00:00Hi, I'm Elena and welcome to my sweet digs.
00:03Feel free to come in, but please take the shoes off
00:05because I spent mad money on this tile.
00:25I'm a content creator here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
00:29I've recently made a career change.
00:31I used to work in the courts, but now I'm a full-time content creator,
00:35so I do brand styling.
00:36I'm working in my own home environment, so I'm my own boss.
00:41My only other boss is the sunshine.
00:42I like to shoot in natural light, so different rooms in my house
00:46get light at different times, so I kind of work around that schedule,
00:50but I think that brands appreciate when I take my time
00:53and I can really produce something beautiful.
01:02My husband and I, we've been here since 2015, so almost six years now.
01:07Once we found this house, I was so excited because it was right under our budget,
01:11which was $400,000.
01:13As everybody knows, it's a big down payment, lots of taxes,
01:16so it took us a strong four years to save up enough money to get into this place.
01:24This neighborhood is called The Junction, and the reason why it's called The Junction
01:27is that two major rail lines cross here, and we do live very close to the train,
01:32so sometimes we do feel it.
01:34But we have great bars, great restaurants.
01:37We love riding our bikes around this area.
01:39That's one of the main things that we do all summer long.
01:47So starting off in our entryway, we had to build this room from scratch.
01:51It wasn't here before, so we added this door.
01:53This is actually a door that we've made into a glass wall.
01:57Added some glass panes on top, and we broke the bank on this tile.
02:02I love it. It's cement tile, but I really wanted a black and white feel to match the bathroom,
02:06so we added in this little maze tile.
02:13So come on into my living room.
02:15This area is just a really comfortable space.
02:18This is where we just chill out.
02:20I wanted to make a really inviting, cozy space for all our friends to hang out, watch TV.
02:25We play a lot of games in here.
02:27Next to the TV, I wanted to create some open shelving,
02:30because I don't really like the way a black TV looks.
02:33So to detract your eye from that, I like to display my books, some of my vintage items.
02:38This phone is really cool. I got it secondhand.
02:41It's a rotary dial phone, but it's not hooked up, so you can't call your mom.
02:45This is just a nice open area where we can display all of our stuff.
02:50I kept the neutral tones going in this room.
02:54We have pillows, blankets, everything to make you feel cozy and comfortable.
02:58The couch is amazing. It's so, so sleepable.
03:01I take naps on here all the time.
03:03And this little sofa here, it's actually a pull-out bed,
03:06but the funny part is we got it for free.
03:08My sister found it on the side of the road.
03:11So with the mind of sustainability, we actually have most of our furniture
03:14from vintage stores or secondhand.
03:17It brings beauty. It brings function.
03:18And at the same time, we're reusing.
03:21So to me, it's a win-win-win.
03:24So this is our staircase.
03:26It's a bit controversial with the fact that it has no banister,
03:29but I really love the open look.
03:31We repurposed the treads and we added some new elements
03:34with the stringers and the brackets.
03:36So let's head on up.
03:44So welcome to our bedroom.
03:46This is a very open, bright space.
03:48We have skylights and a big window.
03:51So this is definitely the brightest room in the house.
03:54Most of my plants are in this room because they get the light and they absolutely love that.
03:58So you don't always have to spend a lot of money.
04:01We have made tiny little purchases that have made a big impact.
04:04Some of my largest plants were only about $20 or $25.
04:08We have huge cafti in the house and I found them secondhand.
04:12Our bed was made by my husband.
04:14I showed him a picture and he was able to recreate it.
04:18I love all the rounded corners in here.
04:20We have the huge rattan fan.
04:22I also wanted to make the room super cozy and comfortable.
04:26So we brought in a lot of textural items like the rug, the chunky throat.
04:31I love tassels.
04:32And just a lot of the same neutral colors that we use downstairs to keep the cohesive vibe going.
04:38We always opt in for crisp white bedding.
04:41This is the IKEA Kungsblama duvet set.
04:43It's made from sustainably sourced cotton.
04:45We just love the whole vibe with our room.
04:52So this is our bathroom.
04:54I really wanted to capture an old world look in here.
04:57So we went with brass fixtures and subway tile with really thick dark grouting.
05:03And I love, love, love that look of the black and white.
05:05We have a stand up shower, but we don't have a bathtub.
05:08And that's something that I really miss.
05:10So our future plans are to have a bathroom downstairs where we can have a bathtub.
05:14Another one of my favorite IKEA products is the Klau Keren shower curtain.
05:19It's beautiful.
05:20It's white.
05:21It has a grid pattern on it, which totally matches in with my black and white bathroom.
05:25And it's made from recycled polyester.
05:27So it can be recycled a bunch of times, which ends up being great for the environment.
05:37So come on into the kitchen.
05:39Even though we've been renovating our home for almost five years, we're still not quite there yet.
05:44As you can tell, we got a work in progress here.
05:46Once it's complete, a lot of the products that I want to bring in, I have a mind to sustainability.
05:51So instead of a sponge, I have a dishwashing brush.
05:54Instead of paper towel, I have a lot of reusable towels.
05:58So it's just a lot of little things that will end up making a big impact towards the future.
06:09I'm really excited to show you guys our formal dining room.
06:12This is exposed brick.
06:14It was here before, and we tore off the plaster to expose it.
06:17It was a real messy job, but we got it done.
06:20And we wanted to add some brightness to this room.
06:22So we painted it all white and sort of ombred out into the natural color.
06:26And one of my big splurges for the house was this art piece right here.
06:30This came all the way from Morocco, and it's from a fiber artist named Laurence.
06:34We have another piece above our sofa from her, and I just love the colors.
06:38It works perfectly with our house, and the texture is like simply amazing.
06:44So there's a bit of a story behind the dining room table.
06:47I wanted a stone piece, and it took a while to find it.
06:51I ended up finding it at an amazing price, but it had to come from Quebec.
06:55So we got this delivered.
06:57We love how the travertine table and the little marble accents on the lighting work together.
07:01The two pieces are kind of retro, and they just vibe perfectly.
07:04We just love how the whole room has come together.
07:07My husband is super handy.
07:09We actually have a nickname for him. It's Bob the Builder.
07:12So we have some very unique pieces in our home that he has made by hand from scratch.
07:17He ended up making this piece custom.
07:20I looked around and nothing was really working with the sizing here.
07:23It's quite a narrow walkway through here.
07:25So we used plywood.
07:27We also added some cane and made it smooth with a clear coat.
07:31So we have a hinge, a little push, and it bifolds out like this so that it doesn't hit anybody.
07:37When you're doing things yourself, you have a control over the materials that you use,
07:42and you can make those decisions that will help us reach the goal of sustainability.
07:54So we actually converted our second bedroom into an office space for me.
07:58This is where I sit.
07:59I do a lot of my work, answer emails, edit videos and photos.
08:04I wanted to create a really beautiful space.
08:06Something that would inspire me to create something nice for my clients.
08:10And this is where I work.
08:13Over the course of the renovation, which has taken five years,
08:17we both were working full time.
08:18So it was really, really tough.
08:20A lot of sacrifices were made.
08:21Working evenings, working weekends.
08:24But we have come a long way.
08:26If you were to see the before pictures of our house, you'd be shocked.
08:29None of this was here before.
08:30We took the whole thing down to the studs.
08:33It's a complete gut job.
08:35That's why we were able to afford this house in this neighborhood.
08:38We've put so much love into our home,
08:40and the end result really is going to be all worth it.
08:49Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my sweet dicks.
08:52Bye.
08:53Bye.
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