00:00Hi, I'm Brett, and I'm Ashley, and this is Zoe, and welcome to our Sweet Digs.
00:05Slash production space.
00:06Come on in.
00:10So we live in the historic core of downtown LA.
00:13We pay about $2,900 a month to live here, which is actually really good for LA.
00:18We can walk to pretty much any bar, restaurant, anything you want.
00:22We have a pool, free parking, two bathrooms.
00:25We own our own daytime production location rental business, where we essentially rent out locations for television, film, commercials, music
00:34videos.
00:35We also offer online training for people who want to do the same thing we do and have their space
00:40rented out for production events or meetings.
00:48This is our living room.
00:49The most expensive piece in this apartment is this couch and chair set that we have.
00:54We love mid-century design, but we hate paying for it.
00:59So I actually found these on Craigslist, and it was a little under $1,000.
01:05It's nice and sleek and has a kind of sophisticated edge, and it's pretty comfortable.
01:09We justified spending a little bit more on just decorating the space and getting furniture,
01:13because we knew we were going to be using pier space to make money off of our space.
01:19It's more like an investment than it is just, you know, actually just buying something you have for your home.
01:23So I think probably our favorite part of the space has to be this garage-swinging door.
01:28People can load in equipment here.
01:30We load in groceries through this door.
01:32Lazy days.
01:33Yeah, super lazy.
01:33Pull the car right up.
01:34It's been really cool to have just as an access point.
01:37This is our dining slash kitchen area.
01:41A lot of the decor elements come from DIY projects that I did myself.
01:45I actually found these at Joann Fabrics for about $10 a piece.
01:49Got some stain from Home Depot, and now it serves as this beautiful shelf area with a whole bunch of
01:56ingredients I never use, but it looks nice.
01:58And then also this chalkboard wall that we actually did ourselves one day.
02:03I always love to do different design graphics on here, different decals, and it gives it like a really cool,
02:08unique edge that not a lot of apartments have.
02:10Probably the most sentimental piece in our whole place is this kitchen table.
02:14It was actually named after me, which is so cool.
02:17Of course, I went on Craigslist, and I actually found a table maker.
02:21We met with him in person, sat down, told him what we were looking for in terms of the size,
02:25the style, the design, the type of wood we wanted to use.
02:29It's just a really awesome part of our loft, and we'll probably never get rid of this thing.
02:32In here, we have the kitchen.
02:34So this counter we actually got on Craigslist.
02:37I ended up finding this thing for $125 from a gelato restaurant, which is actually just a block away from
02:44here.
02:44The two of us hold this thing by foot down the street at like 9 o'clock at night.
02:49Probably my number one tip for Craigslist is always keep looking.
02:53This is the first floor main bathroom.
02:55We actually don't use this bathroom that much, only for guests.
02:58This is where we hide Louis's litter box.
03:02I did a lot of the art on the walls.
03:03I bought a couple of really cheap frames for like $4.
03:06I wrapped them in wrapping paper and literally used leftover nail polish that I had to just make some wonky
03:12little abstract piece.
03:14And boom, instant bathroom on a budget.
03:17We have a second living room.
03:19The previous tenants actually used this space for a second bedroom, but since it's only the two of us, we
03:24thought, why not have a comfier, more chill, relaxed living room?
03:29The other room is more of a nice seating entryway.
03:32This is more of the cozy space that we like to watch movies and entertain friends.
03:35So there once was a piece of furniture that we disagreed on.
03:39However, it is no longer in the space.
03:41And that is because it was a terribly ugly beanbag chair.
03:45I thought it was kind of cool looking, but apparently not.
03:48We see who won.
03:49We do a really good job of working together and kind of using the space together.
03:53We didn't want it to be too girly or too masculine, so I tried to keep that in mind when
03:57designing the space and make it really feel like it was both of ours and not just mine or not
04:01just his.
04:02All of the art in the space is actually original artwork from a very famous artist, me.
04:09I'm just kidding.
04:10I'm not a famous artist.
04:10But for our production business, it's really important that we have art that can be used for pretty much any
04:16backdrop without having to get any crazy legal releases sign.
04:20So I made some wonky abstract designs that are pretty neutral, and it works out.
04:27So I decided to take this blank space and turn it into a gallery wall.
04:32A lot of this art I did myself, of course.
04:35But I also found some really cool pieces from old geology books, some of these stencils are mine, I also
04:41took some clippings from the Tao Te Ching, and just funny little phrases that make you laugh as you walk
04:48up the stairs.
04:49Here we have our bedroom, really cool.
04:51Ashley is very comfortable in the bedroom, she likes to sleep all the time.
04:55All the time.
04:56One of the biggest things that we were lacking with this place was not having a designated closet space.
05:01We were really limited on storage.
05:03We actually got the inspiration to build our closets from boutiques, and we picked up the components all from Home
05:10Depot for pretty cheap.
05:11It's kind of like living in the closet, in a way.
05:13A really big closet.
05:15I would describe our home style as sort of a blend of several different styles.
05:20There's obviously a lot of mid-century modern elements to some of the furniture and the way it's laid out,
05:24but there's also some bohemian and sort of Scandinavian elements as well.
05:29I would categorize it as Craigslist chic.
05:32Because everything in here is from Craigslist, if I haven't said that already.
05:36Here is the bathroom.
05:39Since we're on the ground floor in the middle of downtown, it's very much so a fishbowl type of environment.
05:46Meaning, sometimes when I get out of the shower, I don't realize the blinds are open, and I just walk
05:51outside all naked.
05:52Usually in the morning when we're getting ready, we keep the blinds down, and when everyone's dressed and decent, we
05:57open the blinds, and we know that there's not going to be any mishaps with someone seeing something they shouldn't
06:02have been.
06:03We met, what, almost nine years ago?
06:05Nine.
06:06I'd like to say we met through mutual friends, but technically it was Facebook.
06:09It was Facebook.
06:10So I sent Ashley a well-crafted message.
06:13It was a novel.
06:14That explained my interest.
06:15That was it.
06:16We were really close early on.
06:20BFFs.
06:21Before we started this Peer Space business, we were, I was an accountant, a CPA, doing a lot of boring
06:27stuff.
06:28And I have a sales and marketing background.
06:31This business has allowed us the opportunity for us to both quit our jobs and run this business full-time.
06:35I think probably the biggest lesson we learned was just to be open and seek opportunity wherever you can.
06:40When people ask us, like, how do you deal with having strangers in your house all the time?
06:44When we tell them how we were able to build a business and how fun it is, it really kind
06:49of changes the conversation and makes it seem like such a great opportunity, which it is.
06:53This is our dream apartment.
06:54We are so lucky and feel so grateful that we found this place when we did, and we've spent the
06:59last three years kind of making it feel like home.
07:02I think the next step would be buying a house out here in L.A.
07:05If we could change one thing about the apartment, it would probably be the storage.
07:09More storage would be good, but that can come with a house because it would be a lot bigger.
07:17We'll see you next time.
