Hey, guys! Welcome back! Now that my exams are over, I’m back to blogging. Today I’m going to talk about our home that we’ve been living in for 6 months in Basel, Switzerland. As you guys know, and I always keep saying, moving ain’t easy and the toughest part usually is setting up your house. A lot of times your old stuff doesn’t find a place in your new home and a lot of times you just want to pull your hair out.
A new city, a new house, I decided to make most of the home space and took to professional help from Lily Mandingorra, The Living Room.
About our house: Just to give you a little bit of an idea, apartments is Basel, especially in the Stadt area (central part) are small, have no in-built closets and usually have the laundry rooms in the basement. There is usually some parking space – yes for the cycle not for the car and a cellar which we use as a garage. The most beautiful part for me are the wooden floors and the heater rods (that’s a bit absurd, but I like their look as much as the utility).
Our house now has quite a bit of furniture pieces, most of the stuff from India is being used, and the cellar is a nightmare as I haven’t been able to get rid of all the carton boxes. Getting to the point, with a smallish apartment–one usually needs help. Help with creating illusions around space, better organization, and the right furniture. Enter Lily and her instant consulting session.
How a consulting session works: So you book a mutually convenient appointment with the expert i.e. Lily and she pays you a visit at your home. She comes over with the basics like a measuring tape, upholstery, paint, curtain samples and (of course!) her black diary. She understands the needs and suggests improvements – some of these improvements are done instantly. Hence, it’s a myth that these consulting sessions usually result in more money.
For instance, a table might be in a misplaced position or might be a light blocker. Viola! These changes are what I call the magic fixes.
While our living room is well lit during the day, the lighting arrangements simply do not suffice during the dark hours, hence a suggestion was made to have a pendant light over the table that you see above. These lights are easy to order, easy to fix and a great solution.
The problematic room: Our apartment is 2 floors, and the lower level has two bedrooms and the bathroom while the upper one has the living area, a small study room, and a restroom. The room upstairs was driving me mad since it’s an odd shape with a slanted roof and an extremely low ceiling. While it’s an interesting room, it’s a bit difficult to arrange it. 5 mins into the room and Lily knew that the arrangement here was absolutely wrong. We needed to change the room a whole 180-degrees, I couldn’t do it at that very instant but when I did these placement changes. The room suddenly looked bigger and much more organized.
Lily suggested a low bed for the room with some storage, but it wasn’t the need of the hour. I am still managing with the mattress for now – the room is definitely in a more comfortable place right now.
I used similar suggestions in our master bedroom, and I was able to add more furniture while making it look spacious.
Instant Suggestions: For our living room, Lily suggested curtains which were immediately going to brighten up the room, a couple of more lights and a larger carpet. Lily is the official stockist for Designers Guild so all the fabrics are one of a kind. The measurements for the quotation are usually taken during the session and then you decide if it meets your budget.
Lily also suggested a little bit of a tedious job especially in a rented house – a small door to cover one of the ugly bits in my kitchen. Now I use this place for storing my cleaning supplies, toilet paper, kitchen tissues and empty bottles. A covered closet for this stash almost seems like a necessity. This part requires a carpenter and Lily has the right contacts for some efficient work. She also suggested another carpet for our entrance area, since we have 3 door mats – one in front of each of the rooms. The new one adds color, and it also turns out to be more practical.
Lily’s ideas were downright professional, useful and on point. I felt that the consultation session was valuable and not a waste of money. While I am still working on most of these suggestions, at least I have a plan in place!
Here is a pin to help you manage and maximize space.
Find out more about instant consultations with Lily over here. You can also visit her shop for all your home furnishing needs if you are in Basel – Spalenvorstadt 20, 4051 Basel. Or send her an email at contact@livingroom-basel.ch or visit her website to find out more.
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