Feature article

At home with Sala founder Sarah Lindsay

Step inside Sarah Lindsay's stunning Ponsonby villa restoration.

11 August 2025

AI summary

Sala founder Sarah Lindsay offers a glimpse into her restored 1800s Ponsonby villa. The home reflects her design philosophy of mixing old and new, using secondhand finds and vibrant colours to give each room its own unique life and mood.

The space is a family sanctuary focused on connection, with rituals like phone-free meals and listening to records. Lindsay fills her home with art from local artists, creating a dynamic, personal environment that feels alive and nurturing.

As you might gather from their conversational seating set-ups, the couple enjoy hosting, “but at the moment,” says Sarah, “I prefer to be hosted. We live such busy lives and at the end of the day, I have decision fatigue, so I like switching off and surrendering to the choices of someone else’s menu.”

Wiggle candlesticks by Bias Editions pick up on the colour in paintings by Grace Bader in the dining room furnished with a handcrafted table Sarah and husband Joshua found on Trade Me. She explains it was sent up from Ōtautahi/Christchurch by a couple who had fed their family around it for 20 years. “I love that we’ll do the same for our family for the next 20 — a continuation of tenderness.”

As well as her treasured record player, Sarah says her most prized possession might be copy of singer/songwriter Patti Smith’s memoir, Just Kids. “A friend bought it for me for my first trip to India, and it has since become my favourite book and travelled around the world with me."