painting from Kendra.
05:44I asked her to incorporate Suki and my cat, Billy,
05:48so I think it makes it really special.
05:50For additional storage for the room, I also have this dresser.
05:53This is another Facebook marketplace find,
05:55and it holds just, like, extra clothes,
05:58as well as my bags and some beauty products.
06:01Between my design work, my fashion sense,
06:05and, I guess, my interior design preferences,
06:08the house definitely is a lot of space-age design,
06:13a lot of colours.
06:14Sometimes it can kind of skew in, like, the cartoon direction,
06:17but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.
06:19Of course, trends are great,
06:22but I'm definitely more selective with, you know,
06:24what I choose to purchase and why.
06:27Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my sweet digs.
06:30See you later!
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