Shadowing Practice: Home Updates | Trying your ideas, decorating the living room & bamboo blinds - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hello and welcome to this home update.

So in this video we're going to be testing out some different

configurations with the living room and the dining room

and just playing around with it in real time just to kind of get a feel for the different spots

and we're going based off a lot of your recommendations

and then thoughts that we've had

and we're not going to do every single one of your recommendations

because some of them are just not like super feasible right now.

We're going to wait to try those configurations later but we are going to play around with the dining room

and the living room right now

but first i wanted to talk about the bamboo blinds in the last video we talked about getting bamboo shades

and we did get the bamboo shades we got this one

and luckily we only bought one of them just to test

it out before we committed to the rest of the windows

and thank goodness we did that

because of these gaps we needed to get a light filtering shade to act as a privacy screen.

And let me just show you.

So here it is.

Beautiful, right?

But then when you open it up, it kind of just looks white.

You can't see it as much right now.

Let me move you so we can go up against a window.

Look at this.

Like, it just gets completely lost.

it looks not it looks not great i even sent a picture to my mom

and she's like oh yeah that that looks bad

so i tried messaging the brand to see

if they had a different color liner that we can put on the back

that matches the color of um the bamboo better like maybe uh tan

or even like a light brown but they said they only have white

but luckily like i said i only bought one of these to test it out

and they're also non -returnable or refundable

because they're custom i even tried asking i was like you know this isn't exactly what i wanted

and they're like no i'm sorry we can't

give you a return or refund

so unfortunately we lost out on like 240 with these i was pretty bummed about it

because i was really happy with the sample that we chose

and we essentially just wasted all

that money i was thinking we could get the other sample

that we're thinking of like this but you can also still see through the slats

and so then we would need to get the light filtering shade again

which would cause the same issue so I decided to look for a different brand

and I'm really happy I did because I found something that I actually like more and it's like half the price.

It is from this brand called Mood Design and I got these samples.

I chose this one.

This one is called Walnut.

I think it's a really beautiful color and value

which is what we wanted for this room

because I feel like everything is sort of in the medium to light value

and this is sort of like medium dark in the middle

and you can see it also offers a lot of privacy

because of how these slats are arranged they're kind of layered

but there's still light that goes through this way this is perfect

because we don't need to use the light filtering shade

and we still get some light coming through and we are in luck

because the shade arrived yesterday so we can actually put it up it looks beautiful

and like I said it's a little more than half the price of the other one

so I think this was a hundred dollars

and that's a that's a really good price in my opinion for window treatments

and this one is very good quality there's something I find a little bit silly about this though

that it comes with these little pieces to attach to the side

and that is to make it look clean from the side but then it just looks like it has weird

sideburns like it doesn't look very good in my opinion like

i'd rather have it just unfinished like this on the side

so i removed the velcro and i just have it exposed

it is installed and it looks pretty much exactly how i wanted it to look

um i feel like it looks a bit plain over here like there's just this bamboo blind

but you know i need some stuff to balance it out

but overall i am very happy with it

and it still lets a decent amount of light in i'm going to measure

and order the rest of them soon um we haven't had

privacy in this room for the past like two weeks or

so because i had to take off the blinds here in order to paint

and like patch the holes um

so yeah this is nice now we can actually be in

here without feeling like we're in a fishbowl we have been

living with this living room set up for a couple of weeks

and it's pretty cozy like it is small but it's functional

and it kind of feels like a better spot for a living room than the other place

because now it's like separate from the kitchen

and now the dining room is together with the kitchen so

if only this was just like a little bit bigger that would be great if this was the actual setup.

I think we would move this chair.

Also, yeah, we're just going to like play around with different furniture placements in this segment of the video.

This is a bench that I made, but just imagine this was a console.

We wouldn't use this actual bench, but just like imagine it was a console that went all the way across.

We would maybe have like a little TV here

because I do miss having the TV outside

and then probably like shelves here and then then some type of shelf thing going this way on this wall.

Are you seeing the vision with like a place for books underneath?

