- Hello, lovely people!

So recently, I moved into a new house,

and I finally, finally have a room that can be my office.

I'm a full-time YouTuber, and I work from home

with my carer, slash production assistant,

slash 'oh my god, how is one person so helpful?', Clara.

All of my writing, filming, editing, and admin is done here.

And we used to work at the dining room table

in my old house, which since the ground floor

was entirely open plan, wasn't the best.

We didn't have anywhere to set things up permanently either,

so we always had to tidy away at the end of the day.

I am a big fan of sticking lots of stuff on the wall.

If I wasn't so aesthetically obsessed,

there would definitely be a kind of "Beautiful Mind"

situation going on in here.

It was also very hard to shut off from working

when I was having dinner,

and my work is literally on the same table.

We also work with dogs.

They aren't great at typing,

but they're vital to the company.

Vital.

So the four of us needed a space to work

that's calm, organized, easy to use, and also accessible.

Oh this, oh, I didn't mention this?

Yeah.

So I'm not always in my wheelchair,

but I really need the office to work for when I am.

But here's the problem.

Uh, I hate spending money on myself.

I can spend money on other people,

I can buy a present for Claudia,

I can buy her a new bike,

I can put money towards something that benefits both of us,

like the house, or a new rug,

or absolutely anything our dogs need,

because I'm very broody right now, they're my babies.

But if it's just for me--

(groans uneasily)

It isn't just with wants, either,

it's also with needs.

I really do need a power chair.

Or mobility scooter of some kind,

but that's money.

I'm gonna link it back to internalized ableism.

Hi, if you just came here for a room makeover,

understand it's suddenly gotten political.

Start cute, slip in a lesson later.

I know, it's sounds silly but, having grown up

with a disability , I've carried this weight

inside me that says, "Am I worth this?"

"Do I deserve it?"

And I wouldn't let anyone else feel that way

about themselves, believe me.

If you came to me and told me you felt the way,

that way, that I do, I'd say, "Let's work through this."

"You are valid, and worth the world."

"You deserve whatever it is you need."

But in my brain, it's entirely practical.

Do I make enough money to merit this expense?

Talking about money is very difficult for a British person,

by the way, so you really should feel blessed.

(ding)

But how much is enough?

Will there ever be an enough?

I think the answer is no.

- We deserve to buy

the office furniture of your choice.

- We worked for three years in your living room

and made a viable business with profit.

- The last month we were just surrounded by boxes

and my bike, and everything.

- [Jessica] Yeah, true, I'm so sick of your bike.

- It's like the Paralympians, you have to be

an extraordinary disabled person to warrant being

spoken about.

I see, most often, disabled people on television,

in the news, 'child with down syndrome jumps into

a lake to save a kitten from drowning,'

'a man with no legs climbs a huge mountain and

raises thousands of pounds,' 'a woman in a wheelchair

fends off a mugger using just two fingers.'

All right, that last one was a bit weird.

The point is, I feel like I have to work twice as hard

to be even considered.

Considered for what, Jessica?

Go and buy the darn office furniture.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god.

Aah, did it.

That's the most money I've ever spent on myself.

But, if it helped me be more productive,

it's (squeaks) either feeding into my thoughts,

or helping cure them, so.

Let's build an office!

Yes, I have straight hair today.

It just grows out of my head this way, you'll

have to deal with it.

So it's day one, we've cleared the space.

We've cleaned the space.

All except for my writing desk and chair,

which we're keeping in that corner any way,

so they're just staying there.

Now we have quite a few Ikea boxes

that have been delivered this morning, 22 in fact.

So, let's get ready.

(upbeat music)

We now have a room full of boxes, da da da da!

Now we just have to work out which of these boxes

go in this room,

which of them go in the living room.

(music continues)

- Hello, and welcome to Claudia explains

the Ikea chair of Jessica's dreams.

So, apparently she's told me to give a tutorial

on how to use this chair.

- [Jessica] It's an important thing to know.

- It is!

Standing and you want to sit.

This is quite an amazing thing, look,

it doesn't move very much even though it's on wheels,

this is quite heavy until

you sit on it, and then it's like

moves around very easily.

You can adjust the backing here, with the little

"knobble," "knobble?"

