00:00I'm Sarah Ashley and welcome to Salt House headquarters. I mean my sweet dig.
00:04Let's check it out. I live here with my fiancee Jared and we're in Brooklyn, New
00:10York so we're right on the border between the neighborhoods of Boreham Hill,
00:13Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens. We pay $46.75 in rent which is a lot but if you
00:21know the New York City marketplace we actually are getting a lot of value for
00:25what we're paying. So we live in a duplex so there's two different levels.
00:28There's one bedroom, two-and-a-half bathrooms, and we also have an amazing
00:32outdoor space that has two levels as well.
00:37Here's the kitchen. This used to be the least favorite room in the apartment but
00:42I've made a lot of changes to it. I actually changed the look of all these
00:46counters. They're not really marble. This is all done with contact paper and then
00:51we also did something similar with the cabinets which are fine. They're just a
00:55wood darker cabinet but in order to sort of brighten everything up I put this
01:00wallpaper on it. Also the open pantry and the spice rock, both of those sort of
01:05speak to form and function because they're both really beautiful to look at
01:09but it also creates so much more storage space which I'm definitely lacking.
01:13Everything looks super neat and organized but if you guys were to take a
01:17peek in some of my drawers and cabinets you would not see such a pretty
01:21picture. So I too caught the Marie Kondo bug and just took everything out, threw
01:26away everything that was already expired or just things that I honestly wasn't
01:30using that much. It's made every part about being in my kitchen such a better
01:35experience. I feel like our environment impacts the way that we feel so much and
01:39if I want to feel inspired to cook then I need to be in a space that I love. I
01:43was on
01:43the first season of a TV show called The Taste that was on ABC and it was a
01:48competitive cooking show and it was a super fun experience. I learned a ton and
01:53that led me to move to New York City and start my company, Salt House, which is a
01:57lifestyle brand all about helping people tap into their own creativity and find
02:01more joy in everyday living. I think that my favorite thing to cook is a
02:05perfectly roasted chicken just because it's so easy to do so I always like to
02:10recommend that for beginners because it's a really great way to build confidence in
02:14the kitchen and even if you ask top chefs that's often their answer is just
02:18perfectly simple roasted chicken. And this is the dining room. I really love this
02:23table. It has this really beautiful copper base and it's also very special to me.
02:27Every week I like to do a little date night, Jared and I, so I'll cook a special
02:31dinner for us and towards the end of the meal he always kind of just motions over
02:35and I always go and sit on his lap for a little bit and that's actually where we
02:39got engaged. I also really love to collect dishware, all different kinds of
02:42plates and serving bowls so I needed a place to put everything so I think this
02:47IKEA piece is really great because it has so much storage space and I love that
02:51it displays as well as has the drawers that you can pull out so you can store
02:55stuff in there too. Another feature about this room that I love is the Lucite
02:58bar cart. It's locally made and available on our website salthousenyc.com and it's
03:04really cool that we have a bar upstairs and downstairs. And this is the bedroom.
03:09This bed is definitely the centerpiece of the room. I knew that I wanted a canopy bed
03:15when we were moving in here and Jared actually was not into the idea at first
03:19but I convinced him and he ended up loving it. I got these nightstands which
03:23were a little bit of a challenge to find just because the bed is so high and most
03:28nightstands today are built pretty low. Initially I was gonna get the dresser that
03:32matched these nightstands but ended up coming damaged and it was gonna be months to
03:36get another one so I picked out this black dresser and I actually ended up
03:40liking it so much more just because I don't typically love the matchy matchy
03:45look. We have a no screens policy for the most part in the bedroom. We don't have a
03:49TV and I definitely try to avoid being on my phone. Jared and I met because he was
03:54my lawyer. He was starting my business for me when I was starting my LLC and yeah I
04:00guess you could say I was definitely his favorite client. When we were moving in
04:03together this was his first time moving in with a girlfriend and he was
04:07definitely having a little bit of an identity crisis because I was just
04:11getting rid of all of his stuff. He ended up trusting me he loves my aesthetic so
04:15rest in peace to Jared's old stuff. This is our master bathroom which is one of
04:20three. We have another one on this floor which has a little tiny tub in it and
04:25then there's another half bath downstairs. All the bathrooms pretty much look the
04:29same so to spice things up definitely into some accessorizing. I got this fun
04:34rug from Urban Outfitters and then a little pop of color in the towels from
04:39H&M and like this little soap dish which is a bracelet that I wouldn't actually
04:43wear but it just kind of worked under this gemstone soap. This is the living room.
04:52I had a huge laundry list of all these things I wanted in a place. I wanted two
04:57levels and stairs and tons of natural light and an outdoor space and all these
05:01things. Jared's dad thought that I was totally nuts and he was like there's no
05:04way that you're gonna find an apartment with all those things and I have to say
05:07we hit almost all the boxes. The only thing that I want in my next place is a
05:12fireplace. The first thing that I did when we moved in was painted this wall
05:17blue just because I knew that it would be an accent sort of focal piece for the
05:21room and then I wanted to create a gallery wall on top of that. It's really
05:25interesting I think to create your own art for a gallery wall. It's a way that
05:28you can do it a little bit more affordably and you can also tailor
05:32pieces in that way to match the aesthetic of your space. My favorite splurge item is
05:37definitely this sectional sofa. It's made by a maker named Kristin Drohan and it's
05:44just so deep and comfortable. Sometimes sofas are really beautiful but you do not
05:49want to sit on them for an extended period of time and this one you do. The bar
05:54underneath the stairwell is also one of my favorite pieces. I knew I wanted to
05:58utilize the space underneath the stairs. We love entertaining so it's great
06:02having this down here. And behind it is my home office. Truly being at home is one
06:08of my favorite ways to be inspired and that's why I feel like having an
06:12environment that really lights you up is so important. I've even found a way to
06:16turn this little corner of my home into miniature art studios. I have my easel
06:22and so many different art supplies. Cooking was my first love and from
06:26there I went into home decorating and later on I got into painting and I
06:30realized they were all just methods of expressing myself through creativity. I
06:35love painting in particular because I feel like it's a way that I can truly turn
06:39my mind off and really get into the present moment even more so for me than
06:43with cooking. I really think that the home is one of the most powerful ways that we
06:48can find more joy in our lives. Just waking up in a space that feels inspiring
06:52to me, something that really reflects who I am, it's something that brings me so
06:57much joy.