And then maybe we can do a little ottoman here and then

yeah it would be like a small but cozy and comfortable space for me and Chris.

And that's kind of like all the space that we would really need.

I made a quick sketch just to help visualize what i'm talking about

so yeah just a very cozy enclosed living room with the wraparound shelves

and console if for some reason you can't tell by my very lifelike drawing

that is an ottoman

that i drew in front of the sofa a lot of other people were saying

that you should position the couch underneath this long window

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and the reason why i didn't do that is

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because we wouldn't be able to use any of our rugs

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because they only go this way and

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if we were to rotate them this way they would be too large

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so we would need a different rug but we can just test out

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and see how it would look because i am open to getting a different rug

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if that that layout is a lot better i'm

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so lucky i have chris to help me move stuff

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because i like just don't like moving furniture by myself

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and i'm also really used to moving furniture around because

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when i was growing up my mom would always want to like rearrange the living room

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and i'd be like mom we moved these chairs back

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and forth like five times why are we doing it again

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but now i understand her generally you want your rug to be in the same orientation as your couch

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so because the couch is going this way the rug is also going this way

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but because the rug is too long we're not going to be able to rotate it

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so we're just going to move the couch and then we can see how that feels you good okay

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you know it's

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so much easier to move furniture in video games right now this is a like a six by nine rug

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so we probably need to size down to a five by eight

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if we wanted it to go this way let me take a step back

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and see i love this chair like i think it is the most beautiful furniture piece

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that we have but the problem with it is

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that it's kind of tall so

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if we position it like this feels kind of awkward maybe

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if it's like this i mean we could try putting it here

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but then i feel like it's

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so close to the door how about this floor lamp do

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you see the vision okay it actually kind of does help

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we could put the artwork there then the big one

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that we have that we haven't been able to put anywhere else i'm actually just going to bring

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that out just to see

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because i've been really hoping to like have a spot to place

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that something i didn't really consider when we got the house was

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that the ceilings weren't as tall as our old apartment

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so they're really let me turn off this this is kind of distracting

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so there wasn't really a good spot to put the artwork

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so this would be a nice resolution i also don't know how it's coming off on camera

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but it doesn't feel

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that cramped i think we could make this into a coffee

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table we just need to shorten the legs it feels pretty nice actually now that i'm

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taking it all in let us know what you think about this one

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and now we're moving on to the other configuration with the

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living room where the dining room currently is well i guess

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we should show you how the dining room looks right now

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this is how this area looks as the dining room

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but i feel like it's not very fair to this layout right now

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because we don't have any of the bamboo window treatments up

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which i feel like does make a really big difference what i would probably end up doing

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if this was the dining room is to create some type of like credenza thing.

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I'm going to put up some images so you have an idea of what I'm talking about.

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Imagine skylight room painted

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this color with bamboo shades and another option is to rotate the table this way

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which we can try but then it makes it

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so there's not very much room for whoever's sitting on this end

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because of the bench and I do definitely want some type of thing here that way I can put plants there.

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Flows a lot better with the kitchen being there and the dining room being here.

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One of the reasons why we set up the living room here in the first place was

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because that's how it was set up during the showing, during the open house.

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Subconsciously I just Was like okay, that's how it's supposed to be laid out

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and then that's what we did Let's just rotate the table just so we can give you a visual

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Chris likes it this way more too.

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The issue is just like here the person who's sitting this spot feels a little bit too close

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When I had it in this orientation I was like okay

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It needs to line up in the center of both of these windows, but if we free ourselves from that constraint I think it does actually work well.

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I'm really liking this layout right now with the dining room like this and the living room over there.

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Let me show you how the living room looks.

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There you go.

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Oh, just so casual, huh?

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But yeah, it looks, it looks good.

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How are you feeling about the setup?

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I feel good.

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I feel cozy.

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So does Theo.