"Nozzle?"

You can lean back and it will stay like that,

you don't have to force it back to stay,

which is very nice.

Bouncing, so whilst you're like, thinking,

and then you pan forward.

And then this lever here obviously

raises you up, or pushes you back down.

So, this bit either comes forword or back,

depending on how much, I guess knee support you want.

Which is actually really clever.

So there's like multiple bits that you can adjust.

Very fifties--

- It's the 1950s office chair, that's why we got it.

Yes, I did change.

(laughs)

It looks a little like I'm wearing

some kind of a wedding dress, doesn't it?

- Always.

- First one to the garage door is a winner!

- First one to the window!

- Aah, no!

- Ha ha, I still won!

(upbeat music)

- [Jessica] We've come to a problem.

As you can see, this does not line up,

however, we can't click the bottom piece

and the top piece together because this bit of metal here.

So, which piece is wrong?

Are all the pieces wrong?

(music continues)

We've been a bit much for Walter.

(music continues)

- Yeah! - Yay! (laughs)

- Okay, so, end of day one,

many boxes were delivered, we did lots of

carting boxes around, we built two chairs,

we built a cabinet, - Mm hm.

- I'd say we've done pretty well!

- Yeah, we also had to take the dogs for a groom,

pick up our nephew, doorman come as well,

- Yeah, because 10,000 pounds is an extortionate

amount to pay for a front door.

- Yes and we had another quote obviously.

I went grocery shopping, - Yes.

took the dogs for a walk, so

we've done lots of other stuff as well.

- Yes, I think we've done well, darling.

I wouldn't put our achievements down.

- I was hoping to finish the office today, I must say.

But we didn't really--

- That may have been overoptimistic.

- We didn't really get started on it until 3:30,

and then we had to go pick up our nephew,

and the dogs from their groom,

so we've only really spent maybe what, like, a total of

three-and-a-half, four hours on it?

- So, we're amazing.

(sighs)

- What are you gonna do, to like, you know

to reward me (laughs) that's the word.

- Anything you want.

What do you want.

Do you want Deliveroo?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- And a foot rub.

- You have Deliveroo and a foot rub.

(laughs)

- I actually do quite like putting up stuff.

- I know you do!

You're gonna have to reward me

for the hard labor that I loved.

- But I must say, every time in the past that I've done it,

I've never had someone assist me.

I kind of just crack-on with it,

so I'm having to learn to delegate and trust,

and I'm a bit like 'don't do it like that!'

'what are you doing?' 'don't put that there!'

Anyway...

- I love you.

- Goodbye!

- Hello, and welcome to day two of

'Jessica Does DIY in a Wedding Dress.'

This one's from Collectif, courtesy of Top Vintage.

You'll notice some nice lace detailing,

and, the more stereotypical lesbian does DIY outfit.

Take a moment, take a spin, my love, take a spin.

Looking good, we've got some boyfriend jeans here,

on point,

- A tank top.

- Yes.

- I think you should go get changed.

- Hmph.

I've changed into a more appropriate DIY outfit,

look at this.

A vintage shirt, lovely little blouse,

it's very pretty, look, it's embroidered.

And right now, we're going to create some tables!

Gonna create my table, my desk, and then Clara's desk.

- Well, actually, we're doing Clara's first, I think.

- [Jessica] Yeah.

- There's less to it.

- [Jessica] Yes, because my desk is very special, isn't it?

- It is.

- [Jessica] But you'll see that once we build it.

(upbeat jazz music)

So my table is very special, because

I need to sit at it like this.

This, by the way, is how I sit at all tables.

It's very good for your back, for your lower back,

did you know?

I can be sat, like so, working away,

I should probably have my chair a bit higher,

I know, don't write in about that, it's fine.

For when, you know, I should mix it up, because

don't want to get a palsy by staying

in the same place for too long,

oh yes!

Hi.

Hi, hi, hi.

Ooo!

Aah.

- [Claudia] You're not gonna have to work that high.

- Now I have a standing desk.

There we go.

Look at that, how good is that?

Not only is there a little button,

I'm gonna show you the little button.

There's this little lever here,

which goes up and down,

you can also use an app on your phone,

which I would show you but my phone's out of battery,