How Beautiful Is This Opera Singer’s Paris Apartment?
“What always surprises me about living in Paris is how free I feel,” says opera singer Sophie Arama, who lives with her husband, Felix, and their two daughters, Zoé and Pia. “It feels like my place — like I can dance or sing anywhere in the city. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” Here, Sophie gives us a tour of her family apartment…
LIVING ROOM
Pendant: Louis Poulsen. Sofa: Blou. Rug: Color Therapis.
On creating an exhibition-like environment: I like to leave magazines open, as well as meaningful books lying around on tables. When people walk into our home, I want them to feel comfortable picking things up or sprawling on the rug or wandering around. I never want people to feel confined to the sofa, trapped in the formality of being a guest.
Sofa: “old Ikea sofa reupholstered by Color Therapis.”
On apartment hunting: On the day we first saw this apartment, there was a major public transport strike across the city. At the time, our two daughters were still very young, but we decided to brave the chaos and make the journey. In the end, we were the only people who showed up to the open house! The agent said it was meant to be.
Chairs: Baumann, similar.
On hosting friends: When guests come over, I like to prepare a buffet spread on the table. I make a variety of salads and sweet potato crisps. I usually serve a cheese board with smoked salmon, breads, focaccia, roast vegetables, and crudités. To drink, we offer whatever wine we have on hand, plus gin and tonics. For my friends who don’t drink alcohol, I like to serve sparkling water or lemonade in cocktail glasses, with a lemon slice or raspberry.
DINING ROOM
Dining table: “from Portobello Décoration, a furniture shop in Le Marais.” Dining chairs: thrifted on leboncoin.
On birthday celebrations: For my children’s birthdays, I like hanging homemade garlands and setting out large coloring papers and felt pens on the floor. For my daughter’s second birthday, I got a little carried away and organized a bingo game for the kids. It was a little crazy considering the babies couldn’t read.
Egg candle: Merci.
On family hangs: We tend to spend most of our family time at this table. One of our favorite things is having long breakfasts together. We can spend an hour here, even on school days. We eat simple breakfasts, like cereal, or baguette and butter, along with fruit. On the weekends, we’ll walk to our neighborhood bakery for croissants and pains au chocolate.
On a family heirloom: I started piano lessons when I was 15. This piano originally belonged to my brother, who took piano lessons before I did. These days, I mostly use it to play scales and warm up my voice.
On finding a passion: When we were growing up, our neighbor taught classical singing. My brother and I would overhear singing coming from his apartment. When I was a teenager, my parents signed me up for a lesson, and my teacher introduced me to another student, a dramatic soprano called Marjorie Muray. She had a big, wonderful voice, and hearing her sing opened up a whole world to me. At that exact moment, I knew that singing was what I wanted to do with my life.
KITCHEN
On an unknown part of the job: Opera singing is an intensely physical profession. We need to be disciplined and in shape like athletes. We are also constantly anxious about how we are treating our voices — and being considerate of our neighbors when practicing!
On party playlists: When hosting dinner parties, I’ll usually just turn on the playlists I made for running. The song types vary dramatically — one track will be an opera aria, then it’ll turn to rap — which sometimes creates slightly awkward transitions. But I like how the mix brings an unexpected, slightly surreal feeling into the room.
GIRLS’ BEDROOM
Pendant light: Sentou, similar. Bunkbed: La Redoute. Rug: Color Therapis.
On children’s shops: The girls’ bedroom is my favorite room in our apartment. For decor and clothing, the children’s shops in Paris I adore are Bonton, Le Petite Souk, and Merci.
On sisters’ personalities: My older daughter is reflective, sensitive, and observant. One day, when I was framing a poster, I crumpled the poster because I wanted to give it a bit of texture. A couple of days later, my daughter came to me with a drawing she had deliberately crumpled and said, ‘Here, Mom, I crumpled it for you because I know you like crumpled things.’ My younger daughter also has an expressive, artistic personality, but is more extroverted — it feels like she’s always dancing!