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And then this is how it looks from the view of the couch

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so we changed the layout in the last video

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and people were like oh actually i don't think it works

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but i feel like a lot of people's minds are going

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to change once they see how it's laid out now i think the flow is a lot better

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but let's just try it the other way

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because why not we're also going to use this different rug it's the rug

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that we used to have in the bedroom

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but we switched it out for a larger rug

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that fits the space better i don't like it you don't

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like the rug oh i'm tired i like it with the road

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but not here not here well let's just set it up

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we're here might as well theo loves him whenever furniture is

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moved it's like it's a brand new setup for him yeah

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this isn't the i don't think this is the move should

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we just keep going just to see let's just see let's

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see i don't think i like it with this rug i will say that okay

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we're thinking this is not the layout but we should just go ahead

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and finish it so we know for sure get some closure this chair well okay let's try

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and move this chair here it's not horrible

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but it doesn't feel as good as the other setup i think let's see let's imagine walking in

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okay now we're gonna set it up how we originally had it what do you think no Okay, collectively, it's not the vibe.

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Theo always goes on furniture when it's moved, like it's a new piece of furniture.

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Oh, he's biting his butt.

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Now we're gonna move the living room back to how we had it before in that room.

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But we're gonna try using this rug.

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You look so cute.

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Okay, Theo.

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Go, go away.

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Okay, Chris is requesting that we do a transition.

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So we're gonna do a transition in three, two, one.

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The audio cut out here, and I don't really remember what I was saying, but I have to leave this in so that way Chris has his transition.

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It's just like a little bit too long, so it doesn't fit going this way.

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But you know, this direction, it doesn't feel horrible.

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Like, I think it kind of works we like this position right now um

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so we're gonna set it up like this

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and then have the table where it was before

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so one of the most popular suggestions was to make our current bedroom into the living room

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because that is the largest space and then make the office into our bedroom

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and then make this room into the office

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and i think it makes a lot of sense like just on paper

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because it's also an issue of having a small living room

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because the bedroom is very large

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and then it also solves the issue of feeling like the office is a bit secluded

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so then we're in like a more open space

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and this room would work as an office my qualms about doing

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that is that the bedroom feels very closed in

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because it has one window that looks onto a wall

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and then the only other window are the doors

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that lead out into the backyard and then the area outside the bedroom is covered

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so you don't get

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that much light coming in through those doors that's like my main thing is

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that it just feels very den like which is really good for a bedroom

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but for me it's not really great for living space i would be really open to trying out

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that layout if we're able to put skylights in the bedroom

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because that would pretty much solve all of our issues

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but we can only put skylights in certain areas just

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because of the constraints of how our roof is like how the roof line is set up

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and also a lot of people recommended

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that we should like tear down certain walls and stuff

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and i don't want to do anything like that until we're really sure of what we want because Yeah, that's just, like, pretty intensive,

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and I want to be sure of what we like and the flow of the space before we, like, go and knock stuff down.

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What is so frustrating is that in my last video, I told you that our insurance said that we'll have an answer by the end of August.

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Currently, it's August 28th, and unfortunately,

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we got an email from insurance stating that they need to extend until September 8th.

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i was i kind of expected this to happen honestly but i was really hoping it wouldn't

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but yeah they've extended again

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and it just it sucks i think by the time you're watching this it may already be september 8th

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so maybe we have an answer

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and people were recommending in my last home out dates

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that we switch it like this

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so thank you very much i also got a comment saying

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that it must be like very overwhelming to have

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so many people give their opinions and it is a little bit

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but i did ask you know i did ask

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and it is actually very helpful you guys are like my little team of designers

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that i like bounce ideas off of i would like to

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talk about climate power who i partnered with for this video

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i partnered with climate power to spread awareness about climate related

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issues in the united states i've talked about data centers before

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but it seems like the conversation is growing as more

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and more people are exposed to them whether it's online or within their own local communities.

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Oh come here Theo, come here.

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Theo brought me his froggy.

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Seven out of ten Americans oppose the construction of data centers in their area and it's not for no reason.

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Data centers take up huge swaths of land, require vast amount of water and electricity, so there's valid concerns about the environment and also our own electricity bills.

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And Trump's EPA just approved a bunch of life -threatening chemicals to be used by data centers

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while they're also trying to keep the public in the dark about the toxic pollutants that they produce.

