“What always surprises me about living in Paris is how free I feel,” says the opera singer Sofia Aramawho lives with her husband, Félix, and her two daughters, Zoé and Pia. “It feels like my place, as if I could 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
Couch: Blou. Rug: color therapies.
On creating an exhibition-like environment: I like to leave magazines open, as well as meaningful books on the tables. When people come into our home, I want them to feel comfortable picking things up, lying on the rug, or wandering around. I never want people to feel confined to the couch, trapped in the formality of being a guest.
Sofa: “old Ikea sofa reupholstered by color therapies.”
About apartment searching: The day we first saw this apartment, there was a major public transport strike throughout the city. At the time, our two daughters were still very young, but we decided to brave the chaos and take the trip. In the end, we were the only people who attended the open house! The agent said that was how it should be.
Presidents: Baumann, similar.
About receiving friends: When guests come, I like to prepare a buffet on the table. I make a variety of salads and sweet potato fries. I usually serve a cheese board with smoked salmon, breads, focaccia, roasted vegetables, and crudités. To drink, we offer whatever wine we have on hand, as well as gin and tonics. For my friends who don’t drink alcohol, I like to serve sparkling water or lemonade in cocktail glasses, with a slice of lemon or raspberry.
DINING ROOM
Dining table: “from Portobello decorationa furniture store in Le Marais.” Dining room chairs: second-hand leboncoin.
About birthday celebrations: For my children’s birthdays, I like to hang homemade garlands and place large coloring papers and markers 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: mercy.
In family it hangs: We usually spend most of our family time at this table. One of our favorite things is to have breakfast together for a long time. We can spend an hour here, even on school days. We eat simple breakfasts, like cereal or baguette and butter, as well as fruit. On weekends, we’ll walk to our neighborhood bakery for croissants and chocolate pains.
About a family heirloom: I started taking piano lessons when I was 15 years old. This piano originally belonged to my brother, who took piano lessons before me. Nowadays, I mainly use it to play scales and warm up my voice.
On how to find a passion: When we were little, our neighbor taught classical singing. My brother and I heard singing 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 named Marjorie Muray. She had a big, wonderful voice, and hearing her sing opened a whole world to me. At that precise moment I knew that singing was what I wanted to do with my life.
KITCHEN
In an unknown part of the job: Opera singing is an intensely physical profession. We need to be disciplined and fit as athletes. We are also constantly anxious about how we treat our voices and being considerate of our neighbors when we practice.
In party playlists: When I host dinner parties, I usually turn on the running playlists I made. The types of songs vary dramatically: one track will be an opera aria and then turn into a rap, which sometimes creates slightly awkward transitions. But I like how the mix brings an unexpected and slightly surreal feeling to the room.
GIRL’S BEDROOM
Bunk: La Redoute. Rug: color therapies.
In children’s stores: The girls’ bedroom is my favorite room in our apartment. In terms of decoration and clothing, the children’s stores in Paris that I adore are Bonton, The little soukand mercy.
About the sisters’ personalities: My eldest daughter is thoughtful, sensitive and observant. One day while I was framing a poster, I crumpled it because I wanted to give it a little texture. A couple of days later, my daughter came to me with a drawing that she had deliberately crumpled and said, ‘Here, Mom, I crumpled it for you because I know you like wrinkled things.’ My youngest daughter also has an artistic and expressive personality, but she is more outgoing – it feels like she is always dancing!
About a party decoration that’s worth every penny: I don’t remember where I found this swan piñata, but I do remember that it was expensive. Still, I loved it and ended up buying it for a birthday party. We placed it on the floor in the middle of the party, so the children could eat the candy inside. Since then we use it as decoration throughout the apartment. It turned out to be a good investment.
Desk: old. Mirror: second hand.
About an activity in Paris with children: I started taking my daughters to museums when they were babies. Museums are perfect for children because they are very calm and quiet, and children have room to walk around. Some people worry that kids make too much noise to go to museums, but I think museums need life. I like to take my girls to contemporaries, like Lafayette’s Anticipations and the Pinault Stock Exchange Collection.
MASTER BEDROOM
On real-life bedtime routines: After the girls go to sleep, I usually spend the night working in bed. I know it’s not right, but at this stage in life I don’t have much time for hobbies. But when I don’t need to catch up on work, Felix and I hang out in the living room and watch a movie on the projector.
On finding beauty in the ordinary: One day, my daughter drew me a drawing, saying that she had made it ugly ‘in an artistic way’ and that’s why I would love it. And she was right! When my daughters move on to build their own homes, I hope they 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, Sofia!
PS: More beautiful home tours, including a serene empty-nest oasis and a 430-square-foot Stockholm apartment bursting with color.
(Photos by Leela Cyd.)