On a party decoration worth every penny: I don’t remember where I found this swan piñata, but I do remember it was expensive. Still, I loved it and ended up getting it for a birthday party. We placed it on the floor in the middle of the party, so the children could eat the sweets inside. Since then, we’ve used it as a decoration all over the apartment. It turned out to be a good investment.
Desk: vintage. Mirror: thrifted.
On a Paris activity with kids: I started taking my girls to museums when they were babies. Museums are perfect for children because they are so calm and quiet, and kids have space to walk around. Some people worry kids are too loud to go to museums, but I think museums need life. I like to take my girls to contemporary ones, like Lafayette Anticipations and the Bourse de Commerce Pinault Collection.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
On real-life bedtime routines: After the girls go to sleep, I often spend the evening working in bed. I know it’s not cool, but at this stage of life, I don’t have much time for hobbies. But when I don’t need to catch up on work, Felix and I will hang out in the living room and watch a film on the projector.
On finding beauty in the ordinary: One day, my daughter made me a drawing, saying she drew it ugly in ‘an artistic way,’ and that’s why I would love it. And she was right! When my daughters move out to build their own homes, I hope they will always look for beauty in ordinary things, even something as simple as a fork. Life brings many challenges, but it is also beautiful. We just have to look for those beautiful moments.
Thank you so much, Sophie!
P.S. More beautiful house tours, including an empty-nester’s serene oasis, and a 430-square-foot Stockholm apartment that bursts with color.
(Photos by Leela Cyd.)
Tags: house tours
Comments
56 commentsAs someone who once had a neighbor who was an opera singer, we were always thrilled to hear him practicing fyi Sophie! :)
SO beautiful! Also, may I ask where you go the bed frame? Looking for something just like it!
Wow, so beautiful, soft and welcoming!
So enjoyed! What a lovely home. It exudes the beauty of living in one’s flow.
Love! Also, just came up for air from a deep rabbit hole dive looking for a source for Palais de Tokyo exhibit prints. One or two popped up on Etsy. If anyone cares to help a sister out here…
SAME!
Sweet potato crisps? Say more….
Just spend the last 30 min listening to Sophie and blown away by her voice. What a cool apartment and beautiful life she has built. https://www.instagram.com/sophiearama/reel/DBf-UUTgd1x/
Love the apartment, but love Sophia’s style even more! Can we get a beauty uniform? Dying to know what she has on her lips in the first photo.
I’ll ask her ! stay tuned :)
second this!
3rd this!!! Also kindly requesting a week of outfits from her as well, please
I am planning to move to Paris by the end of the year and for this reason, this apartment makes me feel giddy. Because what if this time it really worked out? Grinning from ear to ear.
Love this! Good luck Anon! xx
I love this space because it is unique to the people living there. It strikes me as mysterious to look at all the items and imagine the origin story. For US homes, you can identify the trend or store where every matching thing came from. Americans decorate as if they are completing a test and not as if they are filling a space with items they love.
I don’t think I have seen an American home that matches your description (granted many landlords and home sellers put those awful grey fake-wood floors in …). Sure, most of us don’t have the architectural details of a Parisian flat but that doesn’t mean they generally are uninspired or trendy. While we live in a 70s box and have some IKEA or West Elm furniture, there are also lots of vintage, thrifted and sidewalk finds, art and color, and the homes of my friends and family don’t look much different.
that’s not true for anyone i know in the us but go on.
I definitely know what you’re talking about, Andrea; I have a theory that many Americans are particularly vulnerable to flash-in-the-pan bulk purchases and seasons of accessories because advertisers want us to feel like our homes are supposed to be fully furnished immediately and it’s easier to lean into a quick, cohesive solution than it is to interrogate your own taste and sit with emptiness for a (maybe long) while. I think weddings turn impersonal and tacky for similar reasons: You’re throwing what’s likely the most expensive party of your life and expected to pull the trigger on things you’ve never needed to develop feels about, and it can seem easier and more pleasurable to be decisive and lean into trends than it is to really consider how you feel or don’t feel about, like, flowers on a banquet table. Europeans appear to have not marinated in that same postwar instant-gratification NORMAN ROCKWELL HOME!! thing that U.S. boomers grew up with and passed down through the generations. Tl;dr we eat the marshmallow immediately.
