Hello there! Are you ready to peak into someone's home? I know I am. My guest this week is sweet Silvia. I met her through this blog -- can I just say how incredible this is? -- and it's funny because we've been finding some things in common. Like me, she is an expat living in San Francisco (her blog is Golden Gate Babies), quite far away from her beautiful Madrid. We both know how difficult it is to leave home behind, and how comforting it is to know that we can find home somewhere else.
Silvia was nice enough to open the doors of her apartment to us. She's been living there with her family for two months, but already had made the space her own with the help of her favorite things. "I am a big fan of keeping stuff. Throwing something away is hard for me. On the other hand, my husband is Swedish, so he's got this functional clean-line uncluttered style when it comes to decorating", she says. "So we try to do a mix: clean lines accented with high-emotional-value items, infused with a 50s feeling. I think we got it with this apartment".
So here's Silvia's favorite corner:
Why did you choose this specific corner as your favorite?
This is the first time we have a bedroom so big. Huge, I'd say. It fits two bookshelves, our bed, the lady's crib... And we had space for more. So we decided to create a "relax area" where you could just sit/lay down and read a good book. My husband was not super convinced by the Ikea-super-cheap sofa (it was 150 bucks...) but I think it fits perfectly, and we get an extra bed in case we ever need it. I specially like this corner because all items displayed mean a lot to us. Having moved from Europe, we have gathered little things that remind us from our family and our past: we have pictures of grandparents and great-grandparents, little vintage pieces that are over 80 years old (the little scale, for example), my poetry book collection, some of my favorite books, my grandpa's camera (which, by the way, was used to take the pictures on top of the shelf!)
What is your favorite object in this space? Where does it come from?
Hard to choose... But I would say the matrioshki. They come from the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia at the time) and they were given to me in 1991 I think. My aunts brought them as a present to my 7 year old self from their tour around Central Europe. I found them at my parents' place when I was pregnant and they suddenly got a new meaning: now they represent the four generations in my family. Great-grandma is the big one, the second is my mom, the third is me and the tiny one is little Leah (for a few months the tiny one was "hidden" in the third one until I gave birth). Another item I love is the blue case. I got it in a vintage store in San Francisco one week after we moved in. It even came with its original key!
Which object you would like to have in this corner but still don't have?
A lamp. We're a bit behind on the illumination department. We haven't had time to change the ceiling lamps or buy other lamps. I would also like to hang something in the walls. I am currently looking for cute prints to brighten up the wall.
This one's easy: the curtains. I didn't take pictures of the upper part. We don't even have one bar to hang them... They're hanging from the metal panels on the windows.
In your opinion, what makes a corner a favorite corner?
I think it's the meaning of the things that are in that corner. In this case, this shelf is our little backdoor to Europe, and the sofa has become our backdoor to relax. When we are there it means that there is nothing we should be doing, we have free time to do non-productive things. It is great to have a place to take a break in your own home. And curiously, it is not the bed!
Thank you so much for sharing this special corner, Silvia! I'm super envious of all that space, wow!
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If you'd like to participate in this feature, I'm always accepting submissions! Just drop me a note on Twitter (xoviv) or on shelikescherries[at]gmail[dot]com. I would love to see your favorite corner.
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