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Also just separate from the increased energy bills and the environment, they're also such a nuisance.

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Have you heard the noise these things make?

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Just look up like data center noise and I cannot imagine having to live near that.

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And Trump also just recently posted something along the lines of like, if communities oppose data centers then they are backwards and poor.

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And this statement is of course coming from someone who will

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never have to experience the negative effects of living near a data center

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so what can be done local pushback can actually be very successful in 2025 48 data centers were either delayed

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or canceled due to organized opposition for example in a city

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near where we used to live in monterey park there was a proposed data center

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that was proposed to be built like right next to neighborhoods

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and with enough local organization they went to like city halls

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and they did protests they got that completely cancelled

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and they also banned the construction of data centers in the future in their own city.

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So yeah it's really impressive what people can do when they come together.

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People often talk about the inevitability of AI and even if

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that is the case it doesn't mean that we can't change how it's approached.

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We can demand transparency and accountability.

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We can demand that they be powered by clean energy and

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that they pay for it and

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that the public doesn't have to offset their electricity costs lawmakers are supposed to represent our best interests

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so we need to make sure that they stand up

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and push back there was recently a bill that was introduced

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that would require ai data centers to provide reports on their environmental impact

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and also energy impacts and levy fines for those

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that do not comply and i feel like

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that should have already been a thing but hey this is progress

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so yeah just remember that local action really can make a difference Hello.

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So it's been a couple of days.

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Chris is gone now.

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He went to go see his grandma in Florida

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and I've lived with this setup for a while and I really like it.

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So to everyone who was recommending this, thank you.

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The setup is also a lot more inviting.

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Like I feel like it's asking you to come sit on the couch.

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I put this monastery here just because I don't really have another good place for it.

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So it gets light here.

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Something this room is missing are vertical elements.

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Everything is very low.

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We don't really have anything on the wall.

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This helps a bit

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and it'll look a lot better once we have the shade

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on this window too i feel like to complete this room we need to put some stuff on the walls

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so we are going to be hanging the art piece it's just very large

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and awkward to handle

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so i'm going to wait for chris to come back to hang it up with him

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because i just don't want i don't want to mess it

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up we need lighting in here we don't have any lamps

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so i want to do i'm thinking a floor lamp in the corner kind of a taller one

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but in the meantime i was like oh i can use

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our clip -on lamp maybe this can fit on the windowsill

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and we can use this as our lighting source for now

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oh my gosh it like it barely fits okay how does that look I need to take a step back.

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Okay.

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I think that looks kind of cool.

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Very casual.

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Like, we just, you know, we just threw this up there.

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And finally, we have a light in here because we've just been using the overhead light, and it's sucked.

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Here, I want to put some shelves.

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As you can see, I sort of taped out the frame of where I want to put shelves.

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Either I'll make them myself, or I really like the string shelves, so I might look into getting those if they fit.

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I feel like this room needs a bit more little bits of personality

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and I think books are a great way to do that

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or to put little things up on a shelf like we need some height, we need some dimension, we need some little bits of texture and color and books are great for that.

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I'm currently reading Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow.

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I stopped after like 60 pages but I really liked it

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so I don't know why I stopped

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so I need to get back into it

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but like even putting this little book on the on the coffee table looks good

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so future home update we will put shelves up there over here we may end up leaving it blank just

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because there's going to be a lot going on in this room with the shelf

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and then the painting and then the lamp and it is quite small

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but i was thinking we could put a mirror here

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that way it reflects the artwork so

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that way you can kind of see the artwork

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when you're in the kitchen or another area of the house

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so i have this big ikea mirror I'm just gonna put there just to test my theory.

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I think we may need to sell this mirror It's just too big For anywhere in our house

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But we can see Looks like what this looks like.

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When you're standing right here It reflects artwork and it looks

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It makes the room feel a lot more open But this mirror is just too big.