I love this breakdown Lauren — its taken me years (and lots of house tour interviews!) to realize that the key to a tasteful, personal home with a “lived-in” look comes with time, finding furniture, decor, and utilitarian home staples that feel true to you and your lifestyle. And then it takes time fussing around and figuring out what frame you like best for which photo, and moving rugs around, and so on! Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out, I think this reminder is SO helpful and encouraging for people who want their home to feel like a reflection of their true style, but also don’t know where to start, or don’t have the funds to buy tons of new pieces all at once. xx
Maybe this is generational? I’m in my early 50s. All of my friends homes are highly personalized, quirky, and befitting to their or their families’ personalities.
My 2 cents: I can only talk about the people’s kitchen I know. I assume that for 340.000 mill humans in the US – or any other country – the kitchen landscape offers a wild ride into all design universes known to humankind. What I do see in my realm: Relaxed & lived in like here or sleek minimalism with empty countertops to calm you down. In whichever way you choose to live in and with your kitchen, I am assuming it is mostly down to financial means and decisions where to invest, whether it is your own home or rental, and above all your proximity to (self-imposed) pressure points like the internet, your neighbours, your own insta account and anybody else in your circle who did not get the memo that you are not your kitchen. Or maybe you forgot that you are not a kitchen yourself. My rental kitchen does not possess one ounce of what I like, but I choose to cover it in fruit bowls, candles and pictures to even out the fact that I would like to have a really long – and I’ll try to reign in my emotions – chat with the person who installed a plastic white kitchen with plastic faux marble countertops. Hi from Europe, may you cook good meals in your kitchens, however they look like : )
that is the chicest apartment tour on the internet. best detail: the Palais de Tokyo poster with the stacked cowboy hats echoing the poulsen lamp. and maybe the kitchen is my favorite? I love to see a home that is really lived in. you know that the decorative elements are there for the pleasure of it, not out of anxiety to appear in a certain way. come to think of it, all the home tours on your blog are like that, Joanna! dude, your whole blog is like that!! anxiety-free. I think that’s why it’s so beloved!! a sense of acceptance and calm curiosity.
real, accessible, beautiful. thank you!
The architectural details are perfection! Also – where can you find a similar rug (the living room one) in the US?? I’m absolutely in love.
This eBay one looks similar https://www.ebay.com/itm/404745405116
I loved this one so much! The apartment is beautiful and feels so homey and the post is so inspiring in many ways! Thank you! 💕
What a warm and inspiring apartment. I loved hearing about Sophie’s journey to becoming an opera singer.
I LOVE the kitchen. So many “aspirational” American kitchens are so huge with a big kitchen island and tons of cupboards and so much space that you feel like you have to buy things just to fill it. This Parisian one reminds me of all the humble kitchens I’ve encountered at European Airbnbs–no flashy appliances or excessive space, but they feel so cozy and cluttered in the nicest homiest way.
So agree! With absolutely no shade, I loved that the oven door was messy and drippy, just like my own. I have little kids, too, and keeping the oven spotless inside and out is last on my to do list! We can create a home and raise kids without the fanciest of all things, just fine will always be just fine!
Your comment really made me laugh! As parisians, kitchen is such a topic… i can’t think of anyone with a nice kitchen. They’re so small and uncomfortable, I like it. Love frim Paris
Looks like a cozy, well-used kitchen! What does it say about me when my first thought was why Sophie allowed a photo to be taken without first cleaning the oven door? My OCD rearing its ugly head…
I thought the same thing about the kitchen! Such a beautiful Parisian apartment all around. Swoon…
A THOUSAND TIMES YES TO THIS
all of my thoughts, too!
