Check This Space looks at how millennials live in Toronto, taking readers inside the homes and lives of some of the city’s favourite social media personalities. Watch for regular instalments of this series on thestar.com.

Hatecopy, a.k.a., Maria Qamar, is a 27-year-old Canadian artist and Instagram star known for creating pop art inspired by her life as a young, South Asian woman. With about 125,000 Instagram followers, a recent book called Trust No Aunty, an Elle Canada cover and shout-outs from the likes of Mindy Kaling under her belt, Qamar has come a long way from her days as a junior in advertising.

Eager to live on her own away from home, Qamar first moved away from her parents’ Mississauga home when she got into Seneca College’s Markham campus for advertising. After landing a job in Toronto after graduating, Qamar moved to the city and never left.

She moved into this one-bedroom, second-floor apartment in the Distillery District last October. As someone who works from home — and works a lot — Qamar loves the open concept, 645-square-foot live-work space and its high ceilings, perfect for large canvases. She says she pays about $1,900 in rent. As you enter the home, you can see some of Qamar’s earliest paintings lined up against the hallway wall — a temporary storage solution, she says, but a nice way to introduce guests to what she’s all about.

What do you like best about your home?

I love the ceilings. The height is very ideal for me. I love the fact that it’s far away from downtown, that it’s not loud but it’s close enough that I can go wherever I want without time being a huge factor. I like the fact that it’s in the Distillery. I love the Distillery.

What is the worst or most challenging aspect of this space?

The most challenging aspect of this space is that TV. I don’t watch a lot of TV, much like a lot of people. I watch Netflix whenever I have the time. I bought that TV so I could play my Nintendo Switch but I don’t really get the time to do that.

I don’t like traditional methods of living. When you walk into somebody’s home, you see a living room, a couch, a TV, an armchair, a nice rug — the standard. That’s cool but it’s not practical for me. So that TV is kind of just taking up wall space that could be used for artwork, an easel, ongoing projects. I would probably get a projector because I have a lot of white walls. That would be more suitable for me than a big clunky television. I don’t even have cable.

Is space a challenge?

In Toronto? Yeah. That’s why I stuck with this place because a lot of the condos in my budget were just tiny, tiny closets.

For a lot of people when they move to a city, like a downtown area, they want glass walls so you can see the city and high floors. Those things are just not practical for me because if I’m moving canvases in and out, I don’t want to be on the 32nd floor. There was a project that I was doing where I had to be plaster-casted for a statue. And at that time I was living in a fishbowl condo and the neighbouring buildings could see me butt-naked and covered in plaster, posing. These are all things I have to take into consideration when I’m looking for a place.

It has to be ventilated. When I’m spraying something, I have to open a window. The air flows really nicely in this place, but before when I lived in a highrise, obviously for safety reasons, the windows don’t open more than a few inches. So once there’s a smell in there, it’s not leaving.

How well does your kitchen function for cooking or baking?

The kitchen is a pretty standard condo kitchen. It’s open-concept, which is nice. It did not come with a kitchen island, which is not so nice. I like to host and I like to feed people. I only make Desi food, I can’t cook anything else. And I always make enough for a family of 10. So it’s a nice space for entertaining and cooking and I love it a lot.

What is your neighbourhood like? What do you love most about it?

The Distillery District is the most family-friendly, wholesome neighbourhood. I’ve basically lived all around Toronto and this location feels nice. It’s like a breath of fresh air. It is still a touristy area but not the kind where you have a thousand selfie sticks and kids running around screaming. It’s not like a Dundas Square or Entertainment District type of situation. You can have a nice Sunday stroll, a hot chocolate, chill out, go to Balzac’s or something. It’s a very chill neighbourhood so you feel like you’re surrounded by family and you’re in a nice, quiet area but you’re still pretty much downtown.

What are some of your favourite places to eat/drink/hang out nearby?

To be honest, I don’t even leave this place so I mostly get Uber Eats. And my go-to is King’s Palace, which, if you don’t know, is where all the authentic biryani is. For drinking, it’s Pacific Junction or Buddies.

What is commuting like to and from this neighbourhood?

I take an Uber mostly wherever I go.

How affordable is this area and your home in particular?

For this space I pay about $1,900, so it is pretty pricey. But all I do is work, so I’m able to make it work for me. This space was surprisingly below my budget. Obviously looking for a one-bedroom in Toronto — and if you’re living by yourself — is a nightmare. You kind of have to internally scream a little bit and then go you know what, it’s this or going back to mom and dad’s basement. So I had to suck it up and do it. It’s definitely better if you move in with a friend in a two-bedroom. This area is pretty affordable just because it’s not the crazy downtown that everybody is so obsessed with.

What would you tell another millennial looking for a home in this area?

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When I used to work as a junior in advertising, obviously I could never afford a place like this. That was like four to five years ago, so I lived in Davisville Village. I feel the exact same way about Davisville as I do about here, but that is way more affordable. Back then, the market was relatively better; my roommate and I were paying $1,750 for a two-bedroom. And obviously it wasn’t high ceilings and all this — these are things that you pay for. But it was a nice space to live, it was quiet, it was safe. That area I would recommend more for young people looking for places to live that are not so downtown that it’s annoying but close enough that you can get to work.

What’s kind of style are you going for with decorating this space?

Before I used to put an effort into how my place looked. But now I’m kind of getting into the zone where I want to buy a place and I think once I buy a place, then I’ll start caring more about that.

I like that I work where I live and that I can go from my bed to my office and still be in my pyjamas and be taking conference calls wherever I want. I like the comfort of that. So I kind of want to make this space ideal for me to move around freely and do whatever I want, but also have a space where people can come in and also hang out.

Where do you buy your furniture and decor pieces?

I’m a big fan of Eq3. And I also buy from Home Craft Decor, a supplier that basically supplies all the furniture for all the big restaurants in Toronto. They have amazing furniture that you would see if you go to a nice lounge, like the Thompson or the Drake Hotel. I got my kitchen island from there, it was custom-made. The office I built from Eq3 and the pieces I got to decorate from there as well. The rest of the pieces are Ikea and are my college pieces that I need to say bye-bye to. The rocking chair I got from Wayfair and there’s paint on it of course.

How long can you see yourself living here?

I actually tried buying this place off of the owner and she wouldn’t let me. If I keep asking her every day, she’ll give in. But I plan on buying in this building for sure, I love it so much.

If you didn’t live here, where would you live?

It’s between midtown and the east end for me.

What are you most likely to be doing in your space on a lazy Sunday?

On a lazy any-day I’m cooking because I love cooking. And there’s nothing I love more than waking up at a nice, decent, normal-person time and making breakfast. Like around 9 a.m.

If there was an emergency and you could grab just one thing to take with you, what would it be?

I would probably save my phone and my wallet because everything is replaceable, but the cards in my wallet would probably be the most annoying.

What’s in your junk drawer?

My junk drawer is basically my house. I just learned how to hide things.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Next: Inside the lakeside Beach home of creative designer Tiffany Pratt.