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Now we have two artworks for the price of one i

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feel like we have an opportunity to put something here

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so i was going on facebook marketplace to find like a low bookshelf

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or a low drawer or like little console thing

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but then i realized that we have a piece that could work

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so if you remember in our apartment we had the black console

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that was like a long a long wall

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and they're in their own separate pieces so i took one of them off

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and i think it would work well here also ignore the wall

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i need to you know finish painting eventually

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but how does this look now we have an opportunity to

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put our books on one of these shelves not all of them

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but just some of them and like i was saying earlier books just like had

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so much personality and color um and texture so i'm gonna go into

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the bins that we have all the books have just been in the bin

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so i need to go get them So it's a mix of Chris's books and then some of mine.

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We can also put Theo's toys out because we had his toy basket in the bedroom.

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This is pretty handy.

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Now we can have them out here rather than having to go into the bedroom to put all of them away. And new toy update.

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last time when we bought this basket i showed you all of theo's toys

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and now i'm going to show you all of his new ones

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so obviously he still has his beavers he has i can only find three of them in this basket

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but he has like five of them right now

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and they're just scattered everywhere here theo comes oh i think

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this is a new one i think it is it's his cat sumo we originally bought this for winnie

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but winnie is just like scared of this thing

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but theo likes to play with it you can put your hand in it

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and it's like a puppet to play with have this little

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bear we try to get him new toys to see

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if he would like these more than the beavers

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but he still just keeps using the beavers little ducky a

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piggy says i'm kind of a pig deal okay theo let's play

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which toy do you want to play with i just usually

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whenever he wants to play he'll scratch at the box

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and then i'll dump them out and then i'll let him choose

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which one he wants to play with okay theo where's your toy where's your toy get your toy

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which toy do you want

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which toy do you want to play with okay he chose

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the ducky um do you guys know an avatar the last airbender

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when they choose the avatar by like laying out toys in front of them

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and depending on which one they choose that means

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that like they're the avatar so we kind of like to do

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that with Theo we lay out his beaver and his ducky

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and his bear or something and then we just play it with whichever one he chooses

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and it's always something different and I wonder what goes on in his mind like there's not that much consistency.

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Usually he'll pick his beaver, but you never know.

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It's a toss up.

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I always feel like something I'm not that great at is styling surfaces of things like coffee tables, nightstands, end tables.

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Like I can do shelves usually, but for some reason surfaces kind of stump me.

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I need to look at more inspiration to figure out like how to style it.

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I also feel like I don't have

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that many things to style like surfaces with

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so I have my magazines my Casa Brutus magazines you know I've shown you these a lot

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but this one is a plant one

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and then this one's just an interior one and I like to go through these every once in a while because

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whenever I look through I'm like oh I didn't notice

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that last time I looked through the magazine I think I would like to put a lamp here

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but we don't have any outlets and I'm not the biggest fan of rechargeable lights.

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So maybe we can just put this little horsey here for now.

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This is the Swedish dollar horse.

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And then I have this tapestry that I got secondhand and it used to hang in our bedroom in our old apartment.

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I feel like it could work here.

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Normally I have Chris to hold it for me.

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I think it could work.

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It's slightly larger than what's underneath

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and usually you want what's underneath the thing that's hanging to be slightly wider than it but it's only

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this is only barely bigger and it's like a lightweight tapestry

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so i feel like it's fine i'm going to do my little tape hack

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that i like to do my hang things it just makes

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it so much easier than rather than having to do a bunch of measurements

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so just put the tape over where i need to put the nails and then i just puncture a hole

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where i need to put it

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this print i got it second hand and the seller said

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that it was made in india and other than

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that i don't know too much about it

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but i really loved the graphicness of it

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and you can see little birds in it you can see bird here bird here bird over there

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and yeah i love the colors obviously

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if you know me you know i like these colors sometimes i feel like things look a little bit too

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matchy matchy like it looks good but it like everything goes together

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so well so i am thinking of ways to divert slightly from the color palette guys look a little baby deal

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that's another benefit of having the couch there is

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that it creates a nice sunspot for Winnie and Theo it's been a

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while since you've last seen my begonia look at this new stock it put out um yeah it's very long

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and it's just like sticking straight up so I was thinking of cutting it