Lar, yes, the drippy oven was my favorite part! :) I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it in the middle of otherwise “perfect” pictures. Reminds me of advice I read once about how a somewhat messy home is always a relief for houseguests, not a bother. It makes people feel more relaxed to see imperfection!
Whenever I feel down about the state of my kitchen (dirty oven, sticky cabinets, clutter from tools and small appliances) I remember that a kitchen is first and foremost a work space, (like an art studio except the art being made is food.) Rather than pristine, it should look like a space that gets used! Making things requires mess.
I live in the states, but I have a Parisian kitchen and never knew! lol
Having lived in Paris I definitely would not qualify most parisian kitchens as aspirational indeed! It it so hard, even in a beautiful flat like Sophie’s, to find a decently functional and minimally cosy kitchen. Province for the win on this front!
Ooh beautiful space and philosophies Sophie! I loved learning that opera singers are athletes, best wishes for a long fulfilling career! ❤️
Paris must be the best city to be an opera singer in, I remember it being the most accomodating place for noise. But also sophisticated enough to adore beautiful noise! I once did a fun run (not much fun if you ask me – except, a friend brought along her friend the opera singer. This woman made it one of the best days of my life – we had to stop off for coffees, and not run “sweat – ew” she said. Then on our walk to the finish line we walked past a famous restaurant and she said “we’ve worked hard – let’s get a table”. In my heart opera singers will always have a certain knowledge on how o live with beauty, and this interview backs up my research!. I am so jealous, as someone who cannot sing, because I think opera singer is the epitome of elegance !
I love this story! I wonder if having a career where ultimately what you’re responsible for is creating beauty, might make you more attuned to seeking beauty out.
Love this story!!
I love the fireplaces and the architectural details.
wow how lovely! I really really love the sentiment on “finding beauty in the ordinary” – I now feel inspired to bring my own two daughters to a thrift store to look for forks :) — or sweet duck paintings, or cool mirrors, or any of these beautiful pops of color! And I think I will be forever on the lookout for a swan piñata now… Do you happen to have a source for the girls’ bedroom ceiling light? omg I love it so much. Thank you for this glimpse into your beautiful home & life, Sophie!
It looks like it might be a Fig oblong parrot lamp It looks like a super spendy thing but it’s really amazing how you can get ex display and clearance prices for home decor sometimes …. I have been buying this way for years https://www.figliving.com/products/oblong2-pendant-lamp-royal-blue-parrot-green
Pendant not parrot (damn You autocorrect)
It’s in Indian rupees so I actually think it’s like $56 — but can that be right?
Hi Joanna – I am not surprised by the price in INR! In India I regularly find beautiful things at reasonable prices :)
Oh wow thank you!!
Beautiful apartment! The chairs and most of the seating are gorgeous but don’t look terribly comfy. The reupholstered IKEA sofa looks great.
My first thought too — every time I see a house tour or a fancy room reveal I think “what would it be like to have a bad period/sick day here?”. It’s a critical test of what feels comfortable and easy, and really helped me hone my own style and needs, because while those couches are lovely, they massively fail the test :D
Sar, Wouldn’t you be in bed if you had a sick day?
Agree! I’m always in the living room on a couch when I’m sick.
I was thinking the same thing. It’s beautiful but nothing looks comfortable to sit on. Even the floors are barely covered with a soft rug. But, if they love it – that’s all that matters, right? :)
I had the exact same thought! – “But where on earth do you relax?” I love her style but I need a huge squishy sofa filled with books, animals, fluff, rogue lipbalms and lounging humans.
Thank you! I was worried I’d be perceived as a “hater” if I mentioned that! Except for the bed (or the rug), there isn’t any place I’d feel comfortable sitting down. The apartment is beautiful! It just doesn’t seem very livable from the seating perspective, to me anyway. But again, people have different tastes and priorities, but I kind of think a comfortable seat is universal?!?!