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but I kind of feel bad cutting it like it looks

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so weird wait let me take off the tapestry

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so you can see it in all its glory

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so these are the older branches and we're even getting some cute little flowers

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and then you can see this just like monstrosity of a stick coming out the top

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and these have like a nice woody shape and form

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and this one is just it looks like a bamboo stock comical the way

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that you can't even see the top of it let me see

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if i can zoom you out even

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when i zoom you out all the way you can't even see the top

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and so i want to cut it i just want to cut the stock off

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but now that I'm faced with actually doing it I don't know

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if I can do it I just feel bad let me know in the comments should I cut it

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or should I just leave it and see how it grows

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but I am curious to see how tall it can get or like how long it can grow

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i'm really liking how this area is developing so far thank you

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so much to everyone who left comments about like what they thought we could do with this space very helpful

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um we haven't talked too much about like the kitchen

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or the other rooms probably do

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that in a future video i just really wanted to get one room

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that feels good because this whole time

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that we've been living here i feel like there hasn't been one room

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that feels a little bit done up or a little bit complete

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because we do feel like we're in that like transition period right now

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but now this room feels pretty done up to me we need to hang stuff up

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and we need some more window treatments, but other than that, it does feel like a semi -completed space. so

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that feels great I've seen some other creators videos where they always say like you need to get one room

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that you like like just start in one room

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and I definitely agree with that

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because now I feel a lot better being in the house knowing

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that there's at least like one space that feels kind of like calm

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and put together when the rest of the house looks crazy thank you

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so much for watching and thank you to climate power for partnering with me on this video

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and I will see you in the next one.

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Goodbye.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Home Updates”. This video has 461 sentences and 5546 words to shadow. The speech runs for 30:19. The speaker talks fast, about 183 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
shelf noun	/ʃɛlf/	A flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects.
dine verb	/daɪn/	To eat; to eat dinner or supper.
bamboo noun	/bæmˈbu/	Any of the fast-growing grasses of the Bambusoideae subfamily, characterized by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem.
shade noun	/ʃeɪd/	Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.
furniture noun	/ˈfɝ.nɪ.t͡ʃɚ/	Large movable item(s), usually in a room, which enhance(s) the room's characteristics, functionally or decoratively.
couch noun	/ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/	An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.
lamp noun	/ˈlæ̝mp/	A device that generates light, heat, or other electromagnetic radiation. Especially an electric light bulb.
layout noun	/ˈleɪ.aʊt/	A structured arrangement of items within certain limits.
artwork noun	/ˈɑɹtˌwɝk/	A painting, drawing, sculpture or other piece of creative, visual art.
beaver noun	/ˈbivɚ/	A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere.
console noun	/ˈkɑn.soʊl/	A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system.
cosy adjective	/ˈkoʊzi/	Affording comfort and warmth; snug; social and comfortable.
rotate verb	/ˈɹoʊ.teɪt/	To spin, turn, or revolve.
underneath adverb	/ˌʌndɚˈniθ/	Below; in a place beneath.
toy noun	/tɔɪ/	Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
lay out verb	/ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/	To expend or contribute money to an expense or purchase.
set up verb	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	To make ready for use.
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
look through verb		To take a view of the contents of; search in, either with the eyes or by hand.
step back verb	/stɛp ˈbæk/	To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation.
take off verb		To remove.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You can't see it as much right now.
Are you seeing the vision with like a place for books underneath?
How are you feeling about the setup?
Have you heard the noise these things make?
We don't really have anything on the wall.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to have · used to live · used to hang
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	we've just been using · we've been living
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	we've had · haven't had · have been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is called · are arranged · is installed

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 136 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shelf /ʃɛlf/, shade /ʃeɪd/, configuration /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/, recommendation /ˌɹɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: configuration /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/, recommendation /ˌɹɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən/, begonia /bəˈɡoʊni.ə/, monastery /ˈmɑnəˌstɛɹi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like shelf, dine, bamboo.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Home Updates | Trying your ideas, decorating the living room & bamboo blinds